album cover
album cover
Tribulation was released on August 21, 2026 by Joy Machine Records 2026 as a part of the album Schmigadoon! (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
August 21, 2026
LabelJoy Machine Records 2026
LanguageEnglish
BPM107
Melodicness
Acousticness
Valence
Danceability
Energy

Lyrics

[Intro]
Good afternoon, Mrs. Layton
Is it?
Pardon?
Oh sir, I hear you, yes, I hear you, and normally I would agree, it is a good afternoon
But not this afternoon, not with the state of our town today
[Verse 1]
Oh, we've got tribulation, my good sir
We've got tribulation in Schmigadoon
Look down there, do you see what I see?
Peanut shells in the street
Lying there like passed-out drunks in the gutter
Turning town square into the floor of a saloon
The home of loose women and hooch-happy sinners
A petting pantry in the middle of the street
[Verse 2]
Is that what our town's become?
Is that the future we want for our children?
I'm telling you, things have changed ever since those two outsiders waltzed in
With their big city ways and their newfangled ideas
Promiscuity and depravity
Interlopers interloping with hearts
Colder than the hinges of hell
[Verse 3]
First the two of them arrived unmarried
Brimming with lust, wanting to share a bed
Then a brazen display at the basket auction
And now the Mayor's out proclaiming his perversions
At the root of it all two strangers who've never cracked a Bible in their life
And that's gonna lead to tribulation and strife
[Verse 4]
Now I've got nothing against outsiders
Provided they're the right kind of people
Kind of folks who look and talk and act like us
Peas in a pod and birds of a feather
Not loud-mouthed trash with their tommyrot and flapdoodle
Claptrap, fiddle-faddle, jiggery-pokery
Stirring up the cream while you're waiting for it to settle like
Vermin in the root cellar, flies in the buttermilk
[Verse 5]
And they're influencing
There, I said it, they're influencing your children
Like an earwig crawling from their ear to their brain
And soon your youngins'll be neglecting chores
Milk going sour unstrained in the springhouse
Backtalk at dinner, no time for the good book
Ragtime blaring on the Victrola
And that's just the beginning, folks
[Verse 6]
Soon you won't even, no, you won't, no, you won't even recognize your own town
I'm talking about neon signs, smoke-filled rooms
Billiard parlors and painted ladies
Wanton women having children out of wedlock
Rowdy men using filthy language
The devil himself dancing on the front porch
Stealing your babies from their cribs at midnight
Cows and sheep having amorous congress
Children with the mark of the beast on their foreheads
All thanks to these two out-of-towners
Dr. Skinner and Miss Gimble
Better hold on to your husband
Best keep an eye on your wife
'Cause there's gonna be some tribulation and strife
[Chorus]
Oh, we've got strife
Got strife
And tribulation
Tribulation!
And not to mention, improvisation
That sounds bad
Let's pray the Lord will save us soon
Pray the Lord, save us soon
'Cause we've got strife and tribulation in Schmigadoon
[Verse 7]
Strife, strife!, strife, strife
Strife, strife!, strife, strife
Hey!
Now, I love this town, I do, it was my own great-great-granddaddy who founded Schmigadoon
He came upon this beautiful tract of land and said, "They'll never find us here"
But it pains me, yes, it pains me, to see my town turning into something it was never meant to be
New leadership, that's what Schmigadoon needs.
But who? Who has the moral where-with-all, the traditional how-to
The good old-fashioned all-American je ne sais quoi to stand up to these outsiders?
Mildred Layton for Mayor
Oh no, I couldn't
Mildred Layton for Mayor
Oh no, I shouldn't
Mildred Layton for Mayor
Okay, I'll do it
[Outro]
It's time to vote
To vote
And vote for Layton
Vote for Layton
She is the only one who'll save our town from Satan
Save us now
Let's hope that she will save us soon
Hope that she, save us soon
'Cause we've got strife and tribulation
Strife and tribulation
Grief and consternation
Grief and consternation
Strife and tribulation in Schmigadoon
Written by: Cinco Paul
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