T Bone Burnett, “House of Mirrors,”
from: Truth Decay, 1980
“He was born in Brooklyn
And grew up in the Church of Rome
There was a girl there who loved him and had faith
He loved her like a madman, he loved her like a fool
He got a lot of big ideas
And fought his way up to mad avenue
He navigated that bizarre world easily
He did good work and he was smart
He knew his superiors, he disdained his inferiors
He was proud and dignified and she waited
The more money made, the more he wanted
The more glory he got, the more he wanted
His appetites were never sated
Everything he knew about himself
He drew from what was around him
You know this suit is you, this car is you
This studio is you
People were no different, people were also his mirrors
Often he was their mirror as well
Life became complicated and overstated
And underrated and she waited
The more power he got, the more he wanted naturally
The more women he had, the more he wanted
His appetites were never sated
She finally married a wine salesman and had three children
Sometimes he thinks of her
But it’s a gnawing, painful memory
Eventually, like Napoleon, he attacked Russia”
I wonder how Mr. Burnett ever came up with a song so sleek, echoey and self assured. It must have poured out in seconds like a quart of chocolate milk back when we were young and used to drink chocolate milk. It’s not a pretty saga painted, but the music seems to come 50’s lo-fi something akin to the Everly Brothers version of “Kentucky Bluebird.” The refrains are there. Also in play is a German tradition where the lyrical content of a song is spoken not sung. Buried in its past these 47 years, now out of its cage. A roustabout of rumination.
