Maine Resident Loses Power, Writes Song of Homage to Cell Tower

A quarter-million Mainers lost power on April 9. In a heavy spring snowstorm, experiencing what they assumed would probably be a multi-day outage, one intrepid resident of Camden, ME decided to write a song praising what was still operational.

Meg Barclay used the John Hiatt song “The Tiki Bar is Open”©  to laud the dependability of wireless infrastructure. Dubbing it “The Maine Coronavirus Power Outage Song,” Barclay told Inside Towers she wanted to offer her apologies to John Hiatt and added, “all we can do is laugh at fate.”

Thank God the cell tower is standing.

Thank God my mobile’s bell still chimes.

Thank God the cell tower is powered.

Come on. Scroll down. It’ll numb your mind.

I was locked down, working homebound,

In a surreality.

Then the snow began a fallin’.

Will the power last? We’ll see.

First the cable went, then power.

Went to bed. What else to do?

Now it’s morning. There’s no water.

I can’t even flush my loo.

I guess I could read a novel

While the daylight holds. It’s true.

And my range is gas, so there’s that.

At least I can cook a stew.

But I can’t invite you over

To my hearth to share a meal.

Though the woodstove fire is cozy,

We’ve got cooties, so no deal.

Thank God the cell tower is standing.

Thank God my mobile bell still chimes.

Thank God the cell tower is powered.

Come on. Scroll down. It’ll numb your mind.