Every Scratch, Every Click, Every Heartbeat: Stan Ridgway 1985 Illegal Records EP - Page 2

Well, we followed him from Tucson, ended up in Baton Rouge
We trailed him with information by
A woman he knew in Barstow that would like to see him dead
That was four weeks ago - well, maybe five
And everybody wants another piece of the pie today," she said
You gotta watch the ones who always keep their hands clean.

It's the big heat, there's someone followin' you
It's the big heat, step aside, we're comin' through

“Salesman” sports an even more ROQ-of-the-’80s instrumental production – though with an appealing sting of a Marc Ribot-style guitar punctuation counteracting the tale of a perpetual peddler (“Pleased to meetcha!”) who keeps “the numbers all up here / I just read the map and steer, that's all.”

But hop aboard the wayback machinations of “Drive, She Said” for a little paginated imagination, femme fatale and all, evocative of a darkly humored Jim Thompson mystery. True to its novelistic structure, the narrative is set up with an intriguing encounter between two characters designed to entice and reward continued and repeated listening for its sustained drollness and enjoyable, B-movie storyline.

Sittin' right behind me
I could smell her perfume
It was somethin' I'd smelled before
Went through a red light
While I spilled my drink
I could feel somethin' sticky on the floor

I said "Miss, you've gotta tell me
Where you wanna go to
I can't keep drivin' round the same block"
So I crumpled my cup
And pulled the gum off my shoe
And then she told me "Just shut up
And keep your eyes on the road"

Chorus:
"And just drive," she said
"Just drive," she said
"Just drive," she said

Article Author: Gordon Hauptfleisch

Gordon Hauptfleisch is a Blogcritics Books Editor, freelance writer, and book reviewer for the San Diego Union Tribune. For many years he worked in and managed bookstores and record stores. Email him and he'll stop talking in the third-person.
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