Another “new” track from yours truly, this one a reboot of a song my UpTones brethren Paul Jackson wrote in the late 1980s. It was right after the original UpTones broke up and Paul and Ben and I started HOBO. We released it as a single and played it in our set for a while as we hoboed up and down the west coast playing concerts and nightclubs and the occasional campfire.
In 2017 I heard a new version with some different lyrics and asked Paul if he’d mind if I made a rewrite. Graciously Paul agreed and I tracked it at home with acoustic guitar and a “voice-box” lead guitar created with a Pignose amp and a funnel (for my fellow Frampton geeks!)
Now in the COVIDopalypse I wanted drums and bass to round it out so I called Dave Tweedie who put down some fabulous acoustic drum tracks, and then I played the bass. Mixed it up and here it be! I’m very happy with how it came out. Hope you also enjoy.
Oh, it’s been called, alternately, Laughing Man or The Laughing Man. I went with Laughing Man and Shannon’s artwork says The Laughing Man and that’s appropriate. “The Laughing Man, he can’t decide.” Full lyrics and credits below. Feel free to share any ol’ which way ya like. Thank you.
Laughing Man
There’s a pile of tacks where the floor meets the wall
He put them there so my pictures would not fall
The laughing man got a magic 8 ball
The laughing man sees and knows all
He is the laughing man
He is the laughing man
And he’ll do what he can
To see that we don’t understand
There’s a laughter where my hand pulls at my eye
He put it there so that I wouldn’t cry
And still the laughing children
Out on a summer’s day
Save their pennies and marbles
To hear the laughing man play
He is the laughing man
He is the laughing man
And he’ll do what he can
To see that we don’t understand
It ain’t a joke but here’s a punch line
He’s laughing at the knot I tied
The laughing man, he can’t decide
The laughing man, he never dies
And still the laughing children
Even as skies turn gray
Travel with minimal cargo
To hear the laughing man play
© 2017 Paul Albert Jackson / Eric Roy Dinwiddie,
Zymurgy Music, BMI / King Roy Music, BMI
Produced by Eric Din at Din’s house
Eric Din: Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Talkyboxen
Drums recorded by Dave Tweedie at Dave’s house
Cover art by Shannon Wheeler at Shannon’s house
Now you may listen to it at your house
Like magic
