B Student

a song by Rustan Leino, featuring Bengt Karlsson

Words by music by Rustan Leino, September 2001.

Rustan Leino: All vocals, keyboards, bass, drum programming.
Bengt Karlsson: Electric guitars.

Recorded by Rustan Leino (2001), and by Rustan Leino and Bengt Karlsson (June 2003).

Copyright © 2001, 2003, Rustan Leino and Bengt Karlsson.

Story

I wrote this song in the midst of some corporate turmoil that was going through not just Compaq (which owned the research lab where I was working) but also large parts of the computer industry and Silicon Valley. The sentiment of upper management was sharply focused on near-term profits–or, perhaps more precisely, on near-term survival. That may be the corporate world, but there’s more to be enjoyed in life, even traits that are not hailed by Wall Street and front-covers of magazines.

The initial cut of this song seemed to be missing something, and the background vocals were too pierce. To the rescue came my cousin Bengt Karlsson, who with his family visited us from Sweden. With Bengt’s eager guitar playing, good listening, and helpful suggestions, the final recording came together in but a few hours.

Enjoy!

Lyrics

Everything in this world is measured and compared
Success is phrased in terms of Dollars and per cent
Have they forgotten that good things come
in small packages, in fun size cups

She’s a B student
   oh, she’s got class alright
She’s a B student
   bright and beautiful
She’s a B student
   a D would be too big for her
She’s my B student
   I give her an A+

Market trends and budget cuts, where is the economy heading?
She’s efficient and lean, small waist is her middle name
Better supply chain through big lay-offs
But she is petite and I am on

She’s a B student …