That's a great review,SGR, because it puts
Paul's Boutique into context and also guided me towards what I should be looking for in the Beastie Boys.
First up, the lyrics to
High Plains Drifter are wonderful: references, jokes, images and a wild story are all piled on top of each other in a road-trip adrenal rush:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SGR
Spoiler for High Plains Drifter lyrics:
'Cause I'm the high plains drifter, and I'm the drifter
The high plains drifter, and I'm the drifter
They can't catch me, they're never going to find me
They're never gonna know that I'm the high plains drifter
Pulled to the river, to take a rest
Pulled out a pair of pliers, pulled a bullet out of my chest
Fear and loathing 'cross the country, listenin' to my 8-track
I reached behind the seat and snatched a Kool from the pack
I'm long-distance from my girl and I'm talking on my cellular
She said that she was sorry and I said, "Yeah, the hell you were"
Check the rear view mirror, check the gold tooth display
Check the odometer and I was on my way
'Cause I'm the high plains drifter, the best that you can get
A strapped shoplifter, a pirate on cassette
Bust a Travis Bickle when I feel that I'm getting pushed
Don't step to me 'cause you could be getting mushed
I'm doing 120, plowing over mailboxes
Radar detector to tell me where the cops is
Spend another night at the Motel 6
It's five dollars extra to get the porno flicks
And then I concoct a black and tan in my brandy snifter
I'm a kleptomaniac K-mart shoplifter
Cash flow getting low, so I had to pull a job
Found a nice place to visit but a better place to rob
I left my car outside and the engine still revvin'
Takin' care of business at 7-eleven
And then I went inside to make my withdrawal
I saw what he had had but I had to take it all
Knucklehead deli tried to gyp me off the price
So I clocked him on the turban with a bag of ice
'Cause I'm mellow like Jell-O, cool like lemonade
I made my get a way and then I thought that I had it made
I feel like Steve McQueen, a former movie star
Looked in the rear view mirror seen the police car
Ballantine quarts with the puzzle on the cap
I couldn't help to notice I was caught in a speed trap
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, on the run from Dirty Harry
Stash the cash in the dash, but my gun I did carry
I'm seeing blue and red flashing deep in the night
I got my alibi straight and I pulled over to the right
The cop knocked on my window and said, "Boy, where's the fire?"
You got a mailbox on your bumper and a bald front tire"
"Outta the car, longhair!", your goose is cooked
Read me my rights, fingerprinted and booked
Making like a DT, driving a grand fury
Wherever I hang my hat's my home and my past is kind of blurry
Every dog will have his day, mine will be in front of a jury
High plains drifter, you know that I'm never in a hurry
Read me my rights as if I didn't know this
Threw me in the tank with a drunk called Otis
With his 5 o'clock shadow he smelled of 3 day old beer
My man turned to me and said, "Why are you here?"
I said, I'm charming, I'm dashing, I'm rental-car bashing
I'm phony-paper passing at Nix Check Cashing
I went before the judge he sent me to the Brooklyn house of D
He said, "You behave or we'll throw away the key"
Houdini'd out the cuffs, kicked the screw in the knee
I took the Bailiff's wallet and went straight to OTB
I had a good feeling, easy come, easy go
I bet on one horse to win and your mother to show
And sure enough, that nag came in
Brought my ticket to the window and collected my win
And then I broke into my new car with a wire coat hanger
Hot wired hot wheeled and, "Suzy is a headbanger"
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Next, on your rec, I took another look at
Hey Ladies. Yep, nice cowbell and again the lyrics are well worthy trying to catch. I played the song again, and wondered if it's just the speed of their delivery that is difficult for me. So (thank you, Youtube) I found this:-
Apart from the weird voice quality, I quite liked this speed, tbh. I am still lost on the samples, but found it easier to follow the lyrics. (The
"She got a gold tooth..." starts at 3:10). Again they are a dazzling collection of tight-packed ideas, so thanks for teazing them out for us:
Quote:
We learn about:
A gold-toothed prostitute who knows her trade
A bad breakup that references Vincent Van Gogh’s self-mutilation
A call to an ex in a fit of drunkeness in a nasty phone booth
An act of property destruction against the ex’s house
Suicide after the breakup in a train
A fat mom who serves as rebound sex, happening after the narrator was piss drunk (while referencing the Magilla Gorilla Show theme)
A preference for curvy women with curly long hair
A love of hippy women who are a bit on the self-righteous side
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Quote:
When I was a teenager, I used to have a summer job that was a little under half an hour away (driving). So this album became a constant companion - as every time I’d drive to work, I’d finish half the album - and on the way home after the work day, I’d get through the entire second half right as I was pulling into my parent’s driveway (perhaps this is why I like side 2 of the record a little bit more, but side 1 always provided the energy I needed to motivate myself for the day).
This album is denser than a neutron star - and nothing before and nothing since is quite like it. Nothing ever will be, at least not on a commercial level. While it is a pastiche - the album somehow manages to imitate/sample so many different things, it becomes something totally and wholly unique. It is a complete musical chameleon.
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I loved this vision of the young SGR ! Thanks. It reminds me so much of how I used to feel about the
Trout Mask Replica album: getting pent up and frustrated after a day at High School, then coming home to enjoy an intense album, packed with detail, that most people thought sounded awful - but for me it was my refuge and my rebellion.