The Prescient Austin Lounge Lizards:

[TalkingDog]

Over the weekend, we were culling some of those things in boxes..you know, from when you move and move and move.

I ran across a cassette tape..yes, that long ago. It had no label on it, so I was forced to wait until I was driving somewhere to play it as the only cassette player I now own is in my '98 Saturn.

It was a collection of Austin Lounge Lizard songs that a (now passed) friend thought I might enjoy. He gave it to me in 1995.

You have to hear the rather progressive ALL to understand why they are so popular. Reading the lyrics explains nothing about their craftsmanship, the textural density of their music and their rather perverse sense of humor.

When he gave it to me, Bill Clinton was in the White House, the Religious Right had not yet been fully enfolded by the Neo-Conservative Party. George W. Bush was only a problem for Texans at that point. Yet, listening last night, the songs seemed eerily prescient.

The cassette started out with a ripping bluegrass version of
Dark Side of the Moon

.....And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.


Then they played their new "gospel" song...

Jesus Loves me but he Can't Stand You

I know you smoke, I know you drink that brew
I just can't abide a sinner like you
God can't either, that's why I know it to be true that
Jesus loves me--but he can't stand you

I'm going to heaven, boys, when I die
'Cause I've crossed every "t" and I've dotted every "i'
My preacher tell me that I'm God's kind of guy; that's why
Jesus loves me--but you're gonna fry

God loves all his children, by gum
That don't mean he won't incinerate some
Can't you feel those hot flames licking you
Woo woo woo

I'm raising my kids in a righteous way
So don't be sending your kids over to my house to play
Yours'll grow up stoned, left-leaning, and gay; I know
Jesus told me on the phone today

Jesus loves me, this I know
And he told me where you're gonna go
There's lots of room for your kind down below
Whoa whoa whoa

Jesus loves me but he can't stand you . . .

And then a nice bluesy number....

1984 Blues

snip:
Well, I met my baby,
in the Ministry of Love
Oh, yes, I met my baby,
in the Ministry of Love

Mister Thought Policeman
I don't wanna do no wrong,
No, Mister Thought Policeman
I don't wanna do no wrong.
I just wanna love my baby
Love her all night long

(bridge)
My baby loves me so hard
Gets me so fatigued
Sometimes I think I'll join
the Junior Anti-Sex League"

Well, wooooo...oooooo
woooooooo.....ooooooo
There are just no words in New Speak
For all the things that she can do



I am not a big fan of nostalgia. In my mind it serves no purpose other than making you unhappy for something you never really had. But nevertheless, I spent the rest of the evening in a humming-under-my-breath funk....


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[mcscajun]

1. CD: Lizard Vision! I got to see the Lizards in '93 or '94 up in Rhode Island

(can't recall which) it was at a Cajun/Bluegrass Festival I went to for quite a few years running; it all blends together after a while, ya' know?

"Brain Damage" blew me away, and I simply Love "Jesus Loves Me (But He Can't Stand You)"

If you've never heard "Bust the High School Students", get Lizard Vision!