Except Mama Cassandra

Jour de congé. J'allais sans doute procrastiner quand l'Hopital Saint Louis a téléphoné, me demandant si je voulais à nouveau faire un don de plaquettes. Comme c'est le rare genre de choses qui me donne une illusion de finalité, j'ai accouru. 1h10 de transfusion pour donner les thrombocytes. Cette fois-ci, j'ai vu Bend it like Beckham pendant le drainage. J'ai failli prendre Raja Hindustani, mais il dure au minimum 2h40, j'aurais eu l'impression de profiter des installations. La prochaine fois, il faudra que j'apporte mon propre DVD.

Tiens, en reprenant la page d'annotations de la chanson autobiographique "Creeque Alley" (1967) des Mamas & Papas, voilà les paroles en version hyperliens.

John and Mitchy were gettin' kind of itchy
Just to leave the folk music behind
Zol and Denny workin' for a penny
Tryin' to get a fish on the line
In a coffee house Sebastian sat
And after every number they'd pass the hat
McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher
In L.A., you know where that's at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

Zolly said "Denny, you know there aren't many"
"Who can sing a song the way that you do, let's go south"
Denny said "Zolly, golly, don't you think that I wish"
"I could play guitar like you"
Zol, Denny and Sebastian sat (at the Night Owl)
And after every number they'd pass the hat
McGuinn and McGuire still a-gettin higher
In L.A., you know where that's at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

When Cass was a sophomore, planned to go to Swarthmore
But she changed her mind one day
Standin' on the turnpike, thumb out to hitchhike
"Take me to New York right away"
When Denny met Cass he gave her love bumps
Called John and Zol and that was the Mugwumps
McGuinn and McGuire couldn't get no higher
But that's what they were aimin' at
And no one's gettin' fat except Mama Cass

Mugwumps, high jumps, low slumps, big bumps
Don't you work as hard as you play
Make up, break up, everything is shake up
Guess it had to be that way
Sebastian and Zol formed the Spoonful
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin' very tuneful
McGuinn and McGuire just a-catchin' fire
In L.A., you know where that's at
And everybody's gettin' fat except Mama Cass
Di-di-di-dit dit dit di-di-di-dit, who-o-oa

------

Broke, busted, disgusted, agents can't be trusted
And Mitchy wants to go to the sea
Cass can't make it, she says we'll have to fake it
We knew she'd come eventually
Greasin' on American Express cards
It's low rent, but keeping out the heat's hard
Duffy's good vibrations and our imaginations
Can't go on indefinitely
And California dreamin' is becomin' a reality

Je trouve la mannequin Michelle Philipps - la plus jolie chanteuse des Swinging 60's à part Joan Baez - un peu moins séduisante depuis que j'ai lu la vie du groupe. La cruauté des paroles sur la malheureuse Mama Cass est vraiment étonnante...




"I Saw Her Again" aurait été écrit en 1966 quand le leader John Phillips surprit sa femme Michelle (qui semble avoir incarné à elle seule tout le Summer of Love en couchant avec la moitié de la Californie de l'époque) avec l'autre chanteur Denny Doherty. Le carré du groupe est rendu plus triste par le fait que Mama Cass avait aussi une affection sans réciprocité pour Denny.