Music / It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest

When the mode of music changes, the walls of the city shake

It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest is The Fugs' fifth album, released in 1968. It marked a transition from cheap recording techniques to a proper studio quality and professional session musicians. As a result this New Sound Album has become a genuine fan favorite. Matt Groening even called it his favorite Fugs album, placing it on nr. 53 of his list of "100 Favorite Things".

Tracklist

Side One

1. "Crystal Liaison" (3:17)
2. "Ramses II Is Dead, My Love" (2:55)
3. "Burial Waltz" (2:31)
4. "Wide, Wide River" (2:58)
5. "Life Is Strange" (2:40)

Side Two

1. "Johnny Pissoff Meets The Red Angel" (4:45)
2. "Marijuana" (1:43)
3. "Leprechaun" (0:15)
4. "When The Mode Of The Music Changes" (3:59)
5. "Whimpers From The Jello" (0:24)
6. "Divine Toe, Pt. 1" (0:42)
7. "We're Both Dead Now, Alice" (0:18)
8. "Life Is Funny" (0:17)
9. "Grope Need, Pt. 1/Tuli, Visited By The Ghost Of Plotinus"/More Grope Need" (0:43)
10. "Robinson Crusoe" (0:21)
11. "Claude Pelieu and J.J. Lebel Discuss the Early Verlaine Bread Crust Fragments" (4:41)
12. "National Haiku Contest" (0:28)
13. "Divine Toe, Pt.2" (0:52)
14. "Irene" (1:14)

Personnel

• Ed Sanders: vocals
• Tuli Kupferberg: vocals
• Ken Weaver: vocals, drums
• Ken Pine: vocals, guitar
• Bill Wolf: bass
• Charles Larkey: bass
• Danny Kootch: guitar, violin

It Troped Into My Hand, Honest

• Alliterative Title: "Wide, Wide River".
• Ancient Egypt: "Ramses II Is Dead, My Love" is about the funeral procession down the Nile. At the time the tombs of Ramses' son had recently been discovered by archeologists.
• Avant-Garde Music: The Title Track and "Claude Pelieu and J.J. Lebel Discuss the Early Verlaine Bread".
• Country Music: "Johnny Pissoff" is performed in Country Music style.
• Deep South: "Johnny Pissoff", a song about a pissed off redneck who hates black people, leftists, Communists and the Vietcong.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: "Wide, Wide River"
  I've been floating in this river of shit
  Over twenty years and I'm gettin' tired of it
  But I've got to keep swimming in this river of shit, 'cause I don't want to die
• Everybody Must Get Stoned: "Marihuana", where the legalization of the drug is advocated. The Gregorian chant in the background transforms it into a religious experience.
• Fading into the Next Song: "Whimpers From The Jello", "Divine Toe, Pt. 1", "We're Both Dead Now, Alice", "Life Is Funny", "Grope Need, Pt.1/ Tuli, Visited By the Ghost of Plotinus/More Grope Need" and "Robinson Crusoe" are a Medley in essence.
• Genre Roulette: The band tries out many different musical genres: Country Music, Gospel Music, Gregorian chant, Broadway music...
• Gospel Choirs Are Just Better: "Wide, Wide River" is guided by a gospel choir.
• Grief Song:
  • "Ramses II Is Dead, My Love"
  Ramses the II is dead my love
  He's left from Memphis to Heaven
  Ptah has taken him on his solar barge
  And walked him to Nat's celestial shores
  Heaven is waiting for Ramses II
  He's gone to Ptah's great side.
  • "Burial Waltz"
  Do not surround me with wreathes of flowers
  Nor place upon my body the signs of a fetish
  Nor crescent, cross, phallus or sun
  But bury me in an apple orchard
  That I might touch your lips again
• Haiku: "National Haiku Contest", about Teen Pregnancy.
  Do not tell me, I am the source of your knock up
  The mud elephant wading through the sea leaves no tracks.
• Horny Vikings: One band member is dressed up as a Viking, complete with helmet, on the cover.
• Intentionally Awkward Title: "It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest".
• Intercourse with You:
  • "Crystal Liaison"
  In the stroboscopic talisman in your pants
  I am your bun blade
  I am your BUN BLADE
  • "Grope Need" and "More Grope Need", naturally.
• List Song: "Marijuana" lists all kinds of synonyms for marijuana.
• Medley: Much of Side Two is a medley, Fading into the Next Song.
• My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: "Wide, Wide River"
  Who was it that set up this system?
  This supposedly democratic system?
  Where we're always voting for the lesser of two evils
  Was George Washington the lesser of two evils?
  Sometimes I wonder. Some politicians say we've got to stop violence in this country
  While he's spending 15,000 dollars a second snuffing gooks.
• Mundane Made Awesome: "Wide, Wide River" ("...of shit") is accompanied by a beautiful choir. Talk about contrast!
• New Sound Album: This was the first album where the production qualities of the band had significantly improved compared to their earlier albums.
• Ode to Intoxication: "Marijuana" is a plea for legalization.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: "Marijuana" sang in the style of a Gregorian chant, listing all the names for marihuana.
• One-Woman Song: "Irene"
• One-Word Title: "Marijuana" and "Leprechaun".
• Pacifism: "Irene" makes a stance for peace.
• The Power of Rock: "When The Mode Of Music Changes"
  When the mode of music changes, the walls of the city shake
  (...) Beware a man who is not moved by sound
  He'll drag you to the ground, drag you to the ground
• Protest Song: "When The Mode Of The Music Changes"
  You can have the men who make the laws, give me the music makers
• Psychedelic Rock: Several songs on this album are quite trippy, including "Crystal Liaison".
• Record Producer: Richard Alderson
• Red Scare: "Johnny Pissoff"
  Hey, mister, tell all the commies and draft card burners my name is Johnny Pissoff
  Ain't no pink fag legislator gonna tell me I can't have guns
  I'd never kill the president, but I kill him in my dreams
• Shout-Out:
  • "Life Is Strange" quotes from Faust
  Life is strange and death is easy
  I was young, but now I'm ugly.
  • "Robinson Crusoe" depicts Robinson Crusoe feeling sexually frustrated while being on his island.
  • "Kupferberg Visited By The Ghost Of Plotinus" references Ancient Roman poet Plotinus.
• Siamese Twin Songs: "Divine Toe, Pt. 1" and "Divine Toe, Pt.2".
• Spoken Word in Music: "Wide, Wide River" has a spoken word part near the end.
• Teen Pregnancy: "National Haiku Contest"
  Do not tell me, I am the source of your knock up
  The mud elephant wading through the sea leaves no tracks.
• Time Marches On:
  • "Wide, Wide River" alludes to The Vietnam War.
  • "When The Mode Of Music Changes" references Lyndon Johnson.
  Come dance with me in Johnson's land.
  • "Johnny Pissoff"
  I can't wait to get my hands on Sirhan Sirhan ^note  The assassin of Robert F. Kennedy.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Grope Need"
  Slipping my horny candy cane into your existential hole.
• War Is Hell: "Wide Wide River"
  Sometimes I wonder. Some politicians say we've got to stop violence in this country
  While he's spending 15,000 dollars a second snuffing gooks.
• Word Salad Lyrics:
  • "Crystal Liaison"
  In the stroboscopic fun bun of your brain
  I am your eunuch
  • Much of the medley on Side Two is also incomprehensible.

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