Some Favorite FTM Client Lyrics—Dylan, Lennon/McCartney, VP of Sales?
by Paul Kwiecinski
One thing we are repeatedly impressed with at Face The Music events is the quality of the lyrics that we hear in the songs that our clients create. They usually only have a few minutes to brainstorm the main themes, and then about 45 minutes to compose and rehearse their songs, but they come up with some great stuff. The tight timeline seems to bring out the best.
We thought we’d share some of the highlights, although it’s a tough job as there are literally a couple of thousand songs written over the years. There are some that stand out, and we have taken the time to flag a few. So, no, I did not cull through the whole catalog, but here are some samplings for fun and enlightenment.
A funny song about conference calls, and also one of the all-time
best performances at an FTM event (click here to listen —
scroll to bottom of page when you get there and click Conference Call Blues under “Client Songs”):
People calling in late, asking me to repeat
If you called in on time, I wouldn’t be losing my mind
IT'S HERE!
Rapper’s Delight—Face The Music brings an opportunity for authentic expression, groove, and fun in the Hip Hop medium. Participants create their own record company, and produce their cuts, market and package, and even do music videos to promote their artists. No singing talent necessary, but high energy, creativity, and telling it like it is.
Featured Song (Free!)
Check out our song of the quarter "Used to Be a Cowboy"
written for PayPal about their company going from a shootingfromthehip-style dot com to a well-oiled corporation. (Click link above and scroll to track 11; in the "Buy" column, click "mp3 $0.00")
Proceeds from sales go to Little Kids Rock
and for the next two weeks, we’re running a two week campaign to help FTM distributor,
Coaching Toys,
whose founding member’s husband is currently suffering from a catastrophic injury.
I got the conference call blues, I got the conference call blues
I got to drop off the line, I got another call to dial in to
Said the idea was stupid, wondered who was the jerk
I flushed the commode—realized my mute button didn’t
work
I got the conference call blues; I got the conference
call blues
I got to drop off the line, I got another call to dial in
to
Some sales reps from Moen were having issues with product
installation, and came up with this hilarious customer encounter song called “Customer from Hell Blues”, an excerpt
below; also an outstanding performance,
click here for video:
Got a phone call from the owner
Sounded like a weird dude
Showed up at the doorstep
The dude was freakin nude
Went inside to see the problem
Roman tub mounted on the deck
Found out … that’s not the spout
That he wanted me to check
We got the customer from hell blues
I’s ready to give him the boot
But you know upon closer look
He was pretty damn cute
A Bank of America group calling themselves Crazy Corporate
Chameleon did a clever rendition based on their ads: “Keep the change”
Came to work this morning, looked to the next cube
Said to myself, “Who is this new dude?”
He said his name was John, and he was in the zone
But don’t you know by Thursday he was working from
home!
My org chart is a mess, we need to rearrange
The only thing that’s constant, is ch-ch-ch-change
I came up with a new product, got a campaign
You know it well, ka-ka-ka-keep the change.
There have been a lot of songs over the years about the 24/7
workday and being available all of the time via technology—here’s some of the “Crackberry Blues”:
West Coast, East Coast, the day is long
My Blackberry is buzzin’, and it’s just wrong
London and Asia, losin’ track of time
Gotta call them all back, and it’s my own dime
I gotta go—I got them Crackberry Blues
You gotta know—I got them Crackberry Blues
Day or night—movin’ to midnight
I got them Crackberry Blues
At a certain unnamed company, some of the middle management
was feeling like there wasn’t a firm direction when they penned the “Knee-Jerk Reaction Blues”:
The analysts are crazy with questions about our moves,
But we won’t tell ‘em nothing, ‘til
the stock price improves,
Consolidate, separate, divest and acquire,
What the hell will we look like before I retire?
We’ve got the strategy-shifting blues,
Let us know which way we should go,
Please quit with your knee-jerk reactions and
Guide us down the right road.
So don’t count yourself out, you may have the muse
in you and not know it. Pick up a pen or pick up the phone, and get your ya-ya’s out.
Mojo. Originally a magical charm bag used in voodoo—has transmuted into a slang word for self-confidence, self-esteem or sex appeal. Maybe you call it something else… “Being in The Zone,” “Having Flow,” “Finding The Sweet Spot.” But it’s all the same idea. Mojo is total immersion in what we’re doing… a feeling of energy and focus… a sense that we’re doing exactly what we should be doing at a given moment. In his book Mojo, Marshall Goldsmith defines it as “that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside.” In other words, you feel it and do it, and others feel it too. It has to do with getting happiness and meaning from what you are doing.
Of course Muddy Waters has a great song about it too (now covered by FTM…): "Got My Mojo Working." So how can you get a little more mojo working in your life? We’ve cooked up a few tips to get it going.
A) Name an issue that is draining your mojo: _________________. (Yes, now, do it.) Now: B) Identify the smallest
change you can make that will make an impact on that issue. C) Get some support on implementing the change or discipline.
Grand-scale change is overwhelming. Some of our clients
feel that they want to change their world in one fell swoop, especially if they’ve come to a major ah-ha. Making a small
tweak to your system, one that you can commit to and stick to, can make a large impact. It’s like the old
butterfly
effect. Then as you build up your change muscles, you can keep tweaking the system as you go.
Thank and compliment someone on a job they did well.
Think about it; unless you are exceptionally conscientious,
there is probably someone that has done a good job for you that you have not appreciated fully. Take the time to thank them, noting
specific details. And do it in a timely manner, before they forget what it was.
Your challenges make you who you are, and they may just
make great war stories when you’re done. The “Everything’s OK” mantra is a mojo-filled acceptance of reality,
and “and there’s work to do” is about getting down to doing something to impact the future. Play the song on
the way to work, and in the office if you need to…
![[FTM LOGO]](http://static1.squarespace.com/static/584df7a3e58c627c3b020d88/5a7b83fbd63352fd4eae933f/5a7b8409d63352fd4eae9445/1518044169418/ftm_logo.gif?format=original){kind=logo}
We thought we’d share some of the highlights, although it’s a tough job as there are literally a couple of thousand songs written over the years. There are some that stand out, and we have taken the time to flag a few. So, no, I did not cull through the whole catalog, but here are some samplings for fun and enlightenment.
Some sales reps from Moen were having issues with product
installation, and came up with this hilarious customer encounter song called “Customer from Hell Blues”, an excerpt
below; also an outstanding performance,
Mojo. Originally a magical charm bag used in voodoo—has transmuted into a slang word for self-confidence, self-esteem or sex appeal. Maybe you call it something else… “Being in The Zone,” “Having Flow,” “Finding The Sweet Spot.” But it’s all the same idea. Mojo is total immersion in what we’re doing… a feeling of energy and focus… a sense that we’re doing exactly what we should be doing at a given moment. In his book Mojo, Marshall Goldsmith defines it as “that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside.” In other words, you feel it and do it, and others feel it too. It has to do with getting happiness and meaning from what you are doing.