BURROUGHS WITH MUSIC （104） Tom Waits／THE BLACK RIDER－その4

引き続き

Tom Waits／THE BLACK RIDER [Island] release 1993


Cover Concept & Art : Robert Wilson, Design : Christie Roxford

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Burroughsの作詞3作目。

Tom Waits (vo, g, chamberlain), Gerd Bessler (viola), Greg Cohen (b)
14. Crossroads (lyrics by William Burroughs)

Now, George was a good straight boy to begin with, there was bad blood in him someway and he got into the magic bullets and that lead straight to the Devil's work. Just like marijuana leads to heroin  You think you can take them bullets and leave 'em, do you? Just save a few for your bad days, well...

Well, we all have those bad days when we can't hit for shit.

The more of them magics you use, the more bad days you have without them. So it comes down to finally all your days being bad without the bullets. It's magics or nothing. Time to stop chippying around and kidding yourself. Kid, you're hooked, heavy as lead.

And that's where old George found himself. Out there at the crossroads molding the Devil's bullets. Now a man figures it's his bullets, so it will take what he wants < -- omitted -- >. But it don't always work out that way.

You see, some bullets are special for a single target. A certain stag, or a certain person. And no matter where you aim, that's where the bullet will end up. And in the moment of aiming, the gun turns into a dowser's wand, and points where the bullet wants to go.

(George Schmid was moving in a series of convulsive spasms, like someone in an epileptic fit, with his face contorted, and his eyes wild, like a lassoed horse, bracing his legs but something kept pulling him on. Now he is picking up the skulls and making the circle.)

I guess old George didn't rightly know what he was getting himself into, the fit was on him and it carried him right to the crossroads.

（赤字は歌詞カードとの相違）

modified after William Burroughs （1990） Crossroads. IN : Booklet of Tom Waits／THE BLACK RIDER. Island Records, NYC.

参考：
・TOM WAITS FAN > ? > TOM WAITS LIBRARY > Lyrics > Lyrics By Album > The Black Rider, 1993 > Crossroads（as of 2018/04/22）
http://www.tomwaitsfan.com/tom%20waits%20library/www.tomwaitslibrary.com/lyrics/theblackrider/crossroads.html

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これも意外に物語に則した内容。

George Schmidは、Wilhelmの真似をして魔法の弾丸を手に入れようと、悪魔に出会える十字路に向かう。しかし、中途半端に悪魔と接したため、魔力に当てられてGeorgeは発狂して死んでしまう。

しかし、これをBurroughsが書くと、まるでJUNKYの一節のようになる。JUNKYの中にもGeorge the Greekという登場人物がいるし。

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こうして見ると、gun maniaであるBurroughsが興味を持ちそうな小道具にあふれた物語だ。「悪魔のコントロールで妻を射殺」というテーマといい、思ったよりBurroughsの資質に合った話だったのだ。

「Burroughsがmusicalの歌詞を書いた」と聞いて、まともな歌詞になるんかい？と心配したのは杞憂だった。意外にちゃんとしている。

まあ、1990年当時Burroughsはもう76歳だ。だいぶ丸くなっていた頃。これが1960年代だったらどうだったろう？ちょっとその時代のグッチャグチャな歌詞というのも聴いてみたい気がする。

というわけで、Tom Waits／THE BLACK RIDER終わり。