On the 6th Day God Created Animals, And it Was Good

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Donovan - Riki Tiki Tavi

Loudon Wainwright III – Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road

Dave Bartholomew – The Monkey

The (Band of) Bees – Chicken Payback

I’ve always had an affinity for animals, I love ‘em. And, animals have always been drawn to me. When I go for a walk in the woods, I come out with animals stuck to me like Velcro (if you’re picturing the scene from Ace Ventura, you’re on the right track). I’m like the pied-piper of the animal world, kinda like Aquaman except he’s got an edge when it comes to everything aquatic. When I was younger, I used to hang up “No Hunting” signs around the edge of my family’s woods, only to come by in a week and see them all obliterated by shotgun shells. I’d go storming back to the house and stew over different ways I could thwart the plans of those darn hunters. Most of those plans employed tactics closely resembling those used by the Swiss Family Robinson, such as tiger pits, rolling logs, and strings of tin cans. I never caught one of those hunters, darn it. And, they kept shooting up my No Hunting sings. The struggle continues.

In case you couldn’t tell, today’s songs are all about animals. My favorite animal song of the bunch is Donovan’s homage to the most famous mongoose in children’s literature: “Riki Tiki Tavi”! It’s a great song and it’s an f’n jam, whoo! There needs to be a mongoose dance to go with this song. It’s that great. I’ve got it on 7”, so just you wait til I get my jukebox that I’ve been talking about for years and years…

The second tune, Loudon Wainwright III’s “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road” is another one of those one-off 70’s pop hits from left field that makes money for the artist, but at the end of the day Loudon probably wishes he’d never written it. It’s got a “rootin-tootin” feel to it, you’ll see what I’m talking about when you listen to it. If the name sounds familiar, 1) He’s the father of Rufus Wainwright and 2) He’s a character actor these days (Big Fish, Undeclared). He was the “next Bob Dylan” when he first came on the scene, but he carved out his niche in the singer-songwriter world by incorporating humor into most of his songs (take this one, for example).

The third tune, "The Monkey", is an even older one from established New Orleans bluesman Dave Bartholomew. T Rex’s “Get it On (Bang a Gong)” employs a VERY similar guitar riff, maybe Marc Bolan isn't the guitar god we once thought. But, like "Get it On" It’s Barholomew's guitar licks that anchor "The Monkey". Lyrically, this song is pretty interesting for it’s day and age. It features a monkey listing the ways in which man has socially de-evolved from acceptable monkey standards since taking the evolutionary leap forward. Mildly profound and a juke-joint rocker…yeah, the monkey speaks his mind.

The fourth and final tune is from the newest album by the 60’s revivalists The (Band of) Bees. Unfortunately, this album appears to be available only by import, even though it’s been out in Britain since last summer. The song, “Chicken Payback” sounds like 60’s English garage band like The Kinks doing a Rufus Thomas tune (hackneyed comparison of the day). Rufus Thomas did all kinds of songs about different animals, and this is sort of a tribute to him, I think. They go through a whole list of animals that they feel are due a “payback”. Camels, chickens, monkeys, donkeys, piggies, they’re all there. Got any animals to add to the list?

(I mentioned yesterday that I might post a werewolf song, but I forgot my 7” of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” is at a friends house, waiting for the piano break to be sampled. 1000 apologies to all the Zevon-iacs.)

These songs are all on my “fun” list, so sadsack sourpusses need not download. Come join the rest of the party animals in the barn, we’re having a hootenanny!!!