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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Let Me Tell You ‘Bout Your Blood, Bamboo Kid

Let Me Tell You ‘Bout Your Blood, Bamboo Kid

by Alex Smith|  July 8, 20182:00 pm| 33 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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If I had been more on my game for Independence Day, I might have suggested Joe Strummer’s 1989 album Earthquake Weather. It was supposedly the product of a renewed sense of confidence in his powers which may indeed be true, but according to his biography by Chris Salewicz (a real ox-stunner at 600+ pages!) he was a habitual weed-smoker. While I am totally down to Legalize It, we can also be (ahem) clear-eyed about what it can do to one’s sense of motivation. Rock legends can work to whatever schedule pleases them, anyhow.

I would have recommended it because it is a very American-feeling album, in the same sense that Big Audio Dynamite feels European. It’s made with an all-American cast of musicians, apart from Joe, some of whom you might recognize from the film Repo Man. Strummer writes about American politics and cars and highways and diners and dive bars and jazz. The traditional stuff non-Americans gawk at. For someone with such a reputation of being a punk rock teller of hard truths, Strummer’s lyrics are quite dazzlingly poetic. They are beat-like, too, and don’t always make a lot of linear sense. Fine by me! They fit the music like a glove.

The music is Clash-level quality. It’s even got a reggae cover. Strummer’s later solo albums had great moments, but I don’t think he ever sustained as high a quality of songwriting subsequently. Every time I would teach a Jimmy Buffet song  to some grey-faced office worker, florescent-light-sick and lusting after some color, chaos, and sunshine, I would think of how Strummer’s Island Hopping captured everything Buffet had ever done more vividly and tunefully and in under three minutes. And the pity of the fact that, too late to cash in on Combat Rock and too early for Grunge which it resembles more than a little, this splendid album got overlooked.

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Reader Interactions

33Comments

  1. 1.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 8, 2018 at 2:09 pm

    OT, more dispatches from earth2:

    Sharing a clip of Giuliani admitting he may have been at the notorious Trump Tower meeting — or knew about it — with the lawyer stating, “I was probably there that day — I don’t remember it. Did somebody say something to me? I don’t know. You know what a campaign is like? It’s helter-skelter,” the entire AM Joy panel started laughing.

    Sorry to intrude.

  2. 2.

    @BottyGuy

    July 8, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    I’m a big fan of the three Mescaleros LPs, Global-a-go-go is probably the best. The words were a cutting a ever and you could dance to the. Listen to Bhindee Bhagee for a bit of multiculturalism we could use right now.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    July 8, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @A Ghost To Most

    Each time Giuliani opens his mouth, the collective intelligence of humanity dips.

  4. 4.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 8, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    This was posted already below, but I wanted to showcase this bit, from the WaPo’s https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/small-student-led-rallies-show-support-for-gun-rights/2018/07/07/1969fb5e-8211-11e8-b9a5-7e1c013f8c33_story.html?utm_term=.6eba58aa113f

    In Palm Beach, Fla., about 100 people were expected to rally at a park; 13 came, including organizer Ashley Johnson, three speakers and the parents of two of the speakers.

    The event was meant to be a counterpoint to the March for Our Lives rallies that attracted thousands across the country after the February shooting, including at events in Florida.

    “The goal is to be just as successful as March for Our Lives,” Johnson said. “We want to outdo them.”

    Johnson said she was disappointed in the turnout.

    “I don’t know why more people didn’t show up. I think a lot of conservatives are just afraid to show up for public events,” she said through tears.

    ??? Yeah, I’m sure that’s that the reason. Not.

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 8, 2018 at 2:36 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: interesting. Stuff like that always makes me wonder what Meuller knows, and what people (Rudi in this case) fear Meuller knows, and how many people (Rudi in this case) now wish they had adopted the Beast’s strategy of never emailing.
    ETA: There was a rumor going around a while back that trump sent Ivanka out to meet the Russians as they arrived, or were leaving. It kind of faded, but I can easily imagine it. “Go be pretty for the people, Baby, show them what Daddy made.”

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    July 8, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Poor little snowflake; maybe she needs a safe space.

  7. 7.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 8, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Most are gutless cowards. Some aren’t. I would be happy to be wrong about the ratio. I hope this carries over to election day.

  8. 8.

    Kathleen

    July 8, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    Can I put in a plug here for the Democratic candidate for Congress in First District? His name is Aftab Pureval, and he was elected to Clerk of Courts in Hamilton County (first Democrat to hold that position in 100 years). He’s also been tagged on the DCCC’s Red to Blue list, the only congressional candidate in Ohio. According to the newspaper India West:

    Pureval, 35-year-old son of an India-born father and Tibet-born mother, made a name for himself in 2016 when he pulled off a surprising upset in Hamilton County, winning the county’s clerk of courts seat.

    Here is a link to the India West article:
    http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/ohio-congressional-candidate-aftab-pureval-named-to-dccc-s-red/article_15bd075c-427a-11e8-8a06-0f241f8474f9.html

    Here is link to Cincinnati.com article with another overview of his background and experience:
    https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/31/who-aftab-pureval-5-things-know-rep-steve-chabots-new-challenger-ohio/1083223001/

    Thank you for your consideration.

  9. 9.

    MagdaInBlack

    July 8, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    With regard to weed and music, I believe Gregg Allman wrote “Whipping Post” while quite high. Wrote it on an ironing board cover (so legend has it) because it came to him so fast.

