So, you thought you had unearthed on this page somewhere before the weirdest thing about me. HA! Fooled you! My actual quirkiest quirk is that I’m a 14 year old in the year 2001 with a fascination with Roger Miller. So there.
Yes, I am primarily a country fan and, in this day and age, that’s weird enough. But to be obsessed with Roger Miller - ho ho ho, that’s totally against the laws of teen physics. The odd thing is that I typically find older country to be quite grating (mid 80s is plenty old for me, thank you). As I’ve said before, though, anything off the wall is fine with me. And if Mr. Miller’s music was anything, it was off the wall.
As I sit here on the bus writing this, I have “You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd” rooted in my brain. And, indeed, that was the first song I ever recognized as being his. I actually heard the Randy Travis cut of “King of the Road” long before, and had, of course, listened to his work in Robin Hood 50 million times prior.
More specifically, though, I have the part of said song in which he says no actual words, but merely produces odd noises with his mouth stuck in my head. Which is a huge staple in his act. ‘Member the song during the opening credits of RH? ‘Twas him. And that “Chug-a-lug” song on the milk commercial? An abominable remake of a fairly humorous Roger Miller song.
And that’s why his songs are so good. They’re totally absurd. Ridiculous. One line from a song called “Dang Me” states that “Roses are red, violets are purple. Sugar is sweet, so is maple surple.” To go back to the Roller Skate song, even the verse that addresses the ability to do so does not compare to the proclamation of the futility of attempting to “go swimming in a baseball pool”. What the heck is a baseball pool? He’s the They Might Be Giants of the country world, I tell you.
Ah ha! Daniel Cartwright comes to my assistance with the following information:
"While my understanding of the concept is a trifle fuzzy, I
understand in general that it has to do with players' statistics as they are
compared when team owners want to trade players around... so that wasn't a
good explanation, but I do know that he didn't make it up."
In any case, my stop’s coming up and I need to put my notebook up. So, I’ll leave you with this piece of advise:
“You can’t go fishin’ in a watermelon patch. You can’t go fishin’ in a watermelon patch. You can’t go fishin’ in a watermelon patch. But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to.”
Roger Miller passed away on October 25, 1992. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years later.
Thanks to the Official Tribute Page for the pictures.
Aw, go on. Get out of here. Go listen to your Wailing Agricultural Products and your MC Rap Daddy Dog whatever. Kids are half deaf from their darn music, anyway...
Updated December 22, 2003
