BOYS FOR PELE
B-side Thoughts

 

On Merman

"It's inspired by a man with integrity, such deep integrity that I married him. It's about having someone heal your whole life. I'm talking about the times when lines have been crossed by men. Men can be dangerous, like in the song Datura about how sometimes they can bring you gold and sometimes they can be the bearer of poison. The plant Datura is a hallucinogen and it's like men. If you get the right amount you'll walk into the garden and become a woman, but if too much seeps in in the wrong way and at the wrong time -- it'll kill you. So yeah, Merman is that. When I was touring last year and Matthew Shepard got murdered I was dedicating it to him. A lot of guys were asking me to sing it for him and it just kinda took a life on of its own."
 
On Samurai
"I don't know this song, but I am gonna have a lollipop when I get off the stage."
 
On Til' The Chicken
“Spoof of Past the Mission, because Past the Mission became Pass the Chicken.”
 
On Toodles Mr Jim
"Mr. Jim lived next door to me. When I was a little girl. He was one of my favorite people. I did punch his daughter in the nose and got in trouble from my father, of all people, Mr. Jim defended me. I was five and she was seven. When he passed on I wrote that song for him. I punched her because she was insulting my mother."