FNC’s O’Reilly Highlights Ray Stevens Song Parody Attacking ObamaCare

On Friday's The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly interviewed singer Ray Stevens about a musical parody titled "We the People," posted on his Web site at RayStevens.com, in which he goes after ObamaCare. Stevens, famous for doing musical parodies since the 1960s -- though previously never political in nature -- on Friday's show joked that he is "right of Attila the Hun" politically.

Below is a transcript of portions of the interview from the Friday, January 15, The O'Reilly Factor on FNC:

BILL O'REILLY: "Factor Follow-up" segment tonight. Word is the health care bill just about ready to be presented to we the people. So expect a lot of chaos next week. Yesterday, the Obama administration made a deal with some left wing unions not to tax their lavish healthcare benefits, so that stifled some liberal complaints. Right now, the polls say Americans are split over whether Obamacare should pass, but there is very strong dissent. And one of those opposed is the song parody guy, Ray Stevens.

RAY STEVENS, SINGING IN PARODY: Hey, Congress, you vote ObamaCare, we'll vote you out of there. We the people have awakened to your tricks. You vote to let this pass, you’ll be out on your (FOGHORN SOUND REPLACES WORD)

We've heard from Hannity, Beck, and Limbaugh, what you got in mind with grandma, and we found this O'Reilly fellow on Fox. We’re kind of like Joe the Plumber. And when we crunch the numbers, it all adds up to voting you out at the ballot box.

O'REILLY: Joining us now from Nashville, Tennessee, is Ray Stevens. Are you a conservative guy?

STEVENS: You betcha. I'm right of Attila the Hun, I'm telling you.

O'REILLY: Have you always been that way?

STEVENS: Yes, sir, I always have, and let me say that Ray Stevens is glad that O'Reilly found this song.

O'REILLY: I like the song. It's very catchy. But look, I was a fan since I was a kid. I remember you on the Andy Williams program. I remember "Ahab the Arab," which you could never get away with it, we'll play a little bit of that in a moment. But I'm curious. So you're 71 years old, and we haven't heard from you in a while. You do have RayStevens.com, and then you put yourself up on there. But is this the biggest reaction you've had in quite some time?

STEVENS: Quite some time, yeah. And it's just, you know, I've never stopped doing what I've always done. I love what I do, but this has been sort of a breakthrough, really.

O'REILLY: Now when you were in the mainstream, and you had a number of hits, you didn't do political stuff. I mean "Gitarzan," "Misty." These things were, you know, pretty standard. They were funny parodies, but they weren't politically honed. When did you start the political stuff?

STEVENS: Well, you know, I've always been interested in the political stuff. I just didn't have the opportunity or the material, actually, that I thought would be good to put out there. But this song came along, and I thought yeah, let's do this.

O'REILLY: Now, in the Clinton administration you didn't have the, it seems that would be, that would be your turf there, Mr. Stevens. You know what I'm talking about?

STEVENS: Well, yeah, it would. It should have been, and I apologize for being silent during that time. But we, the people, have awakened.

O'REILLY: You have, that's for sure. When we first played this, I guess a couple of weeks ago, we blew your Web site out. I mean, millions of people went in there to listen to the song.

STEVENS: Yeah, we crashed. Thank you.

O'REILLY: No, I'm just glad I could bring – look, we need a little – all the levity we can get to this country. It's a very funny song, you do have very well. Now, I want to go back and for some viewers who are as old as I am to a song called "Ahab the Arab." Roll the tape.

...

STEVENS: We're having a lot of fun with the present situation as far as material for the "We, the People" album, by the way, which will be out very shortly. Certainly, toward the end of February, I think. By that time we'll have the album out.

O'REILLY: And you're going to have, what, is it all going to be political songs?

STEVENS: It will be a lot of political songs but just a lot of patriotic songs also.

O'REILLY: Okay, good, good. And when that comes out, send it to us, and we'll play a few of them on the Factor.