Dominic Fox wrote:
>The post title references a song by Loudon Wainwright about his
>(presumably then infant, and breastfeeding) son, Rufus, called "Rufus
>was a tit man" (Rufus turned out to be gay. And his sister, Martha,
>wrote a song about her dad called "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole". As
>both have albums of their own out at the moment, one can read about
>this sort of thing in the papers to one's hearts content).
>
>
Isn't it wonderful how some families act like they're trying to recreate
the House of Atreus right out in public? I don't know or really care
what kind of father Wainwright III was while his kids were growing up,
he wrote some wonderful songs. Of course I remember "Dead Skunk," a
very funny song, from the early '70s. But my "where were you when"
question: where was I in the early summer of 1994 when I heard a song
from his _History _album, a song called "The Picture." I was driving
south on the Hutchinson River Parkway at around 5 PM. It was one of the
few times to that date in my adulthood that I allowed myself to break
down. Reading over the lyrics, it's not that they were great poetry,
but the subject of the passing of time and Wainwright's delivery--call
it "dryly sentimental"--just undid me. It was a lot less exuberant than
"Dead Skunk" and a lot more real.
I think Martha had a moment on that album too. Suggestions of crappy
(ex)husband and indifferent father. Still, it sounded forgiving. Who
knows?
Ken
--
Kenneth Wolman
Proposal Development Department
Room SW334
Sarnoff Corporation
609-734-2538
|