There is something beautiful and compelling about this song, simple as it is. I redicovered it today, buried in a playlist. It jumped out! And I just got this feeling that its folksy naiveté belies much depth.
Listen to it. At first, it sounds almost a little daft (what's with calling everyone Jimmy - 'your and your auntie jimmy and your cousin jim' -- is it, like, supposed to be ironic?).
But then no! Woven into it are are some of the strongest threads of the American ethos, moving and heartbreaking. Doesn't it conjure the image of the wanderer? The loner, the explorer, the cowboy, the drifter. And the vastness of the land he sets off across in his coming of age -- as his coming of age.
What is the American story if not that of the individual and his journey, his relationship with the land, his relationship with the Lord, his private conversion and rebirth. Think of the ante-bellum push across the Western frontier (those iconic covered wagons). Long before that even, think of the impulses that compelled the very first Puritan settlers across the Atlantic to a harsh and unknown country, where they set off to build their City Upon a Hill, their New Jerusalem.But then, as I was listening to it again...you get the sense that the song is about finding home, coming home.
And the buffaloes used to say be proud of your name
The Buffaloes used to say be what you are
Perhaps this isn't a song about the frontier and about the land - not in the literal sense. Maybe those are metaphores for the inward journey we all embark on - the self as the untamed frontier and the thing to set off and discover. Is there a plainer name than Jimmy? He's a man, yes, he's who she is signing to mournfully. But he is also everyone, in a way. Everyone who sets off on this grandest of journeys which we all have to embark on before we can return home again. Ideally, set tot he rhythm of plucking strings...
Jimmy won't you please come home
Where the grass is green and the buffaloes roam
Come see Jimmy your uncle Jim Your auntie Jimmie and your cousin Jim
Come home Jimmy because you need a bath
And your grandpa Jimmy is still gone daft
Now there's buffalo Jim and buffalo Jim
And Jim buffalo now didn't you know
Jim Jim Jimmy its your last cigarette
But there's buffalo piss and it's all kind of wet
Jambo Jimmy you'd better hold your nose
All roads lead to roam with the buffaloes
Where the grass is green and the buffaloes roam
Come see Jimmy your uncle Jim Your auntie Jimmie and your cousin Jim
Come home Jimmy because you need a bath
And your grandpa Jimmy is still gone daft
Now there's buffalo Jim and buffalo Jim
And Jim buffalo now didn't you know
Jim Jim Jimmy its your last cigarette
But there's buffalo piss and it's all kind of wet
Jambo Jimmy you'd better hold your nose
All roads lead to roam with the buffaloes
And the Buffaloes used to say be proud of your name
The Buffaloes used to say be what you are
The Buffaloes used to say roam where you roam
The Buffaloes used to say do what you do
Well you've gotta have a wash but you can't clean your name
You're now called Jimmy you'll be Jimmy just the same
The keys are in a bag in a chest by the door
One of Jimmy's friends has taken the floor
Jimmy won't you please come home
Where the grass is green and the buffaloes roam
Dear old Jimmy you've forgotten you're young
But you can't ignore the buffalo song
And the Buffaloes used to say be proud of your name
The Buffaloes used to say be what you are
The Buffaloes used to say roam where you roam
The Buffaloes used to say do what you do
If you remember you're unknown
Buffaloland will be your home
The Buffaloes used to say be what you are
The Buffaloes used to say roam where you roam
The Buffaloes used to say do what you do
Well you've gotta have a wash but you can't clean your name
You're now called Jimmy you'll be Jimmy just the same
The keys are in a bag in a chest by the door
One of Jimmy's friends has taken the floor
Jimmy won't you please come home
Where the grass is green and the buffaloes roam
Dear old Jimmy you've forgotten you're young
But you can't ignore the buffalo song
And the Buffaloes used to say be proud of your name
The Buffaloes used to say be what you are
The Buffaloes used to say roam where you roam
The Buffaloes used to say do what you do
If you remember you're unknown
Buffaloland will be your home
*DISCLAIMER* I've been kindof engulfed in American cultural history lately (PBS online ftw), and maybe that's why it resonates so. May I particularly recommend the 'God in America' series http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/view/. So worth it.
*UPDATE* So I just looked up the band..and Moriarty is actually a FRENCH-AMERICAN band! With band member names such as the très cowboyesque:
Charles Carmignac
Arthur Gillette
Thomas Puéchavy
Rosemary Standley
Stephan Zimmerli.
Oh my God that almost ruins it... Whatevs, I'm not about to let a little something called reality affect my thoughts on the matter - I stand by it all (especially since they are avowedly inspired by Irish folk music, country and the blues)
...ahh, maudite merde!
Great song and an interesting take on it. Good piece Eve you nailed it on the imagery.
ReplyDeleteyou know what i have a lot of trouble with...pardon the term.. "faux-folk"
ReplyDeletei don't know. i feel its so ironic that the artists behind this deep american ethos song are in fact french! it sounds like they're trying too hard... any hoo maybe its just cause i'm so use to thumps and beats etc....
Thanks B! I was inspired by your Wilco-California one :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, the French thing kindof blew my whole Image of the song and its meaning! :) (you should hear some of their othe songs... it's like if Carla Bruni walked to the centre of Sciences Po Paris campus and started signing about youth). I guess the song is kindof self-conscious - which should have been a telltale sign. That being said, I generally love faux-folk, I'm a dead-sucker for it, and I love this song still!