Each month (more or less), we will install a lyric sheet here for a Shrimp City Slim original song that might be timely.
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When our Mom passed away (September, 1974), both my brother Rick (and his wife Diane) and I moved back to Chicago to be close to our father. Rick and I got to know each other as (now) young adults (I was 21 and he was 26). We partied too much but really enjoyed being back in Chi-Town, one of the great cities of this country (and indeed the world). One of our haunts was The Family House Greek restaurant, presided over by “Louie”, a large and robust Greek guy who specialized in excessive hospitality. We spent a lot of time and money there. Taramasalata, spanakopita, moussaka, pastichio, retsina, Demestica (white), Metaxa, the whole drill. Good memories. I wrote this song (January 2, 1977) about the prolonged experience.
—June 28, 2024 (Charleston, SC)
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IN THE DAYS OF DUST (words & music: Gary Erwin, copyright 1977, published by Blue Chasqui Music (BMI). Home recording (1975) by Jimmy & Cherry (my duo with Alicia Zipp-Smith, never released).
Louie fed the troops in the Days of Dust / dancing in the drunken darkness
And fat cats in satin shirts certainly bend our heated minds / overly blinded
by the skyline and by the skill / of production, of overkill
And a lover waxes languid in the dead-eyed sun
coming soft & sacked after nights of light
Fun
……
We were crazy bastards, weren't we, one and all?
screaming down Clark Street after twelve
and talking up the holocaust from our front stairs
Stirring up the coals (What a miracle!) (chefs at work)
Spinning tales 'bout my Howard Beach
Groans & bouts with mystery
and if I ever ever ever get back to that
you know that'll make me just a little bit sad
Dad
……JOOBIE JOOBIE JOO BEE DOO BEE DOO….
……..
Louie brought us wine in his winsome way
wiping out our conscience (It's a beautiful!), wiping up the day
& parks and packies open till the cows came home
3-cornered hat (What d'ya think about that? / getting a wee bit fatter
Chi-Town stays a multi-treasured place
Yes I got bored
Yes I got laid
but the clatter of a million things we used to do
brings me one mite closer to having you
Now
…….
Dwelling on the nonsense of our Days of Dust
and in insurrection of the human trust
Fund
And if I ever ever ever get back to that
you know that'll make me just a little bit sad
Dad