Chanson originale : A World Without Libraries

Oyez, oyez ! A la réunion des Amis des Bibliothèques de San Francisco, Handler pousse la chansonnette pour la bonne cause...

A World Without Libraries !

Il a notamment mentionné les deux bilbiothèques où il passait le plus de temps dans sa jeunesse : West Portal Branch et la Merced Branch Library (un des lieux réels utilisés dans Le Cercle des Huit), où il laissait des marque-pages dans tous les livres, y compris ceux qu'il n'osait pas lire. De nos jours, il fréquente beaucoup plus Eureka Valley Branch, où il a écrit le gros d'Inventaire après rupture car cela lui permettait d'épier des adolescents amoureux. Il ne s'en est rendu compte que lorsque son baladeur s'est éteint (c'est connu, Handler bosse en musique), la musique dévoilant les voix des personnages qu'il était censé décrire, ces mêmes voix qu'il avait tenté d'étouffer...

Plus d'informations ici.

Without Libraries, par Daniel Handler

Couplet :
We are born and we’re not smart
and our parents kinda try and do their part
But our brains, they need some facts
so our education starts in the public stacks

Refrain :
Without Libraries We’d be Dumb
We wouldn’t know our elbow, from our bum
Libraries are our Friends and we should take good care of them
Because without libraries we’d be D-U-M

Now when we’re teens, we start to sour
We have hormones but not a lot of power
And when there’s things, we want to know
We need a nice safe place where there isn’t any blow

YES!

Refrain :
Without Libraries We’d be Dumb
We wouldn’t know our elbow, from our bum
Libraries are our Friends and we should take good care of them
Because without libraries we’d be D-U-M

Then we’re adults and we’re in charge
And our egos can get a little large
We open our mouths, and words come out
But how can we make it seem, like we know what we’re talking about?

LIBRARIES!

Couplet :
Without Libraries We’d be Dumb
We wouldn’t know our elbow, from our bum
Libraries are our Friends and we should take good care of them
Because without libraries we’d be D-U-M

As we grow old, we might get dim
Even if we keep up at the gym
We lose our figures, we lose looks
But we’ll keep our smarts if we hang around with books

Refrain :
Without Libraries We’d be Dumb
We wouldn’t know our elbow, from our bum
Libraries are our Friends and we should take good care of them
Because without libraries we’d be D-U-M

And then we die, and that’s the end
At the funeral, there’ll be one loyal Friend
And he’ll get up, remove his cap
But where will he find a poem, that isn’t utter crap?

YES!

Refrain :
Without Libraries We’d be Dumb
We wouldn’t know our elbow, from our bum
Libraries are our Friends and we should take good care of them
Because without libraries we’d be D-U-M