More like this
Shatner turns Palin farewell speech into poetry
The Star Trek actor has performed a spoken word version of the departing Alaska governor’s tribute to her home state on the Tonight Show
Sarah Palin's rambling paean to her home state of Alaska as she left office last Sunday has been immortalised as a beat poem by the veteran Star Trek actor William Shatner. He appeared on Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show to recite passages of the departing governor’s speech, accompanied by jazz musicians playing the bongos and a double bass.
In her speech, Palin (above) paid tribute to Alaska's natural beauty, talking poetically of Denali national park and the "merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins".
Shatner (right), whose spoken-word interpretations of psychedelic songs like Mr Tambourine Man, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Rocket Man have given him cult status in some circles, appeared to relish the opportunity to give Palin's words an added twist.
He ended the deadpan recital, which was greeted with rapturous applause from the studio audience, with the impenetrable line: "It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future".
Shatner, who played Capt Kirk in the long-running TV show and the first Star Trek feature films, is the latest celebrity to make hay from Palin's unique way with words. During last year's presidential campaign, comedian Tina Fey rose to prominence thanks to her uncanny impressions of the Republican VP candidate on Saturday Night Live. ·
Comments are now closed on this article
Comments
In addendum to the above statement,the one in the White House should be the one we are afraid .
Mr. McGowan,you must be a democrat or an Independant. You folks are afraid of Ms. Palin so you go about using smear tactics. I was taught that,if you could not say anything about a person,keep your thoughts to yourself.
John Jester misses Shatner's perfectly aimed shot at a woman who is a danger to the entire world unless stopped in her tracks.
Mr. Shatner is getting to be a noxious bore. He is loud,and mouthing into areas where he should not tread. As he gets older he gets louder. He is a drunk trying to be in the public eye. Shatner,you are NO longer Capt. James T. Kirk.