142. Two-Thirds of Our Bacon, One-Third of Your Cheese

142. "Quiche Lorraine" by The B-52s

Life was simple in Arimo. Even simpler for a kid that hasn't even entered kindergarten. When you're all of four years old (You? Or me?), you can't help but see all things, including interpersonal relationships, in pretty simple ways. Here's what I knew when I was four. I was Chris's friend. Chris had cousins. And I wanted Chris's cousins to also be my friends. Barry was one of Chris's cousins. So, logically....

Fast forward to ten years later. Barry and his family had recently moved to Marsh Valley. Chris and Barry and I were hanging out at his house talking about fireworks. We had concocted a plan to put on a fireworks show for our families on the next 4th of July. Barry had a fireworks catalog, and I had $50. Now back in 1980, you could get a lot of fireworks for $50, but you had to be selective and only order the ones that had a good price-to-OOOOooooo ratio. During our deliberations over what to put on the order sheet, we talked about many other things, like music. Barry mentioned something about a funny song he'd heard by the B-52s about a poodle named Quiche Lorraine. (I mentioned this song back in my entry for song #167--Private Idaho.)

Now, my 14-year-old brain was extremely interested in funny songs. The highlight of any Saturday spent discing the hell out of hundreds of acres of wheat fields was hearing the Dr. Demento show on the radio. The show had funny songs from the 50s through the present day, including such classics as:

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Shaving Cream
My Balogna
Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran
Junk Food Junkie
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter from Camp)
Fish Heads
Psycho Chicken
Spam
Dead Puppies
They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
The Streak
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Shaddap You Face
Another One Rides the Bus
King Tut

Because of my affinity for funny songs, when Barry told me about Quiche Lorraine, I immediately determined that Wild Planet would be my next Columbia Records and Tapes pick. The album was an incredible tour de force of musical treats--quirky songs that at the time I would have lumped into the category of "funny" songs, including Private Idaho, Devil in My Car, Strobe Light, and the reason I bought the record in the first place--Quiche Lorraine! Onto the video!





Another reason I thought this song was exceptionally fun to sing along to was the fact that our bishop named one of his daughters by the name of Lorraine. So the song was a two-fer--I could fave fun singing about a weird looking poodle AND mock one of the few girls in town in the process.

Has anybody seen a dog dyed dark green,
About two inches tall, with a strawberry blonde fall,
Sunglasses and a bonnet,
and designer jeans with appliques on it?
The dog that brought me so much joy
Left me wallowing in pain!
Quiche Lorraine! (Bellon)



Fast forward another 30+ years. My son Erik spent a semester studying art at the San Fransisco Art Institute. While he was there, he got to meet one of the women in the B-52s. Cool! I can't remember which one, but she talked with him and some other students for a while. He wouldn't have known anything about the B-52s if he hadn't heard me playing their songs as he was growing up. It was the first time in a long time that he didn't resent the fact that I made him listen to my favorite music on a regular basis, instead of just listening to his all the time.

So thanks, Quiche, for making it possible for me to bond with my son over music for at least a few minutes. You really are a sweet, sweet, sweet puppy!