Leslie Nielsen
I received a shipment yesterday
Countless letters kissed or signed
Some were pert on floral paper
Others curt and unrefined
But they all are flat and useless
Like a box of uncut keys
For a door without a keyhole
Swinging freely in a breeze
So I tossed them in recycling
But for one that touched my heart
As it lauded Leslie Nielsen
Though it tore the film apart
Nothing to see here, please disperse
Leave me to be alone with her free and flowing verse
Nothing to see here, move along
All those cold and cockeyed critics, they’re all dead wrong
Robert Hays could act his ass off
Could break your eyes with any line
Or so he thought, or so he wanted
His dreams were big, so were mine
Then we were funny once, just one time
We made you laugh, that’s all it took
To cement our reputations
We’d bent the straight into a hook
But we got pigeonholed as deadpan
Which at the time would set me free
As I finally felt an actor
Emerged as Drebin, and he as me
Nothing to see here, please disperse
Let the critics have their chuckle, watch me chuck this typecast curse
Nothing to see here, move along
All those cold and cockeyed critics, they’re all dead wrong
Now as I read once more the letter
Prepare to draft a note to thank
My wife asks, “Les, why are you crying?”
I say, “I’m so much more than Frank”
I tell her, “Stop, please stop your laughing”
Even her I can’t impress
And she says, “Les, you can’t be serious”
I surely am, and don’t call me Les
I am more, I’m Leslie Nielsen
And you can always count on me
To be straight or frank or serious
You may laugh, but watch and see
Nothing to see here, please disperse
Leave me to be alone with her free and flowing verse
Nothing to see here, stop your gaze
If this note is actually from a woman, and she truly means the praise
Then I have all that I need here and everyone
And I’ve finally rid my body of this naked gun
Point those cold and cockeyed critics to young Robert Hays