According to John French, Van Vliet wrote the lyrics about him (Drumbo) as a way of poking fun. Some of the recording/transcribing sessions for the songs were brutal and took a physical and psychological toll on Drumbo - and Beefheart would tease him for it. I'm sure he'll mention it in his upcoming book. Also, John is a Christian, and Van Vliet was apparently very condescending about his religion (preferring Eastern religion himself) so a lot of religious imagery in the lyrics may be jabs - perhaps good natured jabs in Beefheart's own mind - towards Drumbo. Who knows.
Anyway, with that in mind, some of the lyrics do make a lot of sense: "i knew you were under duress", "jaw hanging slack", "fear in your windows (eyes)", etc. If Drumbo was physically and emotionally spent after some of these harrowing marathon sessions, he could have had his religion to fall back on and give him strength - which Van Vliet would of course know about (I don't think there were too many secrets in that house) and goad him for.
This is all speculation of course - from one man's own account (well, two men if you count Harkelroad's own book and interviews) of the TMR sessions. Still, I see no reason why he would make anything up. He is still very respectful and really complimentary about Don's genius and clearly wishes that they could have remained friends.
According to John French, Van Vliet wrote the lyrics about him (Drumbo) as a way of poking fun. Some of the recording/transcribing sessions for the songs were brutal and took a physical and psychological toll on Drumbo - and Beefheart would tease him for it. I'm sure he'll mention it in his upcoming book. Also, John is a Christian, and Van Vliet was apparently very condescending about his religion (preferring Eastern religion himself) so a lot of religious imagery in the lyrics may be jabs - perhaps good natured jabs in Beefheart's own mind - towards Drumbo. Who knows.
Anyway, with that in mind, some of the lyrics do make a lot of sense: "i knew you were under duress", "jaw hanging slack", "fear in your windows (eyes)", etc. If Drumbo was physically and emotionally spent after some of these harrowing marathon sessions, he could have had his religion to fall back on and give him strength - which Van Vliet would of course know about (I don't think there were too many secrets in that house) and goad him for.
This is all speculation of course - from one man's own account (well, two men if you count Harkelroad's own book and interviews) of the TMR sessions. Still, I see no reason why he would make anything up. He is still very respectful and really complimentary about Don's genius and clearly wishes that they could have remained friends.
@Hawkeye2008 Well, pretty much everything you've said is in accordance with John's book
@Hawkeye2008 Well, pretty much everything you've said is in accordance with John's book