how the impact of words can reach above and beyond

i can't stop listening to "praying for time" as it was performed by carrie underwood during "idol gives back". i mean, she sang the hell out of the song (as always), but beyond that, it was what she was saying, the lyrics she was selling, the story being told, that really shook me hard.

anyways, here are the lyrics from "praying for time", which was originally written for george michael on his classic album "listen without prejudice" (i knew i heard this song before). although, to be honest, carrie's version leaves the original in the dust.

"Praying for Time"

These are the days of the open hand.
They will not be the last.
Look around now.
These are the days of the beggars
and the choosers.

This is the year of the hungry man
whose place is in the past,
hand in hand with ignorance
and legitimate excuses.

The rich declare themselves poor
and most of us are not sure
if we have too much.
But we'll take our chances
because God stopped keeping score.
I guess somewhere along the way,
he must have let us all out to play,
turned his back and all god's children
crept out the back door.

And it's hard to love.
Theres so much to hate.
Hanging on to hope
when there is no hope to speak of.
And the wounded skies above
say it's much too late,
well maybe, we should all be
praying for time.

These are the days of the empty hand.
Oh you hold on to what you can.
And charity is a coat you wear
twice a year.

This is the year of the guilty man.
Your television takes a stand.
And you find that what was over there
is over here.
So you scream from behind your door.
Say what's mine is mine and not yours.
I may have too much,
but I'll take my chances
Because God stopped keeping score.

And you cling to the things
they sold you.
Did you cover your eyes when
they told you
that he can't come back
because he has no children
to come back for?

And it's hard to love.
There's so much to hate.
Hanging on to hope
when there is no hope to speak of.
And the wounded skies above
say it's much too late,
well maybe, we should all be
praying for time.

how i'm very late with this because i thought it would suck, but it didn't suck, so i suck

i just caught the saturday night live repeat with peyton manning, and it was actually hilarious.

the funny part about it is that i had no doubt that he would be funny; it's SNL that i was worried about. peyton's perfect deadpan wouldn't seem to work in sketch comedy (although it should).

but it worked.

much has been said about the united way ad spoof he was in, and yeah, it's great. but here's a great sketch from the episode, and it includes the second funniest line i've heard on television this year: "i walked around all day with sliced ham in my pants, just so i could have a secret".

it's second only to "live every week like it's shark week" by tracy jordan on "30 rock". honestly, that one is very hard to beat.

then go check out "maraka", a perfect robert smigel take on "dora the explorer". it's delightfully demented.

also, for the record, and i know that all of you have been awaiting for me to give an official ruling on this, musical guest carrie underwood has really got it going on.

like, really really really got it going on.