Duke Ellington
Purple People
[WOMAN, spoken]
The purple people lived in the fat green valley
The green people, their neighbors
Lived in the purple mountains—rich grape country
The purple people had cattle and all kinds of vegetables
They lived on the fat of the land
The green people had sheep and wine
They lived on the fat of the land
But as usual, downstairs looked better to the upstairs people
And upstairs looked better to the downstairs people
So, to improve their living standards, they both declared war on each other
They fought battle after battle after battle until they both won
The purple people won the purple mountain
And the green people won the green valley
But neither side was satisfied
Because of the confusion
The green people with the green scenery
And the purple people with purple background
Why, they couldn't tell the houses from the trees
Or the people from the animals
They both felt that they had won a profitless, empty victory
So, back to war they went
And finally, at the end of this war, in which they both lost
They all were dead
There was blood everywhere
But there was no purple blood
And there was no green blood
All the blood was red