Fast and Bulbous That's Right The Mascara Snake....

I know I came a cross this album when I did because if it was any later I would have felt like an asshole that I did not know about Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. Any earlier I would have either thrown it away or I would have not gotten it. I also know that this is the album I want to bring with me when I die. I first heard it when I was 16 years old and even then it was the oddest thing I have every listened to. I will subject you to lyrics of some of the songs on this amazing double album. I firmly believe if this was a single album then it would not have the effects on so many people today. Here is the lyrics to "The Dust Blows Foward n' The Dust Blows Back" if you listen to the song on any format weather LP, cassette or CD it sounds like a 1940's blues song. There is no music it's just Beefheart singing a capella. It's uniqueness is that fact that the lyrics make it so disjoint that you think he is making them on the spot, but in actually he wrote this. Here you go...

There's ole Gray with 'er dove-winged hat

Threre's ole Green with her sewing machine
Where's the bobbin at?
Tote'n old grain in uh printed sack
The dust blows forward 'n dust blows back
And the wind blows black thru the sky
And the smokestack blows up in suns eye
What am I gonna die?
Uh white flake riverboat just flew by
Bubbles popped big
'n uh lipstick Kleenex hung on uh pointed forked twig
Reminds of the bobby girls
Never was my hobby girls
Hand full uh worms and uh pole fishin'
Cork bobbin' like uh hot red bulb
'n uh blue jay squeaks
His beak open an inch above uh creek
Gone fishin' for a week
Well I put down my bush
'n I took of my pants 'n felt free
The breeze blowin' up me 'n up the canyon
Far as I could see
It's night now and the moon looks like uh dandelion
It's black now 'n the blackbird's feedin' on rice
'n his red wings look diamonds 'n lice
I can hear the mice toes scamperin'
Gophers rumblin' in pile crater rock hole
One red bean stuck in the bottom of uh tin bowl
Hot coffee from uh krimpt up can

Me 'n my girl named Bimbo Limbo Spam

Those Beefheart words in some peoples mind are kind of odd, but if you think the way I think they have a good rhyme and rhythm to them that not many can pull off. Beefheart does that a lot through out the course of Trout Mask Replica. There are 28 songs on this double LP and each song has it's own voice for exploration and trying to say what it is. In a feature by Langdon Winner in the book called Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island Langdon talks about Trout Mask Replica so well that his points are some of the best points. "No record alienates the ear of modern America faster than Beefheart's magnum opus." "It's guitars wail along in cacophonous jerks and starts that seem designed to offend our appetite for harmony and order."

The lyrics or moreover the words of Beefheart are tough to digest. His words are really difficult for the trained ear to understand. If you take them on their own merit then this album will not be to your liking. Each song has poetry beyond the words we know, but they have a beat or rhyme all their own. At first listen to the words you would have problems understanding. If you took these words and went to a poetry class like I did the teacher would have no idea what to make of it. In High School we discussed poetry that we liked. If we did not find anything then we were offered lyrics of songs that we liked. I brought in two unusual pieces for the class. One of them was the lyrics to In The Court of the Crimson King and the other were to some of Beefheart's words from Trout Mask Replica. It was a tough task to write down the words the way he was saying them. In the first pressing of Trout Mask Replica there was a nice lyric sheet, but later pressing got rid of them. The CD had them but the CD was not out till after I finished High School. I had to listen to the songs I chose and stop the tape and start again to get what he said. The teacher thought the person I was listening to was an uneducated man who was mentally ill.



