| Roger McGuinn – King Of The Hill Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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I saw a McGuinn interview that confirms the Mammas & Pappas theory. Tom Petty was reading the John Phillips memoirs entitled “John Phillips: An Autobiography (of The Mommas and The Pappas)”. (I have seen the book variously described as “brutally honest” and “about sex, drugs, and rock and roll”.) McGuinn saw the book and asked Petty if he could borrow it when Petty was done. After they had both read it, they decided to write a song about John Phillips, and that is “King of the Hill.” As noted previously by another commenter, Petty confirmed this. So, there is no point in speculating about what the song might mean without first reading the John Phillips book. I remember the Mommas & Poppas song “Straight Shooter,” which is full of drug references and is obviously about mainlining heroin. The “green guchi bag” apparently contains Phillip’s heroine works. “Baby what your holding, half of that belongs to me, ‘Cause I’m a real straight shooter, if you know what I mean.” Interesting is the reference to “a high lonesome sound.” I recently learned that country singer Bill Monroe transposed songs into a higher key to put them at the top of his very high vocal range. He said he was trying to achieve “a high lonesome sound.” I wonder if Phillips put this in his book, or if it is just McGuinn’s extensive folk music knowledge coming out. Now, is the “white blinding light” and “feel[ing] like you’re king of the hill” about the heroin drug experience? Probably so. |
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