Finally getting some time to listen to this yummy box set. I'm in for a magical mystery tour....in every sense of the word :)
Found this too :
Uncut:
Tom Waits poem to Don Van Vliet...
Waits is a long-term fan of Beefheart – aka Don Van Vliet.
Following Van Vliet’s death on December 17, 2010, Waits told the Los Angeles Times: “He was like the scout on a wagon train. He was the one who goes ahead and shows the way. He was a demanding bandleader, a transcendental composer (with emphasis on the dental), up there with Ornette [Coleman], Sun Ra and Miles [Davis]. He drew in the air with a burnt stick. He described the indescribable. He’s an underground stream and a big yellow blimp.
“I will miss talking to him on the phone. We would describe what we saw out of our windows. He was a rememberer. He was the only one who thought to bring matches. He’s the alpha and the omega. The high water mark. He’s gone and he won’t be back.”
NOW DON IS LIKE THE BONES IN A WATERMELON
OR THE SEEDS IN A FISH AND YOU CAN SEE HIM
THROUGH THE BLUE SMOKE OF A TRAMPS FIRE
IS HE STILL IN 1129 AT THE DAVENPORT HOTEL
IN SILO, MISSOURI? NO…YOU SEE MY FRIEND YOU
WILL NOT FIND HIM THERE. HE CAME FROM THE CLAY
AND HE HAS GONE BACK…LIKE RATS, LIKE RAVENS
ROOKS, AND COAL BLACK ROSES…SHARKS, SHADOWS,
SHOES AND SHEEP. HE IS NOW LIKE THE PLACE ON
THE COUNTER, WORN AWAY FROM YEARS OF MAKING CHANGE.
HE IS NOW A SIREN IN THE NEXT TOWN OVER…ONLY HIS
TAIL IS STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND.
DON, HE WAS A GIANT AND HE WALKED AMONG US ON THIS
EARTH, NOW LONG GONE…
HE HAS GONE BACK INTO THE FROGS CROAKING THROAT…
LISTEN, IN THE DESERT THERE IS A FORK STUCK IN A TREE…
PUT YOUR EAR UP TO IT AND THUMP IT, BOW IT, SWALLOW THE
SOUND AND THEN GROW IT…
DON SEEMS TO BE TELLING US ALL…DO NOT FOLLOW HIM
JUST TAKE WHAT CLUES HE LEFT AND WITH THEM, GO AND BUILD
A STRANGE HOME OF YOUR OWN
