Southpaw Jones

Tonight, Matt the Electrician and I will converge upon Flipnotics @ The Triangle with guitars, horns, accordions, and xylophones in hand. Don’t miss it, or you’ll regret it with your most sensitive parts: the side of you that can’t bring yourself to kill a spider, the emotional core that makes you cry during movie previews, your adam’s apple, etc.

Tonight’s song title challenge is “Death and the King’s Horseman.” Let me admit to you right now that I have not made any progress. I’ve got ten hours until showtime. Um, do you mind if I use this space for a little brainstorming?

Ok, my first thought is that nothing rhymes with “horseman.”

Nothing except:
• Norseman
• Force, man
• Of course, man
• Hoarse man (which is more of a homonym than a rhyme)

That’s a shame, because “Death and the King’s Horseman” would make a good tag line at the end of every verse.

There are two things you can count on
And two more I’ll endorse, man
Weak coffee and strong women
Death and the King’s Horseman

No, I don’t like it. Another problem with this title is that I prefer an accented syllable to fall at the end of a line. If HORSE-man were pronounced horse-MAN, I’d be a lot more comfortable working with it. How ‘bout starting a verse or chorus with the title? A love song, perhaps?

Death and the King’s Horseman
Tickle each other in the graveyard
Death says, “I want a divorce, man,”
But he’s just fooling like a knave-tard.

I don’t like that either, but I will seriously consider using “knave-tard” in my everyday verbal jabs.

Perhaps this situation calls for less of a literal inclusion of words and more of a thematic roundabout. Using that approach:

DEATH

Ooo, it’s a scary one. No one wants to admit they’re going to croak. Everyone wants to be immortal, yet no one seems too eager to wake up in the morning.

Ok, so maybe I’m going to die, but at least I’m a part of something immortal, right? An ideal, a religion, a country, etc.? That makes me feel better.

It also helps me sleep knowing that my eternal team is better than your eternal team. Just to prove it, I’ll send over my army to kill you.

THE KING’S HORSEMAN

What is this guy? A messenger? A hitman? A caretaker at the stable? A large, freakish mutant that the king rides around on for kicks?

What are his motives? What’s his angle? Does he use hair gel? Does he dream of more? Does he dream of less? Where did he misplace that list of reasons he loves his horse?

Does he know that Death is

right

around

the

corner?

One of the things I did to get through that was to think hard about times in my past when I had judged people too harshly because they had a problem I didn’t have. And I promised myself I’d never do that again, and I’m trying to keep that promise.
Bill Clinton

Soviet Cigarettes Collection




One clue whose answer consists of two rhyming words:

I’m very sensitive about my weight. It’s like I’ve got thick insides but…

Highlight here for answer: [thin skin]



Thursday, September 6th, 2007
8:00 PM
Matt the Electrician & Southpaw Jones
Flipnotics at the Triangle
4600 Guadalupe
Austin, TX
(512) 380-0097
http://www.flipnotics.com
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