May 23, 2021

"I walked into the Oval Office, and the president ... got down on one knee."

Said Dick Van Dyke, who's 95 years old, and who went to the White House on Thursday, a little reception on the occasion of honors being doled out by the Kennedy Center. 

The other honorees, according to The Hill, were Garth Brooks, Debbie Allen, Joan Baez and Midori. I can't tell whether Biden got down on one knee for all of them or just for Van Dyke.

The only other detail in the linked article is that Joan Baez sang "(Ain't Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around." 

She probably only sang the first verse. Here's the second verse:

Ain't gonna let the administration turn me around...

Turn me around...

Keep on a-walkin'

Keep on a-talkin'

Gonna build a brand new world
Well, those are the lyrics as presented at Genius lyrics. Reading them, I conclude that singers improvise endlessly about the thing they're not going to let turn them around.

1 comment:

Ann Althouse said...

Bob Boyd writes:

An Oval State Of Mind
(Andrew Yang's favorite rap song)

Joe turned himself around
And then he took a knee
Thinkin' Dick Van Dyke
Was Francis Scott Key

But he jumped to his feet
When he saw Garth Brooks
Said Yo Dr Suess
I read all a your books

Debbie Allen cocked her head
and narrowed her eyes
What the fuck?, she said
but only on the inside

It was Joan saved the day
by singing a song
It put Joe right to sleep
so they didn't stay long

Dr. Jill led 'em out
And back down to the car
Then she climbed in with 'em
and they went to a bar

After 5 rounds of shots
they all had to agree
that Dick looks a lot like
Francis Scott Key