A COMMONPLACE BOOK OF

Lyrics & Fragments

155 slips photocopied · arrow-keys to flip the page

Love27Place32Music14Wit18Life30Kids8Food4Spanish7Dance6Rock9

ALBUM /- all albums -The Modern Lovers (29)press (10)Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers (9)I, Jonathan (9)Modern Lovers 'Live' (8)Surrender to Jonathan (8)I'm So Confused (8)Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (8)Jonathan Sings! (8)Jonathan Goes Country (7)Having a Party with Jonathan Richman (7)Back in Your Life (7)Modern Lovers 88 (6)O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth (6)Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (5)Rockin' and Romance (5)Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! (4)Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild (4)Ishkode! Ishkode! (4)Revolution Summer (3)

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RoadrunnerPlace

Roadrunner - the 1976 single.

- J. Richman

slip №001 / 155

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a little notebook about

JONATHAN RICHMAN

and the Modern Lovers

Natick, Massachusetts · 1951 · still touring, probably tonight

“I don’t want to be famous. I just want to matter to the people who listen.”

Natick → Boston → the road·1951 -

He was a seventeen-year-old suburban Boston kid who got into the Velvet Underground's hotel room, became friends with them, moved to New York for a year to sit on their stage, moved back to Massachusetts, and wrote "Roadrunner" - a song about driving around Route 128 at night with the radio on. The band he put together to play it, the Modern Lovers, recorded a self-titled album in 1972 that nobody released until 1976. By then he had quit electricity and started writing songs about ice cream men, Martians, little dinosaurs, and leprechauns. That was fifty years ago. He is still touring.

The Signature Moves

THE SIGNATURE MOVES

Eight Sincere Tricks

Jonathan Richman writes the way a sincere child draws: nameable things, in their actual colours, with no apology. Eight repeated moves that make a Jonathan song a Jonathan song.

1. 01The Spelled-Out NameLiterally spell out the name of the thing you love, like you’re teaching it to a kindergartner.

   "V is for Vincent, V is for Vincent. He could paint sunlight on a brick wall, V-I-N-C-E-N-T."

   Jonathan’s most distinctive move. He treats the listener as a sincere child being introduced to something wonderful. Adults find this either disarming or unbearable; there is no middle. The technique forces the listener to choose, in real time, whether to be embarrassed for him or to go along with the sincerity. Going along with it is the whole point.

2. 02The Painter SongPick a painter, say his name a lot, give one fact about him, repeat the chorus.
3. 03The Quiet-On-Stage DemandRefuse to play loud. Quit electricity in 1976. Demand the audience sit and listen.
4. 04The Multilingual SongSing the same song twice, once in English and once in Spanish or French or Italian. Pretend it’s normal.
5. 05The Naive-Directness VowSay what you mean. Refuse irony. Embarrass yourself if necessary.
6. 06The Refusal to Get FamousSkip every move that would make you a star. Play 200-seat clubs forever.
7. 07The Birthday-Party AestheticTreat the show like it’s for second-graders. Smile. Address the audience by first name.
8. 08The Specific-List LyricName the actual streets. Name the actual gas station. Name the actual ice-cream stand.

Side A · 0. The Inheritance - Velvet Underground

THE INHERITANCE

Velvet Underground

I, Jonathan · 1992

I, Jonathan·for the band that shaped everything·1992

1. Roadrunner

track 1

Roadrunner

The Modern Lovers · 1976

Route 128, Mass.·1972 → 1976

2. Modern Lovers, 1972

LP · 1976 (recorded 1971–72)

THE MODERN LOVERS

(self-titled) · produced by John Cale

We made this record in 1972. Nobody put it out. By the time it came out in 1976 we had all gone off and done different things. That’s okay. The songs are the songs.

