Stories behind the songs #4

4. It’s disappointing being eaten

One of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life is to make dinner for my family after I come home from work and before my wife does.  And I’ve done it several times. I’d need both hands to work it out but I’m typing right now.  I know what I like and my kids like but I do try to make it up to my wife’s healthy, whole-grain, lots of vegetables but don’t-forget-the-protein standard.  We are a vegetarian family so I can’t cook any of the animals I used to eat when I was a kid. Because we’re vegetarians we usually think of meat like that - former animals - and this song is just the extension of that thought into the imaginary realm of how animals might feel about the whole situation.
Musically, I think Martin’s sax hits provide all the rhythm the song needs. They’re loosely modelled on the sax part in Tom Waits’ Down in the Hole from Frank’s Wild Years. I love pretending to be a serious, seen-it-all lifelong lounge-type piano player, but my chops are more Popular Songbook for Beginners so I keep it to four chords, then just play them for half as long for the second part of the verse. If any other beginning piano entertainers out there want to sound like beginners trying to sound experienced, send me an email and I’ll show you how it’s faked.

Oscar wants you to know that he has never eaten an oyster.

Now, for your edification and entertainment, and because there is sadly no Wiki for My Friend Christopher (yet) I present:
The References in the scat outro
Yabba Dabba Doo - The Flintstones
Do Wacka Do - Roger Miller (1965)
Wang Dang Doodle - Howlin’ Wolf (If you need a name for a kid, like, a third, or fourth one, check out the lyrics to that song)
We Gon’ Boogaloo - C.W. Stoneking