It was seventy years past that I met a man named John Frum
That’s John Frum ‘Merica.
He said I’ll bring you cargo and riches where now you have none
‘Cause I’m John Frum ‘Merica.
So now my door stays wide open and I watch the skies for
Old John Frum ‘Merica
But when he turned his back, that was the last I ever saw
Of John Frum ‘Merica.
The priest told me I was being foolish, I’d wait seventy years more
For John Frum ‘Merica
I said you’ve waited two thousand, but who’s keeping score?
Not John Frum ‘Merica.
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This one came from the prompt ‘Lord High Admiral Of The Battlefleet’, and got there via Prince Phillip and the Prince Phillip Movement in Vanuatu.
I didn’t realise that cargo cults weren’t just about getting stuff, they were also about reclaiming ancient customs from westernised lives. It’s a weird dichotomy. The John Frum cult is the longest-lived of all the cargo cults, and I think the only one still going. When asked why they still believe after having waited seventy years for his return, the usual answer is the one given in the story above.
It’s not known for sure if ‘John Frum’ is a corruption of ‘John from America’, but I liked the rhythm of the phrase.