  10. 10.

    oatler.

    July 8, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    good article
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/08/madeleine-albright-fascism-is-not-an-ideology-its-a-method-interview-fascism-a-warning

  11. 11.

    JWL

    July 8, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    Very nice song, never heard it before. Reminds me of something Jerry Garcia would have enjoyed playing, and that’s meant as high praise.

  12. 12.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 8, 2018 at 4:17 pm

    @oatler.:
    Thanks for this. Apologies for being thick earlier.

    I suggest to her that the book struggles to offer a satisfactory definition of fascism. “Defining fascism is difficult,” she responds. “First of all, I don’t think fascism is an ideology. I think it is a method, it’s a system.”

    This. They are running the playbook.

  13. 13.

    Teddys Person

    July 8, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Well, it is easier to be a keyboard commando eating cheetos and floating around in an online RWNJ bubble in mom’s basement than to face potential pushback in the real world for their unpopular positions.

  14. 14.

    Teddys Person

    July 8, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: Kind of begs the questions as to why an ironing board cover was the most accessible surface to write on. A wall yes, but an ironing board cover?

  15. 15.

    MomSense

    July 8, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    GG decided to go after Malcolm Nance. It’s just as pathetic as one would expect from him. Maybe Tucker will provide a more sympathetic audience.

  16. 16.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 8, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    @MagdaInBlack:
    Weed music? “Willin'” by Little Feat. “Panama Red” by NRPS.
    “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle. “Don’t Bogart That Joint” by Fraternity Of Man.

  17. 17.

    raven

    July 8, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: You missed the greatest of all!!
    Jaime Brockett – Legend of the USS Titanic

    and don’ forget

    Spanky and Our Gang

    Up in the morning, just about 4,
    I put on my shoes and I’m out the door.
    Life is such a terrible bore….I’m a garbageman.

    Ridin on the garbage truck with my friend, Lou,
    He says “Say, baby, you lookin kinda blue!”
    “yeah, man, don’t this job ever get to you?
    I mean all this garbage!”

    (Oh no baby!)

    He said “Hold on Jim, I got just the thing you need!
    Here, baby, take a puff of this funny lookin’ little weed.
    Go on, man, smoke it, the first one’s free!”

    Oh well thank you!

    Well the sun was risin, shinin in the sky
    Garbage truck was drawin flies
    I didn’t care, I was ridin high
    I was out of it, stoned, swino, wasted

    Well, everything’s cool now, nothing’s wrong.
    Garbage stinks, but I float along
    Singin this happy, happy song –
    Pot’s too good to be just for the young!

  18. 18.

    Haroldo

    July 8, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: And one of the more modern tokes, err, takes, “Gin and Juice,” tho’ I highly endorse the version by the Gourds.

  19. 19.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    July 8, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    John Prine, “Illegal Smile”

  20. 20.

    oatler.

    July 8, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @raven: I love that Spanky song!

  21. 21.

    E

    July 8, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    Joe Strummer was in Repo Man?

  22. 22.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    July 8, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    @The Ancient Randonneur:

    Jim Stafford, “Wildwood Weed”

  23. 23.

    Jager

    July 8, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @raven:

    Yes, the end of the story is “give a guy an airplane ride and he thinks he’s a pilot”

  24. 24.

    J R in WV

    July 8, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    @oatler.:

    Good article, thanks for the link…

  25. 25.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 8, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    @raven: Thanks for the Titanic link. That was great!

    Also, “Long Haired Country Boy” by (fuck him) Charlie Daniels.

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    July 8, 2018 at 5:09 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Liberals blame the media for not giving coverage when we have tens or hundreds of thousands in the streets.

    Conservatives blame the media for somehow causing only tens to show up to their rally.

    [Facepalm]

  27. 27.

    Gemina13

    July 8, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    Maybe more of them have a conscience than she does, and dislike heartily the idea of opposing kids who just went through the ordeal of being shot at, having their friends killed or injured, and listening to adults tell them they’re fools and traitors for wanting to stop it.

    Or I could be giving them more credit than they’re due.

    Either way, it’s not like I give a fuck what they think, so long as we can beat them at the polls.

  28. 28.

    Gemina13

    July 8, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: And “Copperhead Road” carries that extra sting of “fuck the man” menace in its final stanza. More than just weed, it’s about being an outcast in a society that chooses to chew people like the narrator (a Vietnam vet) up and spit them out.

  29. 29.

    Schlemazel

    July 8, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    @raven:
    I love both those songs & still have the Spanky album it is on. I have digitied it & carry it on my iPod.

    Used to stay up late in the summer to hear “Beaker Street” from KAAY, Little Rock. Clyde Clifford used to play it occasionally I gotta download that sometime

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    July 8, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    @Kathleen: Thanks for the pointer.

    Ohio (and the country) needs more, sensible legislators in Washington.

    Donated.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  31. 31.

    MagdaInBlack

    July 8, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    @Teddys Person:
    He was ironing?

  32. 32.

    phein58

    July 8, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    @E: He was in “Mystery Train,” a Jim Jarmusch film.

    “It ain’t Coca-Cola, it’s rice.”

    Best Vietnam war song.

  33. 33.

    Kathleen

    July 9, 2018 at 3:46 am

    @Another Scott: Thank you!

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