So your dealer man Steve man
Moved to Cleveland man
And you're trusting
That it must've been fate
After all by now
Most of your best friends
Are either busted or straight
Or dead from smoking and drinking
And you're thinking man
Now that you're a senior ah man
You want to wean yourself
From the wicked weed
Well that's all real nice
But here is some advice
I do believe that
You are going to need Rip Van Winkle
While you were sleeping there
Folks have taken to
Keeping their freak flags furled

Yeah the world's been evolving
At a pretty fair clip
Since oh 1968
Used to be slow and groovy and hip
Now it's proceeding at a faster rate
Accelerating
And I'd like to set you straight
My friend and fellow hippie
Here's hoping that you'll hear
And that you'll heed
I think you're gonna find that
Life gets pretty damn zippy
When you quit doing weed

Life gets pretty zippy
When you quit doing weed
Maine to Missippi
Things is picking up speed
New York to California
Don't say I didn't warn you
Atlantic to Pacific
Let me get specific
Life becomes a superhighway
And you know you dasn't linger
You do less than 90
Folks is passing
Flashing you the finger
Seems to me that
Things were movin' and groovin'
Now they're only movin'
Yes indeed
Life gets pretty zippy
When you quit doing weed
Can you dig it?
Dig what I mean
That's the ticket
Let me set the scene now

Sun zips up sun zips down
Zippy little clouds zipping over Zippytown
Palm pilots pagers beepers
Faxes and such
Folks in Zippytown are down with
Keeping in touch
Barreling in their SUVs passing on the right
Zipping through the zippy day
Zipping through the night
Zippety-zip they get the jobs and money
Zip they have the kids
Zip they in the coffin
Folks is zipping up the lids
And speaking of lids man

Life gets pretty zippy
When you quit doing weed
Maine to Missippi
Things is picking up speed
Mexico City to Toronto
Things is happening muy printo eh?
Pacific to Atlantic
Man it's getting frantic
Life becomes a superhighway
And you know you dasn't fidgit
You do less than 90
Folks is passing you
Flashing you they digit
It seems to me that
Things were mild and lazy
Now they're wild and crazy
You'll concede
Life gets pretty zippy
When you quit doing weed

Power mowers leaf blowers
Car alarms blasting
So long Janis Joplin hello Marilyn Manson
Folks zipping to get married on TV
For fame and greed
Zipping down to the Bahamas
Zipping back to Pop and Mama
Boom boxes weedwhackers air hammers
Trucks going backwards
Everybody's under construction
Steroids liposuction space stations
Satellites taking pictures day and night
Upgrades power walking
Your machine and mine talking
Gridlock pre-approved
Bring that cell phone to the Louvre
Big Brother CNN
News to drive you around the bend
Green ketchup your ad here
Warming up the atmosphere
With Grandma's homemade apple pie
Which has been genetically modifed
By robot dogs on eBay
Who copyright your DNA

Jet skis man

Laid back hey jack c'mon get real
It's a straight life it's a great life
Besides you made the deal
See you got enough left for one more toke
I'm happy for you man
I hope it's real good smoke
Well you put it in the pipe
You light it up and it glows
You hear Judy Collins singing
Who knows where the time goes?
Rave on Judy
That girl knows how to wail
Don't sing along man
Too late you exhaled

Life gets pretty zippy
When you quit doing weed
Maine to Missippi
Things is picking up speed
Roman Greek or Nova Scotian Man
Everything's in motion man
Earth and Hell and Heaven
Better get your motor revvin'
Life becomes a superhighway
And altho you do your best
You find that folks is passing by you
With that old familiar gesture
I like to think that they're waving goodbye
To the lava lamp
The Nehru jacket
Love beads
Strawberry rolling papers
Bags of stem and seed
Once you were Jimi Hendrix Experienced
Now you're Kenny Geed
Life gets pretty zippy
When you quit doing weed

Anybody asks you who wrote this song boy
Say it was Michael Peter Smith
from Chicago Illinois
Why in the world would a cat want to write
A song about giving up boo
Give some guys a hit of acid
You never know what they're going to do
What if I want to learn the tune man
How the progression goes
Sorry man can't help you there
Different chords for different shows
But if you get the recording
Take a tip from me
Before you put it in the player
Lick the CD

This song is called Zippy
I think it's pretty trippy
Said Guy Kibbee to Rodney Allen Rippy
Glippy glop glipy
Nippy nappy nippy
Yippee Yi Yippee
You can bet your bippy
As Litle Richard Penniman
Said to DJ Alan Freed
As Igor Stravinsky said
En francais to Andre Gide
As Tonto said
To the Lone Ranger's favorite nephew
Dan Reed
Life plenty zippy when not do weed

Recorded on: Such Things are Finely Done, Live At Dark-Thirty, Just Plain Folk