Diary (May 13, 2020)

Online diary of Karl Jones for Wednesday May 13, 2020.

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Diary

Song of the Day for Howard Kranz

Ninth in a series of songs for Howard and me to cover.

Fuller Brush Man

"Where'd You Hide The Body" (1995) - James McMurtry.

"Fuller Brush Man" by James McMurtry - (Album: Where'd You Hide The Body (1995))

When I was maybe three or four
The Fuller Brush man would knock at the door
He'd always tell me, "Boy, you're gonna miss the fun!
Time you're old enough the honky-tonks'll all be gone."

Momma had no sense with cars
She drove a Sunbeam and she drove it hard
Left her stranded time and again
Didn't matter, you could do that then

And they danced on the rooftops
Let their hearts run wild
Such a sight to the eyes of a child

We were used to all the best
The man from U.N.C.L.E. and the Wild, Wild West
We ruled the skies from a backyard swing
Nothing that flies could've stopped that thing

While they danced on the rooftops
Let their hearts run wild
Such a sight to the eyes of a child

Blood-stained blacktops twist up between the wheels
Before we knew it it was all too real
The voice of reason confined to the past
And all that mattered was to get there fast

So we could dance on the rooftops
Let our hearts run wild (hearts run wild)

Should it all come down to your last thin dime
You can dial that number one more time
But the phone won't ring 'cause the line's gone dead
It's lost in history
Like I said, it's gone

So now we give it all we got
Pick em up at daycare in a state of shock
Frayed at the edges and torn at the seams
It rarely happens in our wildest dreams

That we dance on the rooftops, let our hearts run wild
And it ain't for the sake of the child

You don't too often see a sunbeam anymore
You never see a Fuller Brush man or a dinosaur
The voice of reason rules with an iron fist
Please forgive me if I'm not prepared to handle this

• Fuller Brush Man @ YouTube - music video (trippy!)
• Fuller Brush Man @ YouTube - photo montage
• James McMurtrey @ Wikipedia

Similar songs

• "Say Goobye" by Tonio Kay

Larry McMurtrey

James McMurtrey's father is novelist Larry McMurtrey, author of Lonesome Dove.

• Larry McMurtrey @ Wikipedia
• Lonesome Dove @ Wikipedia

User mindsan33 @ Boing Boing: "I like actions movies, and I’d like them better if they weren’t tools to help reinforce the American imperial narrative ..."

How about a sympathetic treatment of George Metesky (nonfiction)? More than sympathetic – a slow-burn revenge story where the little guy finally gets his own against America. Maybe get David Lynch to direct it, although we may need to give him a drug which causes him to channel Dennis Hopper.

On second thought, while that film should be made, it’s not Sauce for the Imperial American Gander, because Metesky’s campaign of terror bombing was a local grudge, not Blows Against the Empire.

Weatherman. That’s the ticket. A sympathetic Weatherman action-adventure flick.

And by Sympathetic, I mean Che Guevara personally leads the final assault on the White House where he confronts the mad-dog nuclear-button-wielding American President, who rants about Destiny and Power and Fate until Che and The People do what must be done.

Starring Grace Jones as the Baddest Badass Black Panther Ever. In tight black leather, if I have anything to say about it.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Karl Jones (nonfiction)