woensdag 8 februari 2012

Antwoordliedjes

Afgelopen week luisterde ik naar Who Killed Amanda Palmer van Amanda Palmer en bij het vijfde nummer werd mijn aandacht getrokken: Waar kende ik dat van?
Uiteindelijk waren het natuurlijk de woorden "It's still cold in Alaska" die me op het juiste spoor zetten: Caroline Says II van Lou Reed, wat weer een variant is op Stephanie says van The Velvet Underground.
Ik hou wel van dat soort intertekstualiteit, waarbij een liedje niet gecoverd wordt, maar eerder beantwoord wordt.
Het mooiste voorbeeld vind ik nog altijd de relatie tussen Frank's Wild Years van Tom Waits (dat hierboven staat) en Frank's Brother (Spotify)van The Lee Sankey Group. Lees en luister zelf...
Frank's Wild Years - Tom Waits
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 (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.
Frank's Brother - Lee Sankey
Any hope Frank’s Brother had for that town had died the day the fridge magnet store opened. He’d packed and moved out into the woods where he could be alone.

Mikey asked if that was a top forty station he could just make out behind his brother's crackly voice. This worried him because Frank only listened to that kind of music when he was feeling wild. Frank asked if he could stay for a while. “You haven’t burnt your house down again...have you Frank?” Frank asked if he could hear a bird in the background...

Frank's brother was annoyed to hear about the house fire. Not that he gave a damn about the house or Frank’s inept bloody mary making wife, but he liked Carlos, and that was no way for a dog to die. Visually impaired or not. Mikey imagined the plastic iguana that his brother kept on his dashboard, next to the sock he used to demist his windows, grinning wickedly at his owner's rebellious lapse from reality.

Mikey’s pet cockatoo squawked triumphantly as it knocked another mug off the draining board, one of his owner's favourites too. A souvenir from an old trip to Paris...Texas. Mikey had acquired what he would only refer to as 'the bird' after losing a bet to a woman called Melissa. He didn’t like to talk about it as he and the cockatoo didn’t get on. The china breaking was happening too regularly to be a coincidence and half of his collection had been smashed in what could only be described as an experiment by the cockatoo to conclusively prove that china cannot fly. Mikey had pleaded with the bird that this was already a well known fact but the cockatoo’s commitment and passion remained undiminished. Mikey now suspected the bird was actually vindictive.

Sometimes he was certain he could see the bird smile as it surveyed the smashed china from its perch, hopping with wild excitement when his current owner stooped down to pick up the pieces. Perhaps he would set fire to his lost wager when it was on one of its regular excursions up the chimney. Although this was strictly against the terms of the bet.

“Well can I stay?” said Frank. Mikey explained that this was the last time he would help out his brother in this way. He put the phone down, lit the stove. Frank would be arriving at any moment.
Ken je meer van dergelijke antwoord-liedjes? Wil je ze dan toevoegen aan mijn Spotify-lijstje of in het reactieformulier zetten?

(Overigens, covers kunnen ook geweldig zijn. Luister bijvoorbeeld naar Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele.)

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