Difference between revisions of "Rhymin' Man"

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==Lyrics==
 
==Lyrics==
 +
<br>Rhymin' Man,
 +
<br>Tall and tan,
 +
<br>Rhyme or reason,
 +
<br>Play your hand --
 +
<br>Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
 +
<br>Oh, you naughty Democrat!
 +
<br>
 +
<br>They say when Doctor King got shot,
 +
<br>Jesse hatched an awful plot,
 +
<br>Dipped his hands in the Doctor's blood,
 +
<br>'N rubbed his shirt like playin' with mud
 +
<br>Looked around for all the press,
 +
<br>Said: "Check me out, my name is Jess!
 +
<br>I'll be known from towns 'n farms --
 +
<br>Doctor King died in my arms!"
 +
<br>
 +
<br>Rhymin' Man,
 +
<br>Tall and tan,
 +
<br>Rhyme or reason,
 +
<br>Play your hand --
 +
<br>Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
 +
<br>Oh, you naughty Democrat!
 +
<br>
 +
<br>A few years later, legend says,
 +
<br>Rhymin' man made a run for Prez
 +
<br>Farrakhan made him a clown,
 +
<br>Over there near Hymie-Town
 +
<br>Said he was a diplomat --
 +
<br>Hobbin' an-a-knobbin' with Arafat
 +
<br>Castro was simpatico,
 +
<br>Though the U.S. voters, they said: "No!"
 +
<br>
 +
<br>Rhymin' Man,
 +
<br>Tall and tan,
 +
<br>Rhyme or reason,
 +
<br>Play your hand --
 +
<br>Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
 +
<br>Oh, you naughty Democrat!
 +
<br>
 +
<br>Okay, here we go again!
 +
<br>Rhymin' Man says he's your friend
 +
<br>Any fool can make a rhyme --
 +
<br>Cowboys do it all the time
 +
<br>(We could do, they sure do)
 +
<br>People say: "Now he's mature!"
 +
<br>Cowboys rhyme that with horse manure
 +
<br>
 +
<br>Horse manure!
 +
<br>(Horse manure)
 +
<br>That's for sure!
 +
<br>You been cheatin' --
 +
<br>We kept score!
 +
<br>Are you "this"?
 +
<br>Or are you "that"?
 +
<br>Oh, you naughty
 +
<br>Demo . . . (crat!)
 +
<br>Democrat!
 +
 
==Players On This Song==
 
==Players On This Song==
 
==Records On Which This Song Has Appeared==
 
==Records On Which This Song Has Appeared==
Line 9: Line 67:
  
 
==Notes About This Song==
 
==Notes About This Song==
 +
<references/>The song satirizes [[wikipedia:Jesse Jackson|Jesse Jackson]] an American civil rights activist, preacher and politician for the Democratic Party. In 1984 and 1988 he ran for President, but controversial remarks about Jewish people (whom he called "Hymies") and the dubious claim that he helped [[wikipedia:Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King]] after he was shot hurt his candidacy.
 +
 +
In a [[Frank Zappa. Interview in Playboy|1993 interview]] Zappa said:
 +
 +
<blockquote>
 +
An article raised some questions about whether or not Martin Luther King actually died in Jesse's arms. There were reports that Jackson dipped his hands into King's blood or even used chicken blood and rubbed it on his shirt, which he wore for a few days afterward as he met the media. So I did this song about the idea of communicating through nursery rhymes, as Jackson is prone to do. It rubs me the wrong way. I'm not saying that all of Jesse's ideas are bad; I agree with some of them. But I'm not confident that Jesse Jackson would be the person I would look to to implement any of them. I don't want to see any religious people in public office because they're working for another boss.
 +
</blockquote>
 +
 +
 +
 +
Jesse Jackson is amongst the names listed in the liner notes of [[The MOFO Project/Object (Fazedooh)|The MOFO Project/Object]] (2006) album.
 +
 +
 +
 +
It briefly quotes several musical themes, including: [[The Twilight Zone]] Theme (Constant), [[Wikipedia:Piano Sonata No. 2 (Chopin)|Marche Funèbre]] ([[Frédéric Chopin]]), [[Wikipedia:Theme from Mission: Impossible|Mission: Impossible]] (Schifrin), [[The Untouchables]] (Riddle), [[Wikipedia:Mississippi Mud|Mississippi Mud]] (Cavanaugh/Barris), [[Wikipedia:Happy Days Are Here Again|Happy Days Are Here Again]] (Yellen/Ager), [[Entrance of the Gladiators]] (Fucik), [[Wikipedia:Hava Nagila|Hava Nagila]] (trad.), [[Wikipedia:Hail to the Chief|Hail to the Chief]] (Sanderson/Scott), [[Wikipedia:La Cucaracha|La Cucaracha]] (trad.), [[Wikipedia:Frère Jacques|Frère Jacques]] (trad.), [[Wikipedia:My Sharona|My Sharona]] (Fieger/Averre) and [[Wikipedia:Hallelujah, I'm a Bum|Hallelujah I'm A Bum]] (McClintock).
 +
 
