Danny Elfman
"Town Meeting Song"


Listen, everyone

There were objects so peculiar
They were not to be believed
All around, things to tantalize my brain
It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen
And as hard as I try
I can't seem to describe
Like a most improbably dream
But you must believe when I tell you this
It's as real as my skull and it does exist
Here, let me show you
This is a thing called a present
The whole thing starts with a box
A box?
Is it steel?
Are there locks?
Is it filled with a pox?
A pox
How delightful, a pox
If you please
Just a box with bright-colore paper
And the whole thing's topped with a bow
A bow?
But why?
How ugly
What's in it?
What's in it?
That's the point of the thing, not to know
It's a bat
Will it bend?
It's a rat
Will it break?
Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake
Listen now, you don't understand
That's not the point of Christmas land
Now, pay attention
Now we pick up an oversized sock
And hang it like this on the wall
Oh, yes! Does it still have a foot?
Let me see, let me look
Is it rotted and covered with gook?
Hmm, let me explain
There's no foot inside, but there's candy
Or sometimes it's filled with small toys
Small toys
Do they bite?
Do they snap?
Or explode in a sack?
Or perhaps they just spring out
And scare girls and boys
What a splendid idea
This Christmas sounds fun
I full endorse it
Let's try it at once
Everyone, please now, not so fast
There's something here that you don't quite grasp
Well, I may as well give them what they want
And the best, I must confess, I have saved for the last
For the ruler of this Christmas land
Is a fearsome king with a deep mighty voice
Least that's what I've come to understand
And I've also heard it told
That he's something to behold
Like a lobster, huge and red
And he sets out to slay, with his rain gear on
Carting bulging sacks with his big great arms
That is, so I've heard it said
And on a dark, cold night
Under full moonlight
He flies into a fog
Like a vulture in the sky
And they call him Sandy Claws
Well, at least they're excited
But they don't understand
That special kind of feeling in Christmas land
Oh well...