This song is based on a true story. Randy Newman's good friend, a public defender, was representing a man who was arrested for stealing a purse from a woman while naked. His defense made the already strange story even stranger: apparently, he was in the middle of committing adultery when the woman's husband came home, forcing him to jump out of the window naked as the day God made him. Then suddenly, ANOTHER naked man came running by and handed him a purse, leaving him to explain the story to the police.
The strange and amusing lyrics with absurd and slightly dark implications ("they found out about my sister/kicked me out of the navy/would've strung me up if they could") reflect the nature and emotion of the story. You've got unreliable narrators, strange events and uncomfortable nudity all mixed together.
This song is based on a true story. Randy Newman's good friend, a public defender, was representing a man who was arrested for stealing a purse from a woman while naked. His defense made the already strange story even stranger: apparently, he was in the middle of committing adultery when the woman's husband came home, forcing him to jump out of the window naked as the day God made him. Then suddenly, ANOTHER naked man came running by and handed him a purse, leaving him to explain the story to the police.
The strange and amusing lyrics with absurd and slightly dark implications ("they found out about my sister/kicked me out of the navy/would've strung me up if they could") reflect the nature and emotion of the story. You've got unreliable narrators, strange events and uncomfortable nudity all mixed together.