Ellen
August 19, 2008 7:37 PM
A country blues song about love and loss on the road to Los Angeles. A new song.
It's not autobiographical. None of my songs are, not literally. But they all borrow from my experiences, and my experience of moving to Los Angeles was a troubled one.
The first time I went to Los Angeles, at age 21, I flew out there. With me was my 16-year-old brother, who had dropped out of school and was running away from home. We financed our trip, in part, with money from insurance -- my brother had been in a very minor car accident, and had gotten a check for $600 to fix a din on the vehicle. Instead, we bought airplane tickets. We also went in for hair cuts. I got mine dyed a vivid fire-engine red, while my brother had his shaved into a finlike blue mohawk.
I had never done anything like this, and was terrified. On the airplane, both my brother and I order cocktail after cocktail. I expressed surprise to the flight attendant that she had not checked our IDs. "Well," she said, "I figured, what are you going to do at 30,000 feet?"
We sat in a row with an old woman, who stared at my brother's hair. Finally. she asked him about it. "A fraternity prank," he told her.
I like to tell people that I was so drunk when I got off the flight that I thought there was two of everything in Los Angeles. I also like to claim that I was so drunk I thought there was an earthquake, but it wasn't the ground that was turning and rolling, it was me. Neither of those stories are true. No matter how much I drank, fear made me sober. I was very young and very innocent, and had just made the biggest move in my life, and it was one I was very poorly prepared for. I was shaking when I stepped off the plane, but not from the alcohol.
"ELLEN" LYRICS:
Ellen when you want to go out west
Ellen when you want to go out west
Well she says daddy what would you suggest
Ellen I've pulled my car around for you
Ellen I've pulled my car around for you
Well she says daddy what would you have me do
Ellen you're the one I love the most
Ellen you're the one I love the most
Well she said daddy when do we reach the coast
Ellen soon it is Los Angeles
Ellen soon it is Los Angeles
Well she said daddy what else can you do to please
Ellen I bought you a pretty new ring
Ellen I bought you a pretty new ring
Well she says daddy what else would you have me bring
Ellen all my money's gone and spent
Ellen all my money's gone and spent
Well she says daddy then maybe it's time you went
It's not autobiographical. None of my songs are, not literally. But they all borrow from my experiences, and my experience of moving to Los Angeles was a troubled one.
The first time I went to Los Angeles, at age 21, I flew out there. With me was my 16-year-old brother, who had dropped out of school and was running away from home. We financed our trip, in part, with money from insurance -- my brother had been in a very minor car accident, and had gotten a check for $600 to fix a din on the vehicle. Instead, we bought airplane tickets. We also went in for hair cuts. I got mine dyed a vivid fire-engine red, while my brother had his shaved into a finlike blue mohawk.
I had never done anything like this, and was terrified. On the airplane, both my brother and I order cocktail after cocktail. I expressed surprise to the flight attendant that she had not checked our IDs. "Well," she said, "I figured, what are you going to do at 30,000 feet?"
We sat in a row with an old woman, who stared at my brother's hair. Finally. she asked him about it. "A fraternity prank," he told her.
I like to tell people that I was so drunk when I got off the flight that I thought there was two of everything in Los Angeles. I also like to claim that I was so drunk I thought there was an earthquake, but it wasn't the ground that was turning and rolling, it was me. Neither of those stories are true. No matter how much I drank, fear made me sober. I was very young and very innocent, and had just made the biggest move in my life, and it was one I was very poorly prepared for. I was shaking when I stepped off the plane, but not from the alcohol.
"ELLEN" LYRICS:
Ellen when you want to go out west
Ellen when you want to go out west
Well she says daddy what would you suggest
Ellen I've pulled my car around for you
Ellen I've pulled my car around for you
Well she says daddy what would you have me do
Ellen you're the one I love the most
Ellen you're the one I love the most
Well she said daddy when do we reach the coast
Ellen soon it is Los Angeles
Ellen soon it is Los Angeles
Well she said daddy what else can you do to please
Ellen I bought you a pretty new ring
Ellen I bought you a pretty new ring
Well she says daddy what else would you have me bring
Ellen all my money's gone and spent
Ellen all my money's gone and spent
Well she says daddy then maybe it's time you went
posted by Astro Zombie (4 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
I have a hunch things aren't going to work out to well with this Ellen person.
posted by AppleSeed at 4:08 AM on August 20, 2008
posted by AppleSeed at 4:08 AM on August 20, 2008
This is lovely. The repetitions make it feel like a lullaby, and the lyrics provide the ache. Man, you are seriously prolific, and it never feels like you're phoning it in.
posted by umbú at 10:21 AM on August 24, 2008
posted by umbú at 10:21 AM on August 24, 2008
I have a hunch things aren't going to work out to well with this Ellen person.
I'm still looking forward to the reconciliation on her talk show.
posted by cortex at 10:17 AM on August 26, 2008
I'm still looking forward to the reconciliation on her talk show.
posted by cortex at 10:17 AM on August 26, 2008
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Now all I need is recording equipment, an accordion and a 5 piece saxophone brass section. And an arranger.
posted by Jofus at 3:03 AM on August 20, 2008