Tidbits:<\/p>\r\n
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- It’s not uncommon for Benji Hughes to bust out “Summer of 69” in full or in part during shows, hence the mini Bryan Adams tribute here.<\/li>\r\n
- “Reflections of a Balladeer<\/a>” is a Goldenrods era unreleased song. I almost used it as the Side B title, but once I landed on\u00a0The Ballad of Heartman & Songstress<\/em> I’m glad I found another place to use\u00a0Reflections.\u00a0<\/em>(It also includes a fittingly meta lyric about being “all right inside this song”)<\/li>\r\n
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\u201cThe artwork showed two cartoonish hands on a gray background. One was orange and the other pink\u201d
\u201cMark flipped through the Js and found what he was looking for on the thirty-sixth try. He returned with a copy of Jubilee, the soundtrack to a punk rock film from the late 1970s.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\nThe live KISS album Frank picks foreshadows the end of this chapter, while the David Bowie album hints at who\/what Frank really is. (Mark and Frank both dig it since it has counting and outer space!)<\/li>\r\n- An older draft kicked off this chapter with the 51st viewing of\u00a0Slow Century<\/em>, followed by\u00a0Jubilee.<\/em> The soundtrack stayed, but the movie commentary didn’t.<\/li>\r\n
- In the bible, Jubal<\/a> is the inventor of music. In\u00a0LILILIL<\/em>, Chocolon is the lord of chocolate. Evilon is the villain of\u00a0L Extreme<\/em> (so far) but an ally of the Space Princess in\u00a0LILILIL.\u00a0<\/em>Evilon and Frank refer to each others as “Lons” from time to time\u2014especially at the end of this chapter. Evilon & Chocolon, meet Jubalon\u2014the lord of music. And there’s Jubalee…<\/li>\r\n
- Realizing I could subtitle\/reference both of Benji’s old bands by calling the florist section\u00a0Muscadine & Goldenrods<\/em> might have been a contributing factor in keeping those scenes around. (Originally it was much longer\u2014including over a thousand words about venus fly traps<\/a> I thankfully trimmed down. You’re welcome.)<\/li>\r\n
- In an older draft, the florist knew Jessica from her funeral magic shows, but it didn’t really make sense given the Jessica & L situation. Another version had them at the florist to buy flowers for the DJ’s funeral\u2014but that was before the DJ lived. “I figure we’re all born to die<\/a>” calls back to that version of events while also referencing a Goldenrods song.<\/li>\r\n
- Benji pulling the flowers from his sleeve was inspired by his performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n
- Twenty-one dollars = twenty-first song on the album.<\/li>\r\n
- You cannot outlaw plants<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n
- Three Walls Down<\/a> was a band Muscadine toured with in the 90s, featuring the brother of Mike Mills from REM.<\/li>\r\n
- “I’m an excellent judge of volume” (aka an EJOV) is a line from a different work in progress novel I stole to include here. Perfect way for an obsessive counter to describe a clown car<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n
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<\/a>\u201cBono sang \u201cSend in the Clowns\u201d to a live audience. The whole car joined in. Benji couldn\u2019t believe it. Every clown in town was in love with U2.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\nMy lyrically saturated brain connected “there’s a circus in the town somewhere” to “maybe I’ll get lucky there’s a circus passing through” from the song “Crazy For You<\/a>” off\u00a0A Lovers Extreme\u00a0<\/em>as the most logical way to transport the gang to the circus. Bringing back Bogo from You Stood Me Up<\/a> was a nice bonus.<\/li>\r\n - I’m way too amused by “find out every clown in town’s in love with U2” as a forced mondegreen punchline. Benji called it an obvious joke, but one he’s used himself independently of the book.<\/li>\r\n
- “That song was missing from this release” acknowledges missing songs from the re-release editions of\u00a0Songs in the Key of Animals<\/i> (missing “Chablis”) and\u00a0A Lovers Extreme<\/em> (missing “Lightning and Gold”) compared to their original incarnations.<\/li>\r\n
- Guthrie, Jeremiah, and Dolly are three dog characters from another book I’m working on called\u00a0The Dog is Here to Save Me.<\/em> I misremembered the “six little dogs” lyric as three, opening the door to a crossover. The remaining three dogs are all Benji Hughes references. Bear was on stage at one of the Largo residency shows. “A doggy named Pickle” appears on the first song from\u00a0LILILIL.\u00a0<\/em>And “Got No Legs” is me mishearing the intro to “What A Pretty Color<\/a>” as “I know a dog named<\/em> Got No Legs” instead of “ain’t<\/em> got no legs.”<\/li>\r\n
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<\/a>\u201cL pulled the trigger and fired. But a love gun doesn\u2019t fire bullets. It plays songs. Songs by Kiss.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\nThe animal cracker shapes come from Benji Hughes songs\u2014the “Peacockin’ Party<\/a>” parade in order of appearance (minus the snake and penguin, but including the mosquito), the tiger from “Freaky Feedback Blues<\/a>” and the parrot named Me from the aforementioned\u00a0LILILIL<\/em> opener for good measure.<\/li>\r\n - I know there was a reason I chose not to go with the “Two scents. Both contradictory…” opening to the\u00a0Popcorn & Booze<\/em> section, but I can’t recall exactly why right now.<\/li>\r\n
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\u201cFrank extended his arm in a two fingered rock and roll salute he learned from the Alive 35 album cover. His makeup made a lot more sense now. Especially when he stuck out his tongue.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\nThe “deep, sultry voice of an advertising pitchman” bit references a commercial for a dog treat called Stackerz<\/a> Benji Hughes worked on in his Frisbie days.<\/li>\r\n - “Tight Tee Shirt” features a real sweet girl who keeps a pistol in her purse. I omitted the gun earlier to use as a surprise for anyone paying as much attention to the lyrics as I am.<\/li>\r\n
- References to shadow puppets first appeared towards the end of You Stood Me Up. Why? Because the future is behind us and the past is all we can see.<\/li>\r\n
- Frank is back to quoting (actually paraphrasing) Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein<\/em> with \u201cYour life appears to you as a dream. You sometimes doubt if indeed it were all true, for it never presented itself to your mind with the force of reality.”<\/li>\r\n
- If Heartman had to choose a card game with a villainous Lon for all the coins, of course the answer is “Hearts, man.”<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
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