Would you like to bring James Gordons’ Crybabies Caravan Comedy of Terrors to a theatre near you?
Singer-songwriter James Gordon thought he had his career plans under control when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He used the downtime to finish a new album, When I Stayed Home, and publish his debut musical novel, the Ark of the Oven Mitt.
He figured soon enough he’d get back out on the road for a double launch tour.
Instead, months went by, and the world changed, and lo and behold, James has a whole new project on his hands – one he’d like to bring to a theatre near you if you know a theatre that would like to book it.
Here’s what he had to say about it:
In the last month, [I’ve had] a viral hit on my hands! An experienced “instant satire” songwriter from my years as a songwriter-in-residence for CBC Radio’s Basic Black show, I decided to comment in song about the so-called Freedom Convoy. I had no idea that the result, “Crybabies Caravan” would resonate with so many people and create such a controversy.
As of March 9, the song has been viewed on social media and on YouTube more than 300,000 times and is climbing daily. That’s not a typo. Airplay is ramping up now too. The humorous-yet-pointed lyrics apparently said what many were thinking about the convoy and its impact. The conversation on social media that ensued has been 99 per cent appreciative, but that one per cent of haters has been quite an experience.
Just for a little ditty, I had death threats and have been harassed enough that police in my hometown of Guelph, where I have a side hustle as a city councilor, have been monitoring my social media feed and taking the threats seriously.
So would that make me back away? I’m not that smart. The ongoing debate has already spawned a gaggle of related songs. They just keep coming as the conversation about it continues. I seem to have an entire Crybabies Caravan: A Comedy of Terrors suite of songs now, and I’d love to bring it out into the wakening world as it has generated such interest.
Many of the songs address the larger context on how this happened in Canada and where we can go from here. There are at least a dozen related songs and counting.
Here are a few more of them.
