adrian is different.
all along he's been throwing these interesting little things into his work - the first clue, i think, is a track called final rhino on the lone rhino album, which begins as a piano solo invented by his very young daughter - audie - over which he dubbed a guitar part, and all of which is perhaps the most haunting duet i've ever heard.
audie shows up later at age twelve on oh daddy, which i suspect is adrian's response to moon-unit and frank zappa's valley girl. adrian worked with frank on a number of albums, and there's an awful lot of similar innuendo in both their stuff.
in my opinion adrian gives himself away most clearly in the following track, off the same album (mr music head) as oh daddy.
here's to adrian belew - a very brave man - for having released something like this in 1989 - even if nobody seems to have noticed.
i guess, god said,
it's time to let the little people have
their salad days.
somebody cut the rain
let there be lawn chairs in the shade
for everyone.
mmmm - be sure to give it the works
the barbecues and the fireworks
and make certain the night is fair
for my lovers in pairs.
i'll be behind the sun
now let these things be done
uh-huh - it's one of those days.
we had iced-up beer
in the park with the picnic gear
uh-huh - the salad days.
between the hoots and shouts
we were knocking a volleyball around
every which way.
mmmm - tanned dads without no shirts
and young things tucked under skirts
and baby girl whose face is smirched
with some dessert.
bad boys a-hurtin' their bikes
shooting for the world record psyche
one of those days.
mmmm - now sometime later on
god peeped from behind the sun
he said looks like it's all worked out
and i can rest a while
god had his great snooze
and through the trees a sleepy breeze blew
it was one of those days
mmmm - one of those days
uh-huh - one of those days.