This slideshow is automatically timed to play along with the song "The Stranger". The song tells a story about a stranger who comes to a Tennessee town and befriends a family, captivating them with his stories. However, he also exposes the family to ideas that go against their values through his stories and behavior. While the father is enthralled by the stranger, the mother is more wary of his influence. The song reflects on how the stranger shaped the narrator's life and thoughts for better or worse. It also discusses how television can have a similar influence as "the stranger" in molding people's lives and thoughts.

1. ♫ Turn on your speakers!
This slide show is automatically timed
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Lyrics: Based on a story by Keith Currie, adapted by Jerry Paladino
Music: Jerry Paladino

2. A few short months 'for I was born,
On a hot and humid July morn',
A stranger came to our Tennessee town.
It was easy to see that he'd been around:

3. So full of stories of varying themes,
Tales of woe, of passion and dreams.
--Right then from the very start
He captivated my Papa's heart,
And before you could whistle
“Jimmy crack corn” Papa had
invited him home!

4. Then I was born and filled my
space, and as I grew up I never
questioned his place.
He'd sit right there in the corner
and weave his stories by the
hour, & no one could leave;
Hypnotized by the tales he told,
we were fascinated! Why, he
could hold our whole family
spellbound hours on end—
Except for Mama, who'd
recommend we all grab some
book, or go outside and get
some exercise.

5. That's molding our thoughts and lives?
Is he a danger, or just opening up our eyes?
Who's he, the stranger,
an enemy or a friend?
One thing for sure:
We'll never be the same again,
We'll never be the same again.

6. Now, he knew the past like
no other creature,
understood the present,
predicted the future-Politics, history, science or
sports, why, he knew it all,
a genius of sorts.
He took us to all his
favorite places, and filled
our anxious, waiting faces
with all the good things
he'd been told—
Yep, he knew the World,
it's glitter and gold;
But he also knew the
darker side, and loved to
lay it before our eyes!

7. Now Papa and Mama had strong convictions, and ran our house
with loving restrictions:
No bad language was ever to be heard-But how the stranger liked four-letter words
that stung my ears and made 'em burn,
and made dear Mama and Papa
squirm!
He'd boldly stand right
there and sneer at values
that my folks held dear.
Why, to this day I just cannot
perceive
Why Papa never asked him to leave!

8. He had some strange ideas
about sex, and constantly
offered us cigarettes-Preaching to us that beer
and wine would somehow
bring us peace of mind.
Gory stories filled with action
and bloody endings were his
passion.
As I look back on all those
years, I truly feel that so
many fears I've had through
life were planted then, while
spending time with him.

9. That's molding our thoughts and lives?
Is he a danger, or just opening up our eyes?
Who's he, the stranger,
an enemy or a friend?
One thing for sure:
We'll never be the same again,
We'll never be the same again.

10. Now 40 years have come
and gone, and both Mama
and Papa have slowed
down some.
Papa's no longer so in a
daze from the stranger's
talkative ways.
But to this day, if you walk
in my parent's house, there
in the den the stranger sits,
just awaitin' for someone to
listen to his stories and
those tales he loves to
weave.

11. TV, the stranger,
That's molding our thoughts
and lives.
Is he a danger, or just
opening up our eyes?
TV, the stranger,
Be careful what he has to
One thing's for sure:
You'd better take control today,
You'd better take control.

12. --
U.S. News & World Report asked some
500 business, government and professional leaders
to rate, in terms of their influence, 18 of the nation's
principal organizations and institutions. Television came in first.
It was ranked ahead of the White House and the Supreme
Court and the Congress; ahead of education and religion and
political parties and all competing media.
A Southern Baptist radio and television official agrees with a
recent report which held that television is possibly the most
powerful social force in American culture today.
Paul M. Steven, president of the Southern Baptist Radio and
Television Commission, referred to a survey in U.S. News &
World Report showing that television ranks first--and organized
religion eighteenth--among influences on daily living.
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