==CC Clues In This Song==
 
==CC Clues In This Song==
 
[[Category:Tracks]]
 
[[Category:Tracks]]

Latest revision as of 09:04, 19 October 2021

Lyrics


Rhymin' Man,
Tall and tan,
Rhyme or reason,
Play your hand --
Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
Oh, you naughty Democrat!

They say when Doctor King got shot,
Jesse hatched an awful plot,
Dipped his hands in the Doctor's blood,
'N rubbed his shirt like playin' with mud
Looked around for all the press,
Said: "Check me out, my name is Jess!
I'll be known from towns 'n farms --
Doctor King died in my arms!"

Rhymin' Man,
Tall and tan,
Rhyme or reason,
Play your hand --
Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
Oh, you naughty Democrat!

A few years later, legend says,
Rhymin' man made a run for Prez
Farrakhan made him a clown,
Over there near Hymie-Town
Said he was a diplomat --
Hobbin' an-a-knobbin' with Arafat
Castro was simpatico,
Though the U.S. voters, they said: "No!"

Rhymin' Man,
Tall and tan,
Rhyme or reason,
Play your hand --
Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
Oh, you naughty Democrat!

Okay, here we go again!
Rhymin' Man says he's your friend
Any fool can make a rhyme --
Cowboys do it all the time
(We could do, they sure do)
People say: "Now he's mature!"
Cowboys rhyme that with horse manure

Horse manure!
(Horse manure)
That's for sure!
You been cheatin' --
We kept score!
Are you "this"?
Or are you "that"?
Oh, you naughty
Demo . . . (crat!)
Democrat!

Players On This Song

Records On Which This Song Has Appeared

Zappa Albums

Tributes & Cover Albums

Notes About This Song

The song satirizes Jesse Jackson an American civil rights activist, preacher and politician for the Democratic Party. In 1984 and 1988 he ran for President, but controversial remarks about Jewish people (whom he called "Hymies") and the dubious claim that he helped Martin Luther King after he was shot hurt his candidacy.

In a 1993 interview Zappa said:

An article raised some questions about whether or not Martin Luther King actually died in Jesse's arms. There were reports that Jackson dipped his hands into King's blood or even used chicken blood and rubbed it on his shirt, which he wore for a few days afterward as he met the media. So I did this song about the idea of communicating through nursery rhymes, as Jackson is prone to do. It rubs me the wrong way. I'm not saying that all of Jesse's ideas are bad; I agree with some of them. But I'm not confident that Jesse Jackson would be the person I would look to to implement any of them. I don't want to see any religious people in public office because they're working for another boss.


Jesse Jackson is amongst the names listed in the liner notes of The MOFO Project/Object (2006) album.


It briefly quotes several musical themes, including: The Twilight Zone Theme (Constant), Marche Funèbre (Frédéric Chopin), Mission: Impossible (Schifrin), The Untouchables (Riddle), Mississippi Mud (Cavanaugh/Barris), Happy Days Are Here Again (Yellen/Ager), Entrance of the Gladiators (Fucik), Hava Nagila (trad.), Hail to the Chief (Sanderson/Scott), La Cucaracha (trad.), Frère Jacques (trad.), My Sharona (Fieger/Averre) and Hallelujah I'm A Bum (McClintock).

CC Clues In This Song