April 21, 2008
Couldn't stand the damn Dog
The albums Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs are some of his clinically insane outings, but they have their moments of brilliance, be it in the music or the lyrics. He's a gifted lyricist in that he observes what few artists choose to observe, and he's the man who wrote such lines as "Don't you know there ain't no Devil, there's just God when he's drunk" (Heartattack and Vine) and "A redhead in a uniform will always get you horny" (Foreign Affairs).
Now this song off Swordfishtrombones might be a bit macabre, but for some reason I can identify with its sentiment completely. I don't know what that says about me. Maybe it's better not to think about that, but here's Frank's Wild Years for downloading. It's a short song, but to me it says more about anything than 99% of modern music out there. Enjoy.
Frank's Wild Years
Frank settled down in the Valley,
and he hung his wild years on a
nail that he drove through his
wife's forehead.
He sold used office furniture out
there on San Fernando Road and
assumed a $30,000 loan at
15 1/4 % and put a down payment
on a little two bedroom place.
His wife was a spent piece of used jet trash
Made good bloody-marys, kept her mouth
shut most of the time, had a little Chihuahua
named Carlos that had some kind of skin
disease and was totally blind.
They had a thoroughly modern kitchen;
self-cleaning oven 'n' the whole bit
Frank drove a little sedan.
They were so happy.
One night Frank was on his way home
from work, stopped at the liquor store,
picked up a couple of Mickey's Big Mouth’s.
Drank 'em in the car on his way to the
Shell station; he got a gallon of gas in a can.
Drove home, doused everything in
the house, torched it.
Parked across the street laughing,
watching it burn, all Halloween
orange and chimney red.
Frank put on a top forty station,
got on the Hollywood Freeway
headed North.
Never could stand that dog.
Posted by Chris at April 21, 2008 10:27 AM