... with aplogies to Don McLean

A long, long time ago...
You can still remember how
The meetings used to make you smile.
And you knew if given half a chance,
You'd make some dollars and VCs dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But this February made us shiver
With bad news each one of you delivered.
Bad news followed step by step,
Leading to one last deadly step.

I can’t remember if we cried
When we read about his wounded pride,
But something touched us deep inside
The day the meeting died.

So sigh, sigh, kiss the good times goodbye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ brewsky and wine,
Singin’ what’s ours is yours and what’s yours is mine.
What’s ours is yours, and you’ll do just fine.

Did you see the books before hand,
And do have you faith in their demand,
If the FTC tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ‘n roll?
Can mergers save your corporate soul,
And can you teach them how to move real slow?

Well, we know that you just hate them
`Cause you know they’ve got the momentum.
You both kicked out your news.
Now who’s digging those shareholder blues?

He was a lanky post-grad broncin’ buck
With big ideas and lotsa pluck,
But we all knew he was out of luck
The day the meeting died.

He started singing,
Sigh, sigh, kiss the good times goodbye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ brewsky and wine,
Singin’ what’s ours is yours and what’s yours is mine.
What’s ours is yours, and you’ll do just fine.

Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own,
And men grow fat when left alone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and king,
In a coat he borrowed from Jim and Huang
In a voice that dripped with heavy slang.

Oh, and while the group was looking down,
The jester stole their winner's crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
The verdict was returned.
And while Gary read a book on Zen,
The quartet went back to three again,
And you sold software without end
The day the meeting died.

And we were singing,
Sigh, sigh, kiss the good times goodbye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ brewsky and wine,
Singin’ what’s ours is yours and what’s yours is mine.
What’s yours is ours, and we’ll do just fine.

Helter skelter in a summer swelter,
The words flew out and there was no shelter.
Values overblown and falling fast,
No owner said this price will last.
The hunted tried to take a pass,
But the newer jester said don’t be an ass.

Now in quiet period’s sweet perfume
Long-time employees hear a funeral tune.
We all want to see the dance,
But know they don’t stand a chance!
‘Cause when raiders try to take the field
The directors board will have to yield,
And none will know what was revealed,
The day the meeting died.

And they're singing,
Sigh, sigh, kiss the good times goodbye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ brewsky and wine
Singin’ what’s ours is yours and what’s yours is now mine.
What’s yours is ours, and we’ll do just fine.

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation bent on the race
With no time left to start again.
So come on: Joe be nimble, Joe be quick!
Joe Flash set up a stock uptick,
‘Cause fire is the raider’s only friend.

Oh, and as they watched him on the stage
Their hands were lax to turn the page.
No angel born in Hell
Could break that guru’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the hostile buyer’s might,
I saw the new jester laugh with delight
The day the meeting died.

He wasn’t singing,
Sigh, sigh, kiss the good times goodbye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ brewsky and wine,
Singin’ what’s ours is yours and what’s yours is mine.
What’s yours is ours, and we’ll do just fine.

I met a guy who sang the blues
And I asked him for some happy news,
But he just smiled and turned away.
I listened to the sacred lore
About all the songs from years before,
But the man now said the music wouldn’t play.

And on The Street, the brokers screamed,
The VCs cried, and i-bankers dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The friendships all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
Wally, John, and Aart de Geus,
Hoped it all might be a ruse
The day the meeting died.

They started singing,
Sigh, sigh kiss the good times good bye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Them good old days of fierce rivalry’s dead.
They eaten each other or popped poisen instead,
And now just pass for the walking dead.

And they're singing,
Sigh, sigh, kiss the good times goodbye.
EDAC’s spirit is broken and the watering hole’s dry.
Yet old boys still sit there and cry, and they cry,
Singing this will be the day it all dies.