11 June 2009

what's in a name...

"sweetestbaboon" originates from a beat poem written by Brion Gysin, who was a painter & poet as well as very chummy with some guy named Burroughs.
The way it seeped into my brain was on a mixtape (remember those?!) a friend made me that included the poem set to music by Gysin's frequent collaborator & jazz saxophonist, Steve Lacy.
The entire enterprise seemed to scream my name so I adopted it as my online identity as it were, in lieu of the ubiquitous "monkeyboy".
As if I even still had your attention, here's the poem in its entirety, followed by the tune as well.
Enjoy~
I'm a blue baboon
I'm a true baboon
I'm a helluva

Hullabaloo Baboon
And I love a baboon
Who bays at the moon
In the mad month of June
The looniest month of them all
He asked me to spoon
By a moonlit lagoon
and there, very soon,

I fall into a swoon
And I fall! I fall! I fall
'Cause I'm a baboon
A baby baboon
The weakest baboon of them all!
I fall into, a swoon
in the arms of this goon

And there, on a dune
I turn and I give him my all!
My all! My all! My all!
Cause I'm a baboon
You could feed with a spoon
The weakest baboon of them all
I'm a skinny baboon
I'm a mini baboon

Just so tall!
I'm the sleekest baboon
I'm the meekest baboon
But I'm the chic-est baboon
Of then all!All!All!
I'm the cheapest baboon
The deepest baboon
The sweetest baboon of them all!

I'm not uptight
I don't wanna fight
None at all!
I'll take your attack
Lying flat on my back
Or bracing myself
On a wall!
Oh, I'm a baboon
Won't join your platoon
I'm the weakest baboon

Of them all
All!All!All!
I'm a neat baboon
I'm a fleet baboon
Im' the Beat-est baboon
Of them all
.~
Brion Gysin 1972.



3 comments:

Robt Seda-Schreiber said...

The accompanying painting is "Study of a Baboon" by Francis Bacon, just to give credit where credit is due.

ginsburg said...

wait, I left my beret at home.

A Free Man said...

It's been a while since I read the Beats - college Lit class if I recall correctly - but this bit:

I'm a neat baboon
I'm a fleet baboon
Im' the Beat-est baboon

Is damn good!