In The House Of Queen Charles Augustus

Taken from "Motel of Fools" 2003

"Truly I saw a fallen wave upon it's way
Truly I saw the undetermined person
Truly I saw goin' up and down on
Truly I saw the empties fired away
Truly I saw 12 states on 50 pages
Truly I saw the cover and the color
Truly I saw the quail and the quazar
Truly I saw the empties fired away
Telegram of steam
And winter green
When the senators gather
Crash the place
A fusion of their metals
And 10 winos grin
Wings, hoofs, and halos
All again
For matters worse
And public scourge
That's why they bring women
To eat with them
When they get fat enough
Pull the cork
And watch the party flow
Have courage - do not trade them
To the devil for your selfish souls
I trade her now
In my Sunday's best
You deserve it
The threads of gold
Wear your soft light man costume
They are pros for you again
When they come again
The sun will shine again
In the house of Queen Charles Augustus
There for all to see"

Starts with Bob on his own singing unaccompanied "Truly I saw....". Then a swirling phasing guitar kicks in and we are into the song proper. Again, this is a "Motel of Fools" track that I really like but for some reason Ive never liked "Motel of Fools" and this is the 4th track in isolation I have liked. That's really weird.

Captain Black

Taken from "Motel Of Fools" 2003

"Captain Black
Is magic
I wish I could see him
And run his game
Love it is
So here at last
Make your dying promise
To Captain Black
My name is Rhino
Yeah, get it on
To the skies
I have a scarlet heart
Captain Black is dark
In his ballroom
Above the stairs
One more to grow on
For Captain Black somehow
And I am free (for now)"

Now, I think I said earlier I didn't like many of the "Motel of Fools" songs. But strangely enough when I break them down I find I like quite a few of them. This is a lovely song and the bit where the piano comes in just slays me every time. For some reason this feels like a love song to Superheroes. Maybe its just me but Captain Black in magic.

Harrison Adams

Taken from "Motel Of Fools" 2003

"There he sits
Guardian the fish market
Splitting hairs and atoms
Eying the salt target
Please to preach
Harrison Adams
The son of a jack poker
Panting like a ram worker
Arise
Give into the umpire
Feel his air
Relax
That's where we stay
He says: You aren't happy with me
And I know it
And you are the world to me
But it's all gone now
It's all gone now
Look at the back of his pants
Where he must have sat in something
Bring it to boil
Your gripes and your follies
Being appointed chief
Of your own dream team
That's what they call'em
Dead on arrival
Begone
Take your opinions
From the removal office
I ask
For your forgiveness"

I love it when Bob uses samples in his songs from TV and then snippets of conversations he has. Starts with the classic "Duck Tale" story then we are into the song. This is a good song with a strong melody from "Motel of Fools" (One of my least favourite Pollard albums if truth be told but has its moments). Who is Harrison Adams? Great chorus and some interesting vocals and lyrics add up to a great song. Is that Geo at the end being drunk/crazy?

Red Ink Superman

Taken from "Motel Of Fools" 2003

"Now and then
She serenades the system
I like looking at the crime
I like looking in
Don't fill up your freezer
At Henry's disco
Last night was all over
Last night is all gone
You paid the price
You paid the bill
Zipping in and out
Where are the perfect suits
Tags still hang
From the red light special
From the blue ink dream
From the white man's money
And you know
Ain't no clouds above ya
Proves the angels love ya
And the white man
Now you wanna go
Now you wanna swim
Working on your man
Red ink superman
We'll even the score in World War IV"

Take from one of my least favourite of the "Robert Pollard" albums. Some of the songs are just too damn weird and discordant for my tastes. This song starts with room sounds, clinking and then ultra-slowed down vocals before we hit the song proper nearly 2 minutes in. Like the pounding drum sounds that appear between the mainly guitar led track. Not a bad song but I find the vocals slightly off and feels like tit once to be epic but doesn't quite get there. Ends in a horrible mess of guitars and randomly played instruments. Nuff said.