From the recordings I Shih Tzu Not - 2023 and Benjamin Grievance
PATRICK FROST - Voice and Vocals, Tape and sample manipulations, Keyboards & synths, Trombone, Bass Harmonica, Glockenspiel
JIM LUCAS - 8 String Fretless Bass with a weak 9 volt causing mild distortion, Voice
Inside of the sound collage which comprises the body of the track between the lullaby the following voices can be heard: Simon "Bagel Boy" Stanley, Jim Lucas, James Cadillac Cardarelli,
Tiny Tim, Don Knotts, John McGiver, Mrs. Donald Mills (Bobby Mills Mom).
Benjamin Grievance is a fictional tale of that friend we all have who is hard to love, but impossible to abandon. I have a High School friend named Tim Debus and I started singing "Timothy Debus was a friend of mine". The thing is the real Tim Debus is nothing like my fictional character. His name just sang well for the melody I was crafting. I knew I couldn't call the song Timothy Debus because one day I'd get a call from Tim asking what the hell I'm doing making up stories about him. So, I thought for a minute on a new name and I came up with Genevieve Genius. Great! I thought. What a cool thing to flip the gender. Then I thought to make her another character and went back to search for an alternate male name finally landing on Benjamin Grievance.
The musique concrète which comprises the middle of the track was a joy to create as I refused to be bound by any rules and just improvised.
Lyrics
BENJAMIN GRIEVANCE - 2021
words and music by Patrick Frost
Benjamin Grievance was a friend of mine
He smoked lemon cigarettes and drank strawberry wine
It could be very tricky to keep him in line
But Benjamin Grievance was a friend of mine.
You could find him rehearsing his dandelion poems
'Bout drinkin' and women and manicured lawns
It was almost too much if you hadn't the time
But Benjamin Grievance was a friend of mine.
He went under the counter and over the line
And he did it religiously time after time
It was seldom convenient and never refined
But Benjamin Grievance was a friend of mine.
Now, you might think it funny I'm singing 'bout Ben
If in '74 you knew both me and him
Well, I've got a surprise 'cause your all meeting him
Let's bring him out now. Please welcome him.
He met Genevieve Genius on a bender in town
He loved her so much his drinking came right the way down
But she was still drinking and hadn't the time
For Benjamin Grievance who's a friend of mine.
Genevieve Genius was a girl I knew well
We made out in the staircase right after the bell
And her spirit was broken, but no one could tell
Yes, Genevieve Genius was a girl I knew well.
So, Ben just kept writing his dandelion poems
and started reciting to her on the phone
Genevieve's spirit grew better in time
Yes, Benjamin Grievance was a friend of mine.