By: Jason Long
It’s summertime. A time to relax a little, go outdoors, take that family vacation, or just take some time to enjoy the fruits of your hard labor. When I think of summertime, I picture myself playing golf out at Holston Hills. Those visions invariably end with me burying myself in the front bunker at 18, trying to get the ball somewhere on the green. Once I push that nightmare out of my head, summertime conjures up an image of driving down the open road with good friends in a convertible on a sunny day and the radio blaring at top volume. With that much more preferable image stuck in my head, this month’s Top Ten List is the top ten songs involving the law or lawyers. As always, this is an entirely subjective list. If you disagree with me, please keep your opinions to yourself, at least until the DICTA editors give you permission to write your own column.
10. Here Comes the Judge – Shorty Long, 1968. A great soul/funk offering that was inspired by the classic comedy sketch from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. Lyrics: “Court’s in session, order in the court now. Court’s in session, can’t nobody smoke now. Here comes the judge.” I would make this the background music next time I am in Judge McMillan’s courtroom, but I know he would much prefer the next song on this list.
9. Lawyers in Love – Jackson Browne, 1983. This is Jackson Browne’s ode to lawyer couples who find themselves too busy to enjoy their romance. Lyrics: “Am I the only one who hears the screams, and the strangled cries, of lawyers in love?” As one-half of a lawyer couple myself, the lyrics are somewhat disconcerting, but still a classic song.
8. This Side of the Law – Johnny Cash, 1970. Could there be a list of songs about the law that did not include one by the man in black who made a career of performing for those who found themselves on the wrong side? Lyrics: “On this side of the law, on that side of the law. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is for and against the law?”
Read the full article in the June DICTA Volume 52, Issue 6.