Orange Claw Hammer

Lyrics

Preamble:

FZ: "What ya got there Don...?"
CB: "'Um... just a... uh the lyrics of ...uh... those albums..."
FZ: "What's that...? From the Trout Mask album?"
CB: "Yeah... 'n Lick My Decals..."
FZ: "Why don't you ah... Do you wanna do a version of Orange Claw Hammer, live, in the studio...?"
CB: "Uh, yeah..."

The song:

Thick cloud caught
a Piper Cub's tail
A match struck blue
on a railroad rail

The old puff horse
was just pullin' thru
'N uh' man wore
a peg-leg, forever

I'm on the bum
where the hobos run
The air breaks
with filthy chatter

Oh, I don't care
there's no place there
I don't think
it even matters

My skin's blazin' thru
an' my clothes, in tatters
An' the railroad looked like a 'Y'
up the hill, of ladders

One shoe fell on the gravel
one stick poked down
An' grey of age fell down
on a pair of ears

An eagle shined thru my hole
...watch-pocket

Gingham girl, baby girl
passed me by, in tears
An' a jack rabbit raised
his folded ears

A beautiful, sage-brush
...Jack rabbit

An' an oriole sang like an orange
his breast full o' worms
An' his tail clawed the evenin'
like a hammer-rrrrr...

An' his wings took t' air
like a bomber-rrrrr!...
My rain-can caught me
a cup o' water-rrrrr...

When I got into town
odd jobs Mam?
Aaahhhhhh!
your horse, I'll fodder

I'm the round-house man
I once... was ya' father

Little up t' road
a candy-striped barber pole
An' above it read a sign,
'Painless Parker-rrrrr'...

Licorice twisted around,
under a fly
An' a youngster
cocked her eye

God! Before me,
if I'm not crazy?...
Is my
daughter-rrrrr...

Come, little one,
with yer little
Dimpled fingers,
gimme one

An' I'll buy you...uhhh...
a cherry phosphate
Take you down t' the foamin'
brine 'n water-rrrrr...

An' show you the wooden tits!
on the Goddess!
With the pole out...
...full sail!...

That tempted away
ya' peg-legged father

I was shanghied
by a high-hat,
Beaver-moustache man...
an' his pirate friend

I woke up in vomit 'n beer
in a banana bin
An' a soft lass
with brown skin...

Bore me seven babies
with snappin black eyes
An' beautiful
ebony skin

An' here it is, I'm with you,
my daughter-rrrrr...

Thirty years away
can make a seaman's eyes...
A round-house man's eyes...
...flow out!...

Salt water-rrrrr!...

Salt water-rrrrr...

Players On This Song

• Frank Zappa - Guitar
• Captain Beefheart - Vocals

Records On Which This Song Has Appeared

• Grow Fins: Rarities 1965-1982 (A Beefheart compilation)
• An Evening With Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart

Notes About This Song

In 1975 Zappa and Captain Beefheart recorded a KWST radio show for syndication. During the recording they played this Orange Claw Hammer track.
Orange Claw Hammer first appeared, as a song written by Captain Beefheart and backed by his Magic Band, on the album Trout Mask Replica; Side 4, Track 1 (in which the lyrics and vocal intonations differ from this version).

CC Clues In This Song

• A Piper Cub's tail...

• ...an eagle shined thru... (Pilot's pocket-pin)

• (If you're 200 Years Old this Piper Club 'froth' will assist in planning ahead)

• Beefheart alludes to the fortunes of all men with the ship being 'The Goddess', as in the goddess Tyche. On coins she is shown "under full sail balancing on the globe, with ancer and ship somewhere near to her... gifting the brave and adventurous on dangerous sea voyages". (See also the 'wooden tits')

• If you are a devotee of extricating the meanings (or the DaDa from the DooDoo) in Beefheart lyrics then Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart And the Secret History of Maximalism is the book for you, (or this track's mention on (page 102).