LAST EDITED ON 03-10-10 AT 01:53 AM (EST)After a night of binge drinking followed by a non-stop day, this is probably a mistake. We all know that “evaluation and deduction” aren’t my strong suits even when I’m bed-rested and hangover-free. But …
The Case for Louie Louie and the Karaoke Machine
Chapter OneFirst of all, they weren’t shot down in Blue Moon Clue #2. So there’s that.
And then there is our (tuneful) introduction to Zip and Louie:
Background music, violins, slow and sweet, like a cool offshore breeze wafting in, stirring the palm leaves. An ironic oboe line begins to dance thru with a subdued yet slightly sarcastic melody…
Notice here that – defying gravity – notes and lyrics dance in the air. In a word, they waft, dear hearts.
Later, the music takes on a darker tone, a slow menacing bassoon begins to track in the background. Still later, a crazy piccolo begins to dance the melody. And then, a gun shot rings out! A bent piccolo arcs thru the air, there is heard an agonizing groan, and the music abruptly ends.
Actually it’s just a Champaign cork that conked the piccolo player in the head, but the band, never known for bravery, runs screaming into the jungle, and we lose our mood music.
Another thing to notice: the instruments only serve as a backdrop for the lament of the storm-tossed, washed-up (but not defeated) Zip and his angst-bearer, Louie. A sad song, I propose, not unlike that sung of the storm-tossed and washed-up Sailor and his barkeep-confessor, Louie, by another band known more for its agonized groans and screaming than for its bravery.
One other thing to notice before I close Chapter One (I’ll get to the crazy – bent – piccolo and the gunshot in Chapter Two):
Both sagas (and their accompanying tunes) might have remained forever-marooned on the backside of ambition and just-shy of infamy had it not been for a dollop of fate and marketing geniuses with truly nepharious plans.
Can an oboe line be autobiographical …