Parasaurolophus
by @carleybaer · @stephenwordsmith
Liner Notes
As someone who decorates my potted plants with all kinds of figurines and ephemera, I found @stephenwordsmith's story about the last remaining little plastic duck-billed dinosaur in the office plants quite touching. I had to spend a considerable amount of time practicing the pronunciation and I'm still not 100% sure I got it right, but it was good practice for the next time one of my students comes up to me and wants to talk about dinosaurs.
Lyrics
There's a lone, lonely Parasaurolophus The last saurolophus of its kind For every other parasaurolophus Has parted, sorta leaving it behind
To stand and guard the ramparts of the pot plants The palace, small and local where reigns A paladin with sword among the lotus Apparently that's all about to change
He used to have such partners in his locus A pair of sordid chums he'd make with ease Perhaps in time he'd find with luck and focus A paramour or lover sure to please
But poor old Para's lying on his lonesome By parcels sorted lovingly in ranks Soon packaged all alone for new assignments Departing from the last without a 'thanks'
Embarrassed by the thought of sitting prone there Where pairs of soles are kicked off just like that A parasaur all over soaring loafers In parallel upon this hoary mat
His plastic soul dreams deeply of eloping To Paris in a low-fuss package tour To be there would be paradise all over Instead of purgatory on this shop floor
But such is life for poor and little people The harrowed, sore, and so frustrated throng Expendable until it's just you standing Much shorter than you saw it all along
The final box is sealed, the plants transplanted I dim the lights and leave without a fuss But stop, and place a treasure in my pocket From now, it's parasauraloph-u-us
Comments
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Great, memorable and catchy melody to a wonderful lyric. I'm so envious of Stephen's ability to be so insightful and deep even when he's being light-hearted on the surface level.
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Wow, impressive for a one take! I use the magic of the studio to piece songs together when there is so much annunciation to get my mouth around. The words are fantastic and I’m super impressed you’ve managed to weave this into a song. Very well done indeed!
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I've commented on this lyric before poor ol para. Nicely bought to life, I like it at this quick pace, really flows well.
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This was wonderful in every respect and you should definitely play it for your kids!
![[pic]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2026/449e7f37-177a-4e1f-9e6d-31dc874373cd.png){kind=avatar}
Such amazing storytelling. Felt to me like a grown-up version of one of the many many many dinosaur stories I read to my children when they were at peak dinosaur age. Parasaurolophus was always one of my fav dinos, so you had me at the title. “A parasaur all over soaring loafers” is utter genius. As is the heart-warming denouement. Carley’s lovely uke one-take is kind of the perfect medium for lyrics and a story like this - big thumbs up over here!
![[pic]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2023/20136.png){kind=avatar}
Great annunciation- I wouldn’t wish to take this on! Cute tune and the verse three modulation is a treat! It’s a great story of hope in a hopeless situation and the music carries it perfectly with a rit. At the end that is a delightful final touch to underline the punchline!
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I have been told that I sometimes write words that are difficult to articulate. Such are the perils of the context of silence. I apologise, Carley, although I suspect I will not change my behaviour.
I note also that I had been pronouncing the titular creature incorrectly (even accounting for my silly accent - this is a clear case of emPHAsis on the wrong syLAble) and all the puns/assonances don't work quite as well as I had thought. But I would sooner eat rotten cheese than insist the song is sung with a mispronounced name, so I will just have to eat crow and accept that they sometimes really do call me Wordsmith for nothing.
Anyway, beautiful song, lovely melody, mellifluous vocals despite the cumbersome consonance - and, even though they're based on a mispronunciation, there is something very musical about the rush of words that all sound very vaguely like Parasaurolophus - a repeated bit of musicality despite the meaning of each line being quite different.