Indeed, there may never have been a Mr. Tamborine Man had the Tamborine Man not released Green Tamborine. The djinn knew that Green Tamborine had the potential to keep him enslaved for eternity, so it was necessary to sing that special "song" for The Byrds to record, and so bring people from all over the globe to listen, toss money and hasten his liberation.
Was its effort successful? Well, no more mention is made of Tamborine Man after The Byrds released their record. We can confidently assume that the genie was freed after a particularly large group of Japanese tourists heard the Tamborine Man play and tossed hundreds of thousands worth of Yen into the tamborine. In what might be the ultimate example of cosmic irony, the supernatural mechanism in place may not have factored in international exchange rates and so took the hundreds of thousands of Yen at face value and set the genie free for only thirteen dollars.
So what became of the Tamborine Man after the malevolent spirit was freed and founded MicroSoft? Hopefully, he was freed of torment as well and completed his task of pawning the spritually benign instrument for some much need reefer money. Such a scenario may help us sleep peacefully at night, but the truth may be far more sinister. We must assume that somewhere in this world a possessed Green Tamborine, imbued with the spirit of an angry and tormented soul, quietly awaits its next unsuspecting victim.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Thanks P, very glad to have you back, missed your strange obsessions!
2 - Al Barger
I have not researched the demonic tamborine issue nearly as extensively as you, so I may not speak as authoritatively.
However, I've wondered if it was not the very same instrument, the demonically possessed Green Tamborine casting its demonic charisma into "Tamborine" from Prince's Around the World in a Day album.
Does the instrument itself radiate an irresistable enchantment wave through the CDs and radios into the minds of unsuspecting listeners?
Scully and Muldar will be out any time now to get your statement.
3 - Eric Olsen
And how does this relate to Robert Johnson's demonic possession? Or was it, in fact, his guitar?
4 - Marty Thau
Better double up on your Wellbutrin intake. Two tablets in the morning and one at night should do it. I happened to have promoted that record and know that it was intended to be psychedelic and imaginative as were many songs of that era. Don't you have better things to do with your time?
5 - Paul
What, like make banal comments to lighthearted posts about shitty songs?
6 - a
What the freakin piece of crap are you talking about?
7 - Dan
Lemmon Pipers only hit. I jammed with the bass player, Steve, in the mid '70's. He was irritated by my guitar's inability to maintain precise tuning. Fine fellow though.
I was impressed with his gold record.
I think he's gone now. As I remember, he had a legal problem with dealing pot in the 90's. The case went to the Indiana Supreme Court because of police procedural problems. It was eventually thrown out, but he didn't live to see it.
8 - Trisha
I think I love you.