By Larry Fyffe
From out of ‘Key West’ comes the Masked Rabbi, seated on Silvanus, galloping around and about an island located in the blue Jungian Sea. He sings a fragmented postmodern song-epic of the rider’s descent into the ‘Underworld’ where he encounters visions of hell, and of paradise, and of the world-in-between; expresses visions of recurring times by references to the works of other songsters and poets:
McKinley hollered, McKinley squalled Doctor said, "McKinley, death is on the wall Say it to me if you got something to confess" I heard all about it, he was going down slow I heard it all, the wireless radio From down in the boondocks, way down in Key West I'm searching for love, for inspiration On that pirate radio station Coming our of Luxembourg and Budapest
A tribute to the rock poem below:
Without those wireless knobs Fats did not come in Without those wireless knobs Elvis did not come in .... We'd get Luxembourg Luxembourg and Athlone
(Van Morrison & Paul Durcan: In The Days Before Rock’nRoll)
This rock song too:
Every night I watch for the light from the house upon the hill I love a little girl that lives up there, and I guess I always will .... Down in the boondocks, down in the boondocks People put me down 'Cause that is the side of town That I was born in
(Joe South: Down In The Boondocks)
The little epic is introduced by the shooting of a President that pays tribute to the following bluegrass song:
McKinley hollered, McKinley squalled Doc said to McKinley, "I can't find the ball You're bound to die, you're bound to die"
(Bill Monroe: White House Blues ~ traditional/various)
Echoes of the blues too:
"Soothe me, baby, move me baby" Yes I heard it all Another mule is kicking in my stall
(Dave Bartholomew: Another Mule)
As in:
Well, the devil's in the alley, mule's in the stall Say anything you want to, I have heard it all
(Bob Dylan: Mississippi)
And in the following poem:
But show name your complete confession "No", said the sick man, "By St, Simon I have been shivered today by curate I have told him of my condition There is no further need to confess again"
(Geoffrey Chaucer: The Summoner’s Tale ~ modernized)
The Masked Marauda rides on:
Down in the bottom, way down in Key West I play both sides against the middle Trying to pick up the pirate radio signal I heard the news, I heard your last request Fly around, my pretty little Miss I don't love nobody, give me a kiss
(Bob Dylan: Key West)
Pays tribute to the psychedelic rock song below:
I read the news today, oh boy About a lucky man who made the grade And though the news was rather sad Well, I just had to laugh
(Beatles: A Day In The Life ~ Lennon/McCartney)
And to the following bluegrass song:
Fly around my pretty little miss Fly around my daisy Fly around my pretty little miss You almost drive me crazy
(Rising Appalachia: Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss ~ traditional)
Perhaps to a Blakean poem of ‘high art’ as well:
She was the single artificer of the world In which she sang. And when she sang, the sea Whatever self it had, became the self That was her song, for she was maker
(Wallace Stevens: The Idea Of Order In Key West)
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