“Excuse my French.”
I’ve always wondered why people say that phrase after cussing. Do you know? Because I don’t have any ideas whatsoever. I mean, when you cuss, it’s not like your just rolling over and giving up, chances are, it’s quite the opposite. Even though I try to keep an eye on my language, I’ve been known to let a few choice words slip out now and then. It’s pretty easy to pick up the colorful language while working at a feedlot. But I can’t blame my fellow employees because my first documented case of cussing was in the fourth grade. See, we were all outside doing an experiment where we used a magnifying glass and the hot west Kansas sun to light a black piece of paper on fire. I already knew that it would work because of my magnifying glass/ant experiments. But I decided to humor the old teacher and was very intent on my paper and right as I was starting to see the first hints of smoke, a kid behind me bumped my arm and the paper didn’t light. I shouted out a loud “witch.” Ok, it wasn’t witch, but it did rhyme with witch and I believe it started with a “b,” but I’m not quite sure. The teach heard my excited utterance and explained my “French” in our weekly report that went out to the parents every Friday. Somehow, this report got lost on the bus ride home. As did the one the next week when the teacher caught me saying the exact same word the next week. Honestly, I still don’t know how it got lost. I thought I had got away with it, till parent/teacher conferences rolled around. Oops. Oh well, I didn’t get into too much trouble, because after all, it had happened nearly two months before hand. And besides, who can stay mad at a face like mine. But I still say, it didn’t sound anything like the French language. And I know what the French language sounds like because the new Doc Marshalls CD has three French songs on it.
Well, to be completely honest, they are more Cajun than French, but it’s all just a formality. One of my thoughts when listening to this CD was of all the reviews I read when Scott Miller’s Thus Always to Tyrants came out. Many labeled it a “folk” CD because it had two folk sounding songs in it. But the rest of the CD was anything but folk. It would be easy to fall into the same trap here by labeling this CD a Cajun piece based on the three Cajun songs. But the problem with that way of thinking is that the rest of the CD is pure unadulterated country music. To label it Cajun would be a huge disservice to the rest of the CD. Take nothing away from these three songs, because they are real cool songs. Not knowing any French, aside from the aforementioned story, I had to read the linear notes to understand what they were saying. It reminded me of the Max Stalling song, The Beatles and The Thunder.
Never
having parlez vous’d much francais
He don’t know what they say
But the words go nice together
Well, when I read these songs, I realized that I need to start taking a French correspondence course and parlez vous’d some francais, because these songs are pure genius, with my favorite being Je Suis Gone.
C’est le beau temps qui acheve
C’est la fin qui s’en vient
Il y a un gagnant
But it ain’t me
Tu as qu’a demander a les amis qu’ll me reste
Depuis que t’es partie, moi je suis gone
Uh, sorry, pardon my French; here it is in our native English, the greatest language in the world.
It’s the good times that are winding down
And the end that’s nearing
There’s a winner here, but it ain’t me
Ask any of the friends that I have left
Since you left, I’m gone
This CD is filled with great heartbreak songs in a country style not seen in a long time. They have that classic country sound that I love. I first heard of these guys on a web site called pandora.com. What you do is put in bands that you like, and the station will play other artists that have a similar sound and style. If you like a song, you can put it on your favorites and if you don’t like a song you can tell it to never ever play that song again. Well when Feel No Pain came on, I immediately put this as one of my favorites. The tune is great in it’s own right and the words in this song, as with all of the CD, are some of the best ever penned. Another song that’s Grammy worthy is Half Asleep. It’s a story that’s wondering if he dreamed that his women has came back, or was it just his imagination. Part dream, part hope, but unfortunately, not reality.
I must have been in between
The sad truth and a crazy dream
‘Cause hours after I’d retired
Heart and mind both conspired
To make me think that you’re not gone
The rest of me just went along
Half conscious that it was a lie
Just for the chance to hold you tight
And half asleep I might have said
Please don’t let me wake up just yet
This is one of the best CD’s I’ve listened to by a young band in quite some time. It’s well worth checking out.
So, what have we learned today:
- Much like the kids of South Park, I had a mouth on me in the fourth grade
- The Doc Marshalls are the next big thing in the Heath Kirk CD player
- Even if you can’t understand French, doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it
- And finally, No Kind of Life should be your next CD purchase.
I’ll give this CD 5 out of 5 magnifying glasses.