Tracklist

1. 1.Roadrunner
2. 2.Astral Plane
3. 3.Old World
4. 4.Pablo Picasso
5. 5.She Cracked
6. 6.Hospital
7. 7.Someone I Care About
8. 8.Girl Friend
9. 9.Modern World

Lineup

• Jonathan Richman - vocals, guitar
• Jerry Harrison - keys (later Talking Heads)
• Ernie Brooks - bass
• David Robinson - drums (later The Cars)

produced by John Cale (ex-Velvet Underground)

The Modern Lovers·rec. Intermedia, Cambridge MA·1971–72 / rel. 1976

3. Pablo Picasso

track 2

Pablo Picasso

The Modern Lovers · 1972 / 1976

Harvard Square, Cambridge·1972

3-a. Vincent Van Gogh

PAINTER SONG №2

Vincent Van Gogh

Rockin’ and Romance · 1985

Rockin’ and Romance·after a visit to Auvers-sur-Oise·1985

3-b. Egyptian Reggae

UK #5 · 1977

Egyptian Reggae

Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers · 1977

Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers·instrumental, hummed and whistled·1977

3-c. I Love Hot Nights

SUMMER · BOSTON

I Love Hot Nights

Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers · 1977

Rock ‘n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers·recorded acoustic, no drums, in Berkeley·1977

4. Old World

track 4

Old World

The Modern Lovers · 1972 / 1976

Natick, Mass.·1972

5. Hospital

track H

Hospital

The Modern Lovers · 1972

Boston - Modern Lovers demos, John Cale producing·1972

6. The Morning of Our Lives

track M

The Morning of Our Lives

Live at the Longbranch Saloon · 1977 (UK single, 1978)

Longbranch Saloon, Berkeley - second Modern Lovers·1977

Side B · 8. Ice Cream Man

track 3

Ice Cream Man

Jonathan Sings! · 1983

Rockport, Mass.·1983

9. That Summer Feeling

track S

That Summer Feeling

Jonathan Sings! · 1983

Jonathan Sings! - solo acoustic turn·1983

10. His Records

HIS RECORDS

What he grew up on

The records a kid in Natick, Mass. played until the needle wore through.

Natick, Mass. · bedroom record-player·1965 - 1972

11. Jonathan's Philosophy

collected from interviews & stage talk

HOW TO BE JONATHAN

a small set of rules, taped to the wall

• “I hate high volume.”

  verified · verified - stated in interviews and on stage for decades; refuses loud PA systems, often plays unamplified

• “No encores. If the set was good, adding more to it makes it less good.”

  paraphrased · paraphrased - his longstanding stage policy

• “The song should make you feel better about being alive.”

  attributed · attributed

• “I don't want to be famous. I want to matter to the people who listen.”

  attributed · attributed - paraphrased from multiple interviews

• “The Velvet Underground taught me you could be honest in a song.”

  paraphrased · paraphrased - he opened for VU in Boston as a teenager and has said this many ways

• “Don't bring your phones out. Just listen.”

  attributed · attributed - his standard stage request, circa 2010s onward

• “Rock & roll is supposed to make you feel something - the volume is secondary.”

  paraphrased · paraphrased

various stages, quietly·1972–present

11. Spanish Songs

a parallel catalogue

Las Canciones en Español

He lived in Europe as a young man and never let go of Spanish. Maybe half his set is in Spanish on any given night.

• “Yo Jamás Tendré”Surrender to Jonathan!, 1996
• “Rock 'n' Roll Drummer Straight From the Hospital”Spanish version - bilingual - trades verses
• “No Te Oigo, No Te Veo”Jonathan Richman (self-titled), 1989
• “Corazón de Pollo”Revolution Summer - a chicken-hearted love song
• “Let Her Go Into The Darkness”bilingual version - performed live in both tongues
• “Vampiresa Mujer”I'm So Confused, 1998

Europe / California / everywhere·1989–1998 +

12. There's Something About Mary

film · Farrelly bros. · 1998

Up in the Trees, 1998

They had us narrate the movie from up in a tree. I wrote a few songs for it. Tommy brought a little drum. It was a nice day.

Songs on the soundtrack

• “True Love Is Not Nice”
• “The Summer Morning”
• “Every Day Is a Sunday to Me”

There's Something About Mary OST·Farrelly bros., 20th Century Fox·1998

13. Still Touring

Still touring (probably)

TONIGHT

Jonathan Richman · Tommy Larkins · acoustic

• doors 7
• show 8
• no monitors
• no encores
• put your phone away

(probably tomorrow too - he tours all year)

a small club near you·tonight - probably