5090 by FAWM: "Kammy the Commie Chameleon"

Kammy the Commie Chameleon

2 weeks ago by @berni1954

There is no demo for this song.

Liner Notes

Lyrics only for now.

This is the true tale of the weirdest pet I ever had from the days we lived in Lagos, Nigeria. I'll let the lyrics explain the story.

Lyrics

When I was a boy in Africa
I came upon a green beast
Caught in a tangle of jungle vines
I helped with its release
It's independent eyes observed
In front and in the rear
It gradually did approach me
Without the slightest fear

It moved its legs slowly towards me
In lunges and fitful jerks
Till it took hold of my little finger
Perhaps one of its quirks
Then it pulled itself upon my hand
Like it never planned to roam
Kammy the Commie Chameleon
Had come into my home

Is it a pet if it volunteers
To come into your life?
This wild beast had sought domestic bliss
Much to our delight

Mum said to put it in the budgie cage
Now Bluey was long gone
Doing a circuit of that coop
Was for Kammy a marathon
First we placed it on the carpet
Where its skin slowly turned red
My Dad then proudly named it
Before sending me off to bed

By day we let Kammy hunt insects
Snatched from the air by its tongue
We never considered it cruelty
Never thought we'd done anything wrong
At night he'd come in from the balcony
And slept on the budgie's perch
I was fascinated by Kammy
He was my only research

We let him back into the garden
But kept the poor beast on a leash
We proudly showed him off to our friends
He was quite the local showpiece
Sadly one night I made a mistake
With guilt I'd forever be burdened
I forgot to bring Kammy in for the night
In the morning we found he'd been murdered

Comments

@berni1954 2w

@kahlo2013 @sunfire @cindyrella @lyricslinger
@atornberg

Just a note to say that the story is true. When I rushed out to see Kammy, he had been half eaten by some predator. Had he not been on a leash it's possible he would have escaped his fate. I wept for hours and felt guilty for years that my carelessness had led to this untimely end.

@kahlo2013 2w

Oh this was such a lovely sweet childhood memory kind of story and then the tragic end! I wasn’t expecting that! Poor Kammy! I love all the details of the story! Lots of great images!

@sunfire 2w

That was a moving story much like the other one you told me about. But, the ending was disturbing. Was the ending true and if so, what happened and why? Curious to know if you have a moment.

@cindyrella 2w

Incredible story but so sad at the end! A great skirmish!

@lyricslinger 2w

Great storytelling but what a sad ending!
My mum spent the first 18 years of her life in Kenya and your story reminded me both of the exotic animals that she and her friends encountered, and of how her dog was snatched and eaten by a leopard.
One great story though was how one of their friends returned home to Dublin but couldn't bear to be parted with all his snakes. So he sneaked a very small, but poisonous, snake into Ireland in a matchbox. He then took it on a bus in Dublin and showed it off to some girls, at which point it bit him. Thankfully he didn't die but his nickname forever after was Snakebite!