I Want To Be A Clone

[Image: 'I Want To Be A Clone' Front Cover]

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Lyrics

I'd gone through so much other stuff
That walking down the aisle was tough
But now I know it's not enough
I want to be a clone

I asked the Lord into my heart
They said that was the way to start
But now you've got to play the part
I want to be a clone

Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?
I'm grateful that they show the way
'Cause I could never know the way
To serve him on my own
I want to be a clone

They told me that I'd fall away
Unless I followed what they say
Who needs the Bible anyway?
I want to be a clone

Their language it was new to me
But Christianese got through to me
Now I can speak it fluently
I want to be a clone

Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?
I'm grateful that they show the way
'Cause I could never know the way
To serve him on my own
I want to be a clone

Send in the clones

Ah, I kind of wanted to tell my friends and people about it, you know?

What?
You're still a babe
You have to grow
Give it twenty years or so
'Cause if you want to be one of his
Got to act like one of us

Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?
I'm grateful that they show the way
'Cause I could never know the way
To serve him on my own
I want to be a clone

So now I see the whole design
My church is an assembly line
The parts are there, I'm feeling fine
I want to be a clone

I've learned enough to stay afloat
But not so much I rock the boat
I'm glad they shoved it down my throat
I want to be a clone

Everybody must get cloned

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About The Song

From Who Does Not Want To Be a Clone?, Campus Life, January 1987:

When I wrote "Clone," for the first time I had the sense that maybe other people should hear what I was writing. I knew that it was a little outside the norm, but...

...

In a few more years, it may sound like the ultimate novelty song.

From Now The Truth Can Be Told Liner Notes & Song-By-Song Essays, Now The Truth Can Be Told Insert Booklet, August 23rd, 1994:

The film department at Colorado University was crammed into the old science hall, which seems an appropriate setting for the birth of "I Want To Be A Clone." The first time I walked into the men's room after my "Introduction to Filmmaking" class, I saw three wooden stalls. Door number one was labelled "religion," followed by "politics" and "sex." But it was the writing above the urinals that forever changed my life: "A Musical Tribute To Asexual Reproduction" was the heading, followed by a list of titles that included "Send in the Clones," "Behind Cloned Doors," and "A Clone Again (Naturally)." I never added to the list--I was afraid I'd get caught--so I just watched new titles crop up weekly as the clone motif spread like kudzu across the walls, eventually drawing campus curiosity seekers who would go out of their way to relieve themselves at the now legendary old science men's room, just to read the latest addition.

This song was not written from personal experience--the church I grew up in was always tolerant both of mere faithful eccentrics and all-out Jesus freaks. I give much of the credit to my pastor/mentor/father for providing the Biblically-sound atmosphere where one's Christian witness could also be culturally relevant.

In short, I can't be a cynic, because I don't have a good excuse.