A re-working of the Pete Seeger classic, «Little Boxes» (yes, I know it was written by Malvina Reynolds, but I’m only familiar with the Seeger version) for the amusement, hopefully, of my friends in the archives and information science community. I’ve been playing guitar for about a year, and I humbly welcome any constructive criticism or suggestions. I also seem to have managed to cut the top of my head off. I’m sure I’ll get better at it.
Little boxes in the Archives,
Little boxes made by Hollinger
LIttle boxes in the Archives
Little boxes all the same.
There’s a grey one and a grey one and a grey one and a grey one,
And they’re all made out of cardboard
And they all are acid free
And the stuff inside of the boxes
All goes into file folders
And it all gets flattened out and the staples are removed.
There’s minutes and photographs and reports and correspondence,
And it all gets stored away so it lasts a long, long time.
Then the people come into the archives to learn about their history
And they go through all the boxes, very carefully.
There’s students and reporters and housewives and genealogists,
And they find what they’re looking for and they all leave happily.
Then they write up all their research and give to an Archivist
Who puts into boxes, little boxes all the same.
There’s a grey one and a grey one and a grey one and a grey one…
And they’re all made out of cardboard and they all look just the same.
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