fritzkd

the man laid his hat on the table
hung his coat up on the wall
sat down to dinner
said as soon as I am able
I'll say something nice to you all

then he took a deck from his pocket
spread 'em so I saw 'em all
then he turned his back to me
shuffled 'em and drew me
the card that said I never would fall

oh mary lou won't you tell me what to do
I got a dollar on the corner and a lazer in my shoe
if I don't get an answer gonna split myself in two

he spun 'till a ton was glistening
turned to me and gave me a smile
he said I'm leaving now but I want what you owe me
I'll be back in a little while

that was the last time I saw him
hope I never see him again
I know it sounds funny
but I owe him some money
and I really don't want him for a friend

oh mary lou won't you tell me what to do
I got a dollar on the corner and a lazer in my shoe
if I don't get an answer gonna split myself in two

The Meat Puppets, "Split Myself in Two"

My birthday always brings thoughts of the brothers Meat-- I clearly remember the weekend I turned 16, going with my dad to Pickles Records at 70something & Dodge in Omaha, and buying Meat Puppets II. That store had a pretty underground (as it was then called) section, I could find things there occasionally that I couldn't in the Old Market at Homer's or Drastic Plastic.

So that means I've now lived with this allbum for exactly 1/2 my life. I've owned the cassette, the SST CD, and the Ryko re-release with half dozen bonus tracks that do nothing but try to water down the impact of the original. (I may also own it vinyl, but don't feel like checking right now.) It definitely means a lot more to me than to anyone else I know, which is okay sometimes. I bet no more than 3 months ever go by without me putting it on. I know every lyric, every note. I know that little skip about 20 seconds into 'Climb' must be on the master tape, 'cause it doesn't go away with digital upgrading. I too have grown tired of livin' Nixion's mess. I wonder how many states I've listened to it in.

'Meat Puppets II' reminds me of 2 other high school era cassettes: 'Horses' by Patti Smith and 'I Remember Blind Joe Death' by John Fahey. All three held so much for me to discover that years passed before I bought anything else by any of them. I think it would have struck me as greedy to expect any more from them than they'd already given me. I wouldn't even allow myself to play the Fahey tape for anybody else. I'm not quite sure why, but when I did finally play it for my first college crush, she was definitely unimpressed. She was also unimpressed when I tried to reveal my feelings to her by playing a dumb Jonathan Richman song. We did get drunk and make out while watching '9 1/2' Weeks once, though.

I eventually came to love 'Huevos' and 'Radio Ethiopia' and 'The Voice of the Turtle' maybe almost as much. I've never again tried to woo a woman with a dumb Johnathan Richman song.

So now I'm 32. The Meat Puppets are in disarray. But, you know, I'm doing alright.
***

My birthday was good. I felt loved.