unless you're insured by Mutual of Omaha

About a month ago, someone on the Robyn Hitchcock mailing list mentioned that he'd had a dream in which Hitchcock was on David Letterman's show and announced that he was about to premiere his new song, called "(Here's One I Bet You Wouldn't Want to Meet) In the Wild." Unfortunately, our dreamer couldn't recall how the song went - so I decided to write the song instead.

The first problem was that rather unwieldy title: how to make it scan? I played with it for a while, and came up with what I hope is a viable solution. The wordiness and staccato rhythm dictated some of the rest of the song's texture, with a lot of rapid-fire words. The lyrics came pretty quickly - I think the idea is quintessentially Robyn, in some ways similar to "Lions and Tigers" - although figuring out how to sing them presented more difficulty!

It seemed as if the music should be relatively simple, so I stuck largely to conventional chord sequences and rhythms (with a few tricks thrown in to make things interesting). The most fun was coming up with actual guitar parts as opposed to just strum-strum-strumming away. Some day I might even practice often enough to be able to play them reliably and consistently. Editing magic!

Lyrics:

Here's one I bet you wouldn't want to meet in the wild
The scent of raw meat between the politician's teeth
Slavering over a shivering child

At home we find it best to try to keep them in line
Some jingling coins and some velvety loins
Makes them forget they're already dying

Oh Mr. Perkins, you've such a glaring white smile
But don't mind Jim, so secretive and grim
You'll have alligator shoes in a while

Here's one I bet you wouldn't want to meet in the wild
With a sleight of wrist and the invisible fist
He's anointed the bank vaults in his castles in the sky

Clipped wings and a nice little perch will be fine
And yesterday's news is covered up with rotting food
You won't smell it if you just keep on buying

Here's one I bet you wouldn't want to meet in the wild...

(The bridge, incidentally, refers to this program, and urban legends like this one.)

Monkey Typing Pool "(Here's One I Bet You Wouldn't Want to Meet) In the Wild" (2009)