Flibberty Jib · Ken Nordine

THERE WAS THIS STRANGER WHO CAME INTO OUR TOWN. HE WAS TALL AND HAD A
DARK LOOK ABOUT HIM – AND A SPECIAL BRILLIANCE IN HIS EYES. . WHEN HE
LOOKED AT US, THERE WAS THE FEELING THAT HE COULD LOOK RIGHT DOWN TO THE
BOTTOM. WE MAY HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN IN THIS, BUT AT THE TIME, NO
QUESTIONS WERE ASKED. THE QUESTIONS ALWAYS COME LATER. ALL WE CARED
ABOUT WAS THE MYSTERY WE SENSED IN THIS STRANGER AND WE WAITED TO SEE
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN.



ONE EVENING, THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER, HE GOT US ALL TOGETHER
IN THE BIG AUDITORIUM. HE STOOD THERE ON THE HUGE STAGE, THE ONLY LIGHT
WAS ON HIM AND WE WAITED IN THE DARK. THEN, OUT OF HIS TALLNESS CAME
THE CHANTING – FIRST, AS A WHISPER WE COULD HARDLY HEAR. “FLIBBETY JIB
BOM, THE BIPPETY BOP…FLIBBETY JIB BOM, THE BIPPETY BOP” IT DIDN’T MAKE
ANY SENSE!



WE WERE CAUGHT UP IN SOMETHING WE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND. HE HAD TRAPPED US,
WITHOUT OUR KNOWING IT. POSSIBLY, IT WAS HIS MANNER, AND WE CAME ALIVE
TO HIM. THEN, AS HE SLOWLY MOVED US WITH HIS CHANTING THROUGH THE LAND
OF HUSH, INTO INSISTENT, THROBBING CRESCENDOS OF ECSTASY – AS IF IT
WERE THE ONLY THING WE COULD DO!



WE STARTED TO CHANT WITH HIM…”THE FLIBBETY JIB BOM, THE BIPPETY BOP…THE
FLIBBETY JIB BOM, THE FLIPPETY BOP.” AND, HE WAS UP ON THE HIGH STAGE,
LAUGHING WITH ALL HIS MIGHT, SHOUTING, “YES! YES! YES!”



BUT, THERE WERE THOSE AMONG US WHO WERE JEALOUS OF HIS POWERS, WHO FELT
THAT THEY SHOULD BE IN THE CENTER OF THE STAGE, WITH THE LIGHT SHINING
ON THEM. THEY WERE AGAINST OUR HERO AND THE CHANTING AND OUR GOING TO
BE WITH HIM EVERY FREE MOMENT.



AND SO, LITTLE BY LITTLE – A LITTLE LATER – THESE CRITICS SET TO WORK TO
MAKE NONSENSE OUT OF THE SENSE OF WHAT WE WERE DOING - - AND THEY
SUCCEEDED. THEY DESTROYED OUR HERO’S FAITH IN HIMSELF. HE DIDN’T HAVE
IT ANYMORE. AFTER A FEW DISAPPOINTING TIMES IN THE BIG AUDITORIUM, THE
LIGHT GONE OUT OF HIM, WE ALL STOPPED GOING. AND THE MAN WHO ONCE HAD
SEEMED SO TALL – WHO NOW SEEMED SO MUCH SMALLER – LEFT OUR TOWN, SAYING
“NO, NO, NO.”



WE LIVED THROUGH THE BOREDOM OF THE TIME THAT FOLLOWED, TELLING EACH
OTHER PALE STORIES OF WHAT ONCE WAS AND WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN – IF. WE
LIVED ON HISTORIES AND HOPES. WE DID THIS UNTIL THE MIRACLE WE THOUGHT
WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, HAPPENED AGAIN!



ANOTHER STRANGER CAME INTO OUR TOWN AND HE WAS TALL AND DARK AND HAD EYES THAT COULD LOOK RIGHT DOWN INTO THE BOTTOM OF YOU.

AND HE GOT US ALL TOGETHER IN THE BIG AUDITORIUM AND WITH THE LIGHT ON
HIM – WE WERE IN THE DARK – HE CHANTED: “FLIPPETY JIB BOM, THE BIPPETY
BOP, THE FLIPPETY JIB BOM, THE BIPPETY BOP” AND, WE JOINED IN AND THE
MAGIC WAS IN US! AND HE WAS LAUGHING AND ALL HIS MIGHT WAS WITH HIM,
SHOUTING “YES! YES! YES!”



BUT - - - THERE WERE THOSE AMONG US WHO WERE JEALOUS - - AND SO FORTH.
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID. LITTLE BY LITTLE, A LITTLE LATER, THEY PUT US
BACK ON THE NARROW PATH.



THIS IS THE WAY THINGS HAVE BEEN IN OUR TOWN FOR AS LONG AS ANYONE CARES
TO REMEMBER. [whispers] BY THE WAY - - - HOW ARE THINGS IN YOUR TOWN?