Who would have guessed that a Statler Brothers song, recorded 55 years ago, would neatly reflect our virus-shutdown lives?
But there it is, complete with a reference to Captain Kangaroo (shown here). In 1965, the Statlers sang these immortal words, written by their tenor, Lew DeWitt; approximately:
“Counting flowers on the wall, that don’t bother me at all;
Playin’ solitaire ‘til dawn, with a deck of 51.
Smokin’ cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo,
Now don’t tell me, I’ve nothing to do.”
That’s our lives now, or maybe a better version. These days, flowered wallpaper is rare and there’s nothing to count; also, most of us don’t smoke cigarettes.
But TV has much better choices than Captain Kangaroo, for kids’ shows and for morning shows. At least there’s that.