I saw yuh baby dancin' in your x-ray gingham dress
I knew you were under duress
I knew you were under yer dress
Just keep comin' Jesus
Your the best dressed
You look dandy in the sky but you don't scare me
Cause I got you here in my eye
In this lifetime you got m'humangetsmeblues
With yer jaw hangin' slack n' yer hair's curlin'
Like an ole navy fork stickin' in the sunset
The way you were dancin' I knew you'd never come back
You were strainin' t' keep yer
Old black cracked patent shoes
In this lifetime you got m'humangetsmeblues
Well the way you'd been ole lady
I could see the fear in yer windows
Under yer furry crawlin' brow
Uh silver bow rings up in inches
You were afraid you'd be the devils red wife
But it's alright God dug yer dance
'n would have you young 'n in his harum
Dress you the way he wants cause he never had uh doll
Cause everybody made him uh boy
'n God didn't think t' ask his preference
You can bring yer dress 'n yer favorite dog
'n yer husbands cane
'n yer old spotted dog
Cause in this lifetime
You've got m'humangetsmeblues

Now if you listen to the music of Beefheart then you have a more difficult time. Each has it's own jerks, stops and non normal rhythmic patterns. A good example of this is the instrumental "Hair Pie: Bake 2" The song lasts for little under two and half minutes, and there are no fewer then fourteen separate beats and melodies quickly introduced, briefly run, and then junked. There is a moment of where you feel a groove and it's quickly dismissed. If you want to learn how to play these jerks and non rhythmic patterns then good luck. They were difficult then and they still are. Gary Lucas was in his band near the end of Beefheart's musical legacy and said some of these musical stuff created took more out of him then anything he has ever done.



The music and words were carefully done by Beefheart and work well with Beefheart's idea. It's oddness shows that there really is something that can be explored with great intent. It might take more repeated listening then most albums but after six or seven listen the cookie appears and it's something that should be enjoyed. Every six or seven songs should be digested with the decision that you have to have open ears. Then when you somewhat figure those out, then go and digest the next six or seven. It will take some time, but try it out and go for it.

I am not sure how to explain a terrific album such as Trout Mask Replica, but there are some great moments that should be understood that the album once panned is now a prize to enjoy.
Go forth and listen to it and tell me what you think. Captain Beefheart is amazing and a man to be honored for going against the grain that people were heading. I mean even during the late sixties people protesting the war and the psychedelic movement. Beefheart did not do that directly. There are four anti-war songs on the album. It's oddness surely makes it a quick listen. I gave it to a friend to listen to and to this day (it's been three years) he still has not gotten the directness of the album.



As one might expect from music so complex and, to many ears, inaccessible, the influence of Trout Mask Replica was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless future experiments in rock surrealism, especially during the punk/new wave era. (AM) For suggested reading on the album I suggest the quotes I lifted from at the top of this post are from the book I also mentioned above with the essay on Trout Mask Replica. There is also a 33 1/3 series with one of the books wholly dedicated to the album. Both readings are well done on breaking down the album. If you have not heard the album, buy it or grab it from somewhere and the start reading the explanations I give and these two sources talk about and discuss. Lastly, Enjoy! I might not given the best explanation about the album but to me this is an album that is more a painting then just a art project done in 3rd grade. Each album he has put out is unique in so many ways. I could more then likely write about all of them, but this is where I got my start and you as well. Enjoy! I leave you with more lyrics after the photo.



Pena
Her litle head clinking
Like a barrel of red velvet balls
Full past noise
Treats filled her eyes
Turning them yellow like enamel coated tacks
Soft like butter hard not to pour
Out enjoying the sun while sitting on a turned on waffle iron
Smoke billowing up from between her legs
Made me vomit beautifully
And crush a chandelier
Fall on my stomach 'n view her
From a thousand happened facets
Liquid red salt ran over crystals
I later band-aided the area
Sighed
Oh well it was worth it
Pena pleased but sore from sitting
Choose to stub her toe
'n view the white pulps horribly large in their red pockets
"I'm tired of playing baby," she explained
'n out of uh blue felt box let escape
One yellow butterfly the same size
Its dropping were tiny green phosphorous worms
That moved in tuck 'n rolls that clacked
'n whispered in their confinement
Three little burnt scotch taped windows
Several yards away
Mouths open to tongues that vibrated
'n lost saliva
Pena exclaimed, "That's the raspberries."