Bukowski's Favorite Musical (1 Viewer)

Starlight Express.

duh.

starlight-express-4.jpg
 
I've read where he used to like to belt out numbers from Oklahoma and South Pacific with his drinking buddies/landlords the Crottys at De Longpre.
 
I wonder if Buk would have liked the Brecht & Weill's Threepenny Opera, especially the song What Keeps Mankind Alive:

Mankind can keep alive thanks to its brilliance
In keeping its humanity repressed
And for once you must try not to shriek the facts
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts

[This video is unavailable.]
 
H. M. S. Pinafore

Sing it for him make his bones rattle -

For I'm called Little Buttercup -- dear Little Buttercup,
Though I could never tell why,
But still I'm called Buttercup -- poor little Buttercup,
Sweet Little Buttercup I!

I've snuff and tobaccy, and excellent jacky,
I've scissors, and watches, and knives;
I've ribbons and laces to set off the faces
Of pretty young sweethearts and wives.

I've treacle and toffee, I've tea and I've coffee,
Soft tommy and succulent chops;
I've chickens and conies, and pretty polonies,
And excellent peppermint drops.

Then buy of your Buttercup -- dear Little Buttercup;
Sailors should never be shy;
So, buy of your Buttercup -- poor Little Buttercup;
Come, of your Buttercup buy!

better

SIR JOSEPH:
When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney's firm.
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,
And I polished up the handle of the big front door.
I polished up that handle so carefullee
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!


CHORUS REPEATS

As office boy I made such a mark
That they gave me the post of a junior clerk.
I served the writs with a smile so bland,
And I copied all the letters in a big round hand--
I copied all the letters in a hand so free,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!



CHORUS.

In serving writs I made such a name
That an articled clerk I soon became;
I wore clean collars and a brand-new suit
For the pass examination at the Institute,
And that pass examination did so well for me,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!



CHORUS.

Of legal knowledge I acquired such a grip
That they took me into the partnership.
And that junior partnership, I ween,
Was the only ship that I ever had seen.
But that kind of ship so suited me,
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

CHORUS.

I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament.
I always voted at my party's call,
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.
I thought so little, they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!

CHORUS.

Now landsmen all, whoever you may be,
If you want to rise to the top of the tree,
If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool,
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule--
Stick close to your desks and never go to sea,
And you all may be rulers of the Queen's Navee!

CHORUS

and what did he write about in his first two novels?

Insane or not, I'd say he effected him.
 
Digressing from the classical to the popular, I'm just reading Factotum chapter 42 and reached the bit where Buk mentions his and Jan's (Jane's) singing:

"Sometimes the manager would come up and tell us to keep quiet, and remind us that we were behind with the rent. The tenants never complained about out fights but they didn't like our singing: I Got Plenty Of Nothing; Old Man River; Buttons And Bows; Tumbling Along With the Tumbling Tumbleweeds; God Bless America; Deutschland űber Alles; Bonaparte's Retreat; I Get The Blues When It Rains; Keep Your Sunny Side Up; No More Money In The Bank; Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf; When The Deep Purple Falls; A Tisket A Tasket; I Married An Angel; Poor Little Lambs Gone Astray; I Want A Gal Just Like The Gal That Married Dear Old Dad; How The Hell Ya Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm[sic]; If I'd Know You Were Coming I'd A Baked A Cake."

Quite a selection! I recall a lot of those as a kid playing 78's on my grandparents gramophone, especially How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm, the title of which Buk gets slightly wrong.
 
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