Back in 1999 or so I wanted to play some over-the-top guitar on top of a slow, soulful background -- sort of like Roy Buchanan used to do -- so I laid down a dozen or more verses of the first "Hotel California"-like chord progression that occurred to me. Drums, bass and organ. Then I played over it twice with what I considered consenting guitars. To me it sounded like the perfect music for a porn film and I called the song "Pomp and Circumflex".
But I wasn't satisfied. I needed some lyrics -- 9 minutes' worth. Luckily, at that time my friend Dugym Qycfyl just returned from a solo road trip out Utah way and while driving in his Toyota Tacoma he recorded his impressions. And he probably added some homespun philosophy. It's hard to tell because he played the mini-cassette recording of his trip, which had plenty of truck noise behind his voice, on cheap speakers and used the prevailing voice recognition software of the time (not so hot) to come up with a transcription for me.
I've gone overboard to make this song palatable. The first version is the complete song, words and music. If you can't stand the words but like the music, or loathe the music but don't mind the words, there are two more versions for you.
Words and Music
Just the Music
Just the Talk
BONUS COVER!
How about a Neil Young song? You probably haven't heard a Neil Young song in hours. One of my favorites.
(c) by Neil Young
