Twist and Doubt (spoken version)

This performance recorded live at Super Deluxe, Tokyo, on October 27, 2009. If you'd like to know what that string instrument is that's accompanying my voice, well, one video is worth a thousand words...

Twist and Doubt

i been double spaced and indented
more than halfway circumvented
put on trial and sent away
on charges patently false
like a bad dream in panorama
i had to listen to sweet home alabama
the night they were playing that
beautiful tennessee waltz

come on, come on, come on, come on,
come on, baby now...
twist and doubt

my daddy sent me out in the pouring rain
with a half a book of matches and some cellophane
he said someday son you'll thank me for being so mean
since that day i've relied on my luck
and look at me now i got a big dump truck
i'm gonna drive it up to west virginia full of jelly beans

come on, come on, come on, come on,
come on, baby now...
twist and doubt

i thought it was time for me to make amends
so i invited all of my friends
for a little get together
to celebrate my success
but it seems the party was a total loss
nobody liked the twinkies with the dipping sauce
and they all spilled wine on my x-ray gingham dress

come on, come on, come on, come on,
come on, baby now...
twist and doubt

*******************

Copyright P & C Samm Bennett / all rights reserved

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by flapjax at midnite (6 comments total)

That's a heck of a jelly bean truck, if it has the ability to drive from Tokyo to West Virginia... actually, this is a really nice Unplugged adaptation of the song, which I also liked in the other version.

If you'd like to know what that string instrument is that's accompanying my voice, well, one video is worth a thousand words...

Could you spare one more word (or two) to mention what the instrument is called? You're the best player of the [whatever it is] I've ever seen!
posted by LeLiLo at 11:56 AM on November 21, 2009

Wish I could tell you, LeLiLo, but I don't know what the darned thing is called! i've been trying to find out if it's a bona fide instrument, with a name and a tradition, but I'm starting to think that it might be just something some creative instrument maker just knocked together on his own. I found it in one of those "ethnic goods" shops here in Tokyo: the kind of place that sells clothes and jewelry and little sculptures and whatnot, from countries like Bali, Peru, India, etc. Those places often have a corner for musical instruments. The shop clerk couldn't tell me where it was from, though. My guess is India, but of course I don't know for sure.

Haven't ever seen anything else like it, and no one yet has been able to identify it. Here's a picture of it. In the photo, you'll note that it's sitting next to another one-string instrument from my collection, but that one is much more well-known: it's played by the Bauls of Bengal, in India.

So, if anyone has ever seen one of these, and has some clue as to what it's called and where it's from, let me know! Until then, I call it the One-String Double Drum.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:19 PM on November 21, 2009

This somehow really comes together when you watch the video - no idea why that is....some kind of "in the moment" thing, I dunno... Nice one Flapjax. As to the drum......looking at what you're doing with it it seems to to be a variant on the african talking drum. Although it doesn't look or sound much like one, it appears to work on a similar principle i.e. with a skin that is flexed in response to a percussive hit or pluck. I guess if you think about the cultural crossovers between South America and Africa it's not such a long-shot.....?
posted by MajorDundee at 3:48 PM on November 21, 2009

This somehow really comes together when you watch the video

Yeah, actually, it's kind of performance art, a bit... this kind of very stripped-down arrangement (if you can even call it an arrangement) and spoken-word delivery sorta depends on seeing it, I think. I wouldn't release this as an audio-only version on a CD, for example.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:40 PM on November 21, 2009

That's precisely what I thought after I'd commented. You've kind of moved into a different medium with this one - another dimension if you like. It's actually quite fascinating.... The nearest I can get to it off the cuff is that it's a bit like reading a text and then going to the theatre and seeing it performed - a totally different experience.
posted by MajorDundee at 3:44 AM on November 22, 2009

Hey man, three cheers for spoken word/performance art. Very cool man and big snaps to you. I think the quality of the vid was pretty damn good and the good audio made up a bit for not having the actual live experience.

And, yes, that stringed instrument is bitchen too!
posted by snsranch at 3:43 PM on November 22, 2009