I’m back in Paris now (sitting in Café Delmas in Place de la Contrescarpe as I type this) and I decided to finish the song. It goes like this, a kind of Jacques-Brel-meets-Johnny-Cash pastiche, maybe. The first two lines are phonetic approximations of the original:

Down and Out

I haven’t been to Nashville,
I’m still sleeping by the Seine,
But every time my luck’s run out
It’s run right back again.

I have walked the road from Vicksburg
Down to Tenessee
Up and down this lonely river
Chained to old Par-ee.

  Oh come you rhapsodies,
  Storms and symphonies,
  Come the morning calling out my name.
  On the western breeze,
  From the balconies,
  Won’t somebody holler out my name?

I was high-brow to my first wife,
I’ve been low-brow to the rest.
They bought me books and cowboy boots
Now they’re all that I’ve got left,

And a suitcase full of memories,
And a wilderness of dreams,
And faith that life won’t leave me here
After what it’s done to me.

  Oh, it’s no good for me,
  I need company,
  Just to hear somebody call my name.
  On the western breeeze,
  From the balconies,
  Won’t somebody holler out my name?

When my wandering days are over,
When the whiskey starts to burn,
I will strap myself to a big balloon
Straight out of Jules Verne,

And if they don’t arrest me,
By God I’ll try my best
To unlive everything I’ve done
And dream myself back west.

  Oh come you rhapsodies,
  Storms and symphonies,
  Come the morning calling out my name.
  On the western breeze,
  From the balconies,
  Won’t somebody holler out my name?

The tune is quite jolly, a bit like “Flowers on the Wall” by the Statler Brothers. There’s a website where you can download it, but it requires signing up, and as it’s been in my head for seven years anyway I’m disinclined to fork out for a subscription.

If you’re a country singer yourself, or you know someone who is, and you think these words could be put to any use, please feel free to get in touch. I’d love to hear them sung, silly though they may be.

Comments are welcome.

“Just listen to the music in the order that I’ve recorded it. Get the records, sit down and dig.”

With that in mind I’ve created the following playlist on Spotify:

Thelonious Monk Chronologically

I am indebted to this excellent discography in making this list.

It’s reasonably complete, with all the studio albums in there, including the final sessions made in London on the Black Lion label. What’s missing sadly are a great deal of live recordings released on small labels made on tour in Europe and Japan throughout the 60s. Many have yet to be issued on CD, never mind digitally, I imagine.

Why did I do this? Well, I’m working on a rather secret (oops!) new theatre project involving Monk. Can’t reveal too many details just yet, but it’s going to be quite special, I hope.

Intrigued? Well, you may do the Facebook thing, or follow my RSS and you’ll be the first to know when I can announce more details.

Now go in peace.

My profile is here, with some playlists I already had linked up on my website, and possibly more to come.

You’ll need to download the new version of the program.

The other is called Bedside table, and is a list of stuff that I’ve either been listening to recently or am planning on listening to soon.

…just in case anyone’s interested.