30 Rock – Kidney Now – Milton Greene
Musical segments rarely work in a sitcom especially when it’s not part of the normal structure of the show. But thankfully last night’s Kidney Now bit on 30 Rock finished off the show’s season with a bang. The show struggled with incorporating celebrity guests this season and I really thought Tina Fey & company were doomed with having the likes of Clay Aiken (never funny) and Mary J. Blige on the show. Yes, the spoken lines by Sheryl Crow and Elvis Costello were stilted and unnatural but I can forgive it all due to the fact that the ending tribute for Milton Greene was so well done. So often, songs written specifically for sitcoms feel like an afterthought but in this case the song “He Needs a Kidney” was the highlight of the episode. Check it out…
Milton Greene: One Song. One Man. One Kidney.
The celebrities in the tribute for Milton Greene include: Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Adam Levine, Adam Horovitz, Sara Bareilles, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Talib Kweli, Michael McDonald, Rhett Miller, Moby, Robert Randolph, Rachael Yamagata, Cyndi Lauper and Clay Aiken (isn’t his “15 minutes” over by now????).
—
He needs a kidney: The Lyrics
Sometimes life brings pain and strife
And all seems wrong
That is when you find a friend
And write a song
Give the gift of giving
Give it far and give it wide
Take the leap – reach down deep inside
And just give a kidney
To a father or a dad
Just give a kidney
We hear it doesn’t really hurt that bad
And we know you’ll want to give it
To a super human being
So get it done
We just need one
For Milton Greene
This country has six hundred million kidneys
And we really only need half
That leaves about three hundred million kidneys
Do the math
Milton Greene Milton Greene
Milton Greene Milton Greene
Milton Greene
He needs a kidney
Milton Greene
Don’t ask why – he could die
If you don’t call today
Listen, when someone starts talking in the middle of a song you know it’s serious. So give Milton a kidney. We all believe in this cause so much we’re doing it for free. Except for Sheryl. That’s right. I’m the only one getting paid. And only three of us are drunk. Milton Greene needs a kidney. Just like I need this beard. You don’t want to see what’s under here. And while you don’t have two beards you do have two kidneys. Think of it this way: if I had two dollars, I’d give you one, wouldn’t I? I’m one of the drunk ones!
They say that two is better than one
But sometimes one is better than two
If you had two heads you’d wish you had one
How is this different?
If you had two dogs attacking you
You’d want just one
There I proved my point!
Milton Greene Milton Greene
Milton Greene Milton Greene
Milton Greene
He needs a kidney
Milton Greene
Don’t ask why – he could die
If you don’t call today
He needs a kidney
No he doesn’t need a hand
He just needs a kidney
A hand would be an even harder thing to give
When you give a kidney
And we really think you should
We pass the cup
They stitch it up
You do some good
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ha, ha! that’s so funny. the spoken part and the rap afterwards are both hilarious. love the show. hope it never gets cancelled.
best line – Cindy Lauper saying “I’m one of the drunk ones”!
and yeah, Clay Aiken needs to go jump off a cliff.
30 Rock along with the Office are probably the best comedies on TV at the moment. absolutely brilliant!
Wow, what a hilarious song. Kidney Now has got to be one of the most genius things that 30 Rock has done this season, and that’s saying a lot. I like how they are able to satirize the whole celebrity song for a cause thing while also truly spreading the word about this cause.
Great celebrity cast, good idea to include Cyndi ‘We are the World” Lauper and I was also way happy to see Rhett Miller lending his vocals to the cause, too. I’ve been anxiously waiting for his new album to come out next month, but for now I’m happy just to see him on 30 Rock.