F Posterity, issue 13: "Living On Credit"

Continuing the theme of insolvency, I'ma throw down a harmonica stomp I started writing a year ago and finished just recently. Stomps work best live, because they're real physical and don't always translate to recorded media.

I picked up the stomp from Mike iLL, who's acapella stuff blew me away when I first saw it. First time I saw Mike, he got up at the Antihoot on the Lower East Side and busted out some KRS-One, no instrumentation. He started writing his own stomps in the serious folk tradition. The place would be totally silent, and he'd hold down the joint with a mic in hand, stomping his foot on the measure: "Who woulda known that (bam) who woulda known that (bam) who woulda known that, man it's a crime!"

Mike mighta picked it up from Odetta, or Leadbelly, or any of a number of recordings of slave field hollers. Dave Van Ronk has a good one, "Old Hannah" on Somebody Else, Not Me, and Beck has a typically absurd stomp called "One Foot in the Grave" on Stereopathetic Soulmanure. But wherever Mike got it from, I thought it was amazing. It took me a long while to get up and do some myself. This is the first one I've written.

Living On Credit

I've been living on credit
Credit that I don't deserve
'Cause my gal gives me the benefit
Of a doubt when she isn't sure

And I've been racking up a bar tab
But I haven't had a drop to drink
Because I take my shots to the heart, man
When I don't know what to think

And it's a long, long time since I paid my bill
And I'm gone, I'm gone, gone if she counts that till

And it hurts, it hurts, ain't it hurt to feel the way that you do?
And I'm certain, I'm certain I'ma sharecrop a life or two

I take credit! I want credit!
Credit for the damage I done
And she said it! And she meant it!
She said, "Oh lord jehova, supernova
"Tell me all my trials is surely over"
Cancel my accounts and clean my plates
And I'ma sign my checks with a year pre-dated
'Cause I know five from six from seven
And a rich man can't get the kingdom of heaven
I reckon I'm set to inherit the earth
But a couple hundred dollars in the bank couldn't hurt

Download mp3s below by right-clicking on the links.

F Posterity, 2006
52. F Posterity (Getzschman) - May 16, 2007
51. Crazy (Burton/Callaway/Reverberi/Reverberi) - May 9, 2007
50. Persistence of Regret (Getzschman/Ryan/Sahm) - May 2, 2007
49. Breakin' Plates (Getzschman/Ruthsatz) - April 26, 2007
48. Trio for Vocal, Metronome, Wurlitzer (Getzschman) - April 18, 2007
47. She Hates It When I'm Right (Getzschman) - April 11, 2007
46. Beat It (Jackson) - April 4, 2007
45. Mass Ave Strut (Getzschman) - March 28, 2007
44. Let's Fall Asleep Like This (Getzschman) - March 21, 2007
43. 2010 Ain't What They Said It Would Be (Getzschman) - March 14, 2007
42. Three Red Stars (Getzschman) - March 7, 2007
41. Birdhouse In Your Soul (Flansburgh/Linnell) - February 28, 2007
40. Everybody Thinks They're Self-Aware (Getzschman) - February 21, 2007
39. Hysterical Woman (Getzschman) - February 14, 2007
38. Hollaback Savior (Getzschman) - February 7, 2007
37. White Collar (old Philly dollar) (Getzschman) - January 31, 2007
36. Bottle of Blues (B. Hansen) - January 24, 2007
35. Ask Somebody (Getzschman) - January 17, 2007
34. All Time High Score (Getzschman) - January 10, 2007
33. Bury Me In My Jetpack (Getzschman) - January 3, 2007
32. Eggnogg Is The Liquor Of This Household (Getzschman) - December 27, 2006
31. Like Spinning Plates (T.Yorke/J.Greenwood) - December 20, 2006
30. Jack or Jesus (Getzschman/Peterson) - December 13, 2006
29. Runes (Getzschman) - December 6, 2006
28. We Leave Just Like We Come (Getzschman) - November 29, 2006
27. Shampoo! (Getzschman) - November 22, 2006
26. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Dylan) - November 15, 2006
25. Was That Seriously Your Plan? (Getzschman) - November 8, 2006
24. Understated Explosions (Getzschman) - November 1, 2006
23. Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl (Getzschman) - October 25, 2006
22. Take Heart (Getzschman) - October 18, 2006
21. Pigs (L. Freese, S. Reyes, L. Muggerud) - October 11, 2006
20. Upstart Casualties (Getzschman) - October 4, 2006
19. Troubling (Getzschman) - Sept 27, 2006
18. Tales of Woe (Getzschman/Getzschman/Booth) - Sept 20, 2006
17. Manual Labor Pains (Getzschman) - Sept 13, 2006
16. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight (Gibbard/Tamborello) - September 6, 2006
15. Postmodern Burlesque Review (Getzschman) - August 30, 2006
14. Neverending Love Affair (Getzschman) - August 23, 2006
13. Living On Credit (Getzschman) - August 16, 2006
12. Broke As A Muhfuh (Getzschman) - August 9, 20006
11. Josie (Becker/Fagan) - August 2, 2006
10. Cold Day at the Races (Getzschman) - July 26, 2006
9. Calaveras (Getzschman) - July 19, 2006
8. Narcissist Blues (Getzschman) - July 12, 2006
7. Advice to a Young Jedi (Getzschman) - July 5, 2006
6. God Only Knows (Wilson/Asher) - June 28, 2006
5. Miracle Hubcap (Getzschman) - June 21, 2006
4. A Paycheck Is All I Ask (Getzschman) - June 14, 2006
3. Halfway (Getzschman) - June 7, 2006
2. Summer Crazy (Getzschman) - May 31, 2006
1. Sunday Street (Van Ronk) - May 26, 2006