THE BIRD OF TIME

Reviewed 4/27/2012

Cover art by John Schoenherr

THE BIRD OF TIME Wallace West New York: Ace Books, 1959				Rating: 5.0 High
ISBN-13 978-0-441-?
ISBN 0-441-?	224pp.	SC	$0.40

THE PSYCHOTHERAPY SONG1

Author Unknown

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the theories of Freud!
He has taught me all the evils that my ego must avoid.
Repression of the impulses can make you paranoid
As the id goes marching on.

CHORUS:
Glory glory psychotherapy;
Glory glory sexuality!
Glory glory now we can be free,
As the id goes marching on

There was a man who thought his friends to him were all superior
And this complex he imagined made life drearier and drearier
Till his analyst assured him that he really was inferior
As the id goes marching on.
CHORUS
Do you drown your superego in a flood of alcohol,
And go running after women till you're just about to fall?
You may think you're having fun but you're not having fun at all
As the id goes marching on.
CHORUS
Oh sad is the masochism: the vagaries of sex
Have turned half the population into total nervous wrecks.
But your analyst will cure you, long as you can pay the cheques
As the id goes marching on.
CHORUS
Is your body plagued by aches and pains that you can't understand:
Compound fractures, ingrown toenails, floating kidneys, trembling hands?
Here's the secret to your troubles: you're in love with your old man
As the id goes marching on.
CHORUS
Freud's mystic world of meaning needn't leave us mystified.
It is really very simple what the psyche tries to hide:
A thing's a phallic symbol if it's longer than it's wide
As the id goes marching on.
Repeat CHORUS and fade out...

1 I adapted this version from the one posted by Melanie Safka in several prominent lyrics Web sites. Alas, she did a poor job of transcribing.