In 2012 when the financial crisis in Greece was fairly new, I wrote this song. The chorus is based on a Dutch saying “when the drink is in the man, the wisdom is in the can” (Als de drank is in de man, is de wijsheid in de kan) . I did a little research to get the correct age order of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The latter reportedly had a less known Irish brother, Paddy Wise, or in old Greek: Paddistotle, featuring in this song. Unfortunately, 3 years later, the crisis still isn’t over and, as far as I can see, the bankers didn’t pay much of a decent price. A happy song about a sad reality. Isn’t that Irish?
Here’s my home recording, not meant to be perfect.
Lyrics
- A couple of thousand years ago
In the Mediterranean snow
On a hilltop in a temple made of stone
Far from famine and disaster
There was Plato, my wise master
And old Socrates, his wisdom was well-knownChorus:
O my name is Paddistotle
I’ve got wisdom in my bottle
And I take it with me ev’rywhere I go
So now don’t you be pound foolish
Let me treat you with advice
Get a drink for me and call me Paddy Wise - I was bright in Mathematics
Writing, Greek and Numismatics
I examined all the olives in the trees
I’ve been working on charism
Called it Paddistotelianism
Wrote philosophy of the flowers and the beesChorus
- Now that Greece is in a crisis
I will gather with the wisest
And the presidents will queue up for advice
Every penny over time
Will lead to multi billion crimes
Fill the glasses, let the bankers pay the price!Chorus (x2)
P.S. Here’s a more recent recording on SoundCloud with Bart van Beveren and Brady van der Ruit:
https://soundcloud.com/bart-van-beveren/paddy-wise-simon-oak-bart-van
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