SHORT PEOPLE
“Short People” – A song, a parody about some people’s CHARACTER
A song by Randy Newman, popularized in 1977 was song is widely misinterpreted, which generated a great deal of exposure for the song and controversy for Newman. On the surface, the song is making fun of little people, but “short” is meant in a figurative sense, intending to poke fun at people who are short-tempered and small-minded, which is quite the opposite of the literal meaning. A lot of people didn’t get the joke and thought of Newman as a bigot. Many radio stations refused to play it. At first, Newman sings about Short People as having “nasty little feet,” “stubby little fingers” and “dirty little minds,” but he makes his statement clear near the end of the song when he sings, “Short People are just the same as you and I. All men are brothers until the day they die.”
Short people got no reason Short people got no reason Short people got no reason to live
They got little hands Little eyes They walk around tellin’ great big lies They got little noses And tiny little teeth They wear platform shoes on their nasty little feet
Well I don’t want no short people Don’t want no short people Don’t want no short people ’round here
(Short people are just the same as you and I) A fool such as I (All men are brothers until the day they die) It’s a wonderful world
Short people got nobody Short people got nobody Short people got nobody to love
They got little baby legs They stand so low You gotta pick ’em up Just to say hello They got little cars that go “beep, beep, beep” They got little voices goin’ “peep, peep, peep” They got grubby little fingers And dirty little minds They’re gonna get you every time
Well, I don’t want no short people Don’t want no short people Don’t want no short people ’round here
Bonaparte was considered a great military stragtegist and leader. His accomplishments are legends of history and are still being studied and talked about.
His end? Bonaparte died as an exiled prisoner of war on the small island of Saint Helena off the coast of Africa.
“A close look behind the heroic portraits and beneath the gorgeous uniforms reveals some surprising things about the great little man. (He was small.)
“Perhaps most striking? The number of complexes he suffered from, including
class inferiority,
money insecurity,
intellectual envy,
sexual anxiety,
social awkwardness and, not surprisingly,
a persistent hypersensitivity to criticism.
Taken in whole, these traits drove his stark ambition, undermined his grandiose endeavors—and ultimately crippled his historic legacy.” (This paragraph is an excerpt from the History Channel https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/napoleon-dies-in-exile).
I guess some of you might have guessed that I might go here with this: HEY, PASTORS and PREACHERS, BIBLE TEACHERS, and Christians, GROW UP!! Stop being like those people who are “short of character”, who are short-tempered, self centered, controlling, and small minded.
We are looking for GIANTS in our pulpits. GIANTS we can trust and follow in this postmodern chaotic world. We are looking for men and women who are GIANTS in faith, EXCELLENT in character and PARAGONS of virtue.
These GIANTS, these people of faith, character and virtue should be found in all our Christian Churches but, alas, there are a few to be found.
If you will look, however, you can find them and you can identify them because they stand out! They loom over the myriads of “short people” who have invaded our pulpits. These GIANTS come equipped with temperaments of mercy, righteous standards of justice, wisdom of the ages and exemplary judgment.
If you are one, your humility probably keeps you from seeing it. To you I beg, please, stand guard at the gates for the rest of us.
If you are not one, then I implore you to become one. Then, please follow this adage: LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUT OF THE WAY (or, we the people, may just have to move you out of the way).
From your “short, but working on it” Brother and Friend,
Mike Young