Cob: Mud and straw music

[Mark Piepkorn]

	I just noticed that Frank Meyer (dark-green Texas-based international 
natural builder and musician) has added a section for his music at his 
website. Maybe all of you knew this already, but it was news to me. I've 
seen him play a good few times at various natural building events - but for 
some reason I've never heard his CD, "Scrounger's Paradise," that came out 
last year. Well, now we can all get a taste of it by listening to MP3 
sample snippets from his website.

	Hear some music:
http://www.thangmaker.com/music/listen.htm

	Have a look at the R.Crumb-style cover:
http://www.thangmaker.com/music/largecdcover.htm

	The CD has faves like Ramblin' Mind, Straw and Clay, Rum Ditty Dat, and 
Too Bad About Bugs - plus there's a non-CD cut called "A Cobber's Love 
Song" (subtitled "Yer So Purty When Yer So Dirty"). Took me 20 minutes to 
download it on this horrible dialup connection. It's a bit slow for 
energetic cob-stompin' music, but it's a wonderful song and I doubt it was 
written with that in mind. Lyrics:

You're so purty when you're so dirty, oh yeah
You're so purty when you're so dirty, oh yeah

Well it goes way back to times unknown
When they had no choice but to make their own
They mixed a little mud, threw in some straw
Squished it with their toes and stuck in on the wall

New places today are outta control
They're out of our reach, and they got no soul
Let's build a little home with dignity
And humility and TLC

We got a little plan and we know how it's done
So let's kick off our shoes and have some fun
Mix it on the ground, throw it in the air
Get it in our ears and get it in our hair

It'll take some time, but that's OK
We won't have to mortgage our lives away
Let's make it on the ground and throw it in the air
Smear it on our cheeks and get it everywhere

'Cause you're so purty when you're so dirty, oh yeah
You're so purty when you're so dirty, oh yeah

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	(Trivia: The song "Savage of Salvage" honors Pete Fust of the Black Range 
Lodge, mentioned on this list recently. It starts: "He's got fifty yards of 
carpet and some sheetrock / Layin' out behind his place in the rain / And a 
bathtub full of something he's not sure of / But he can't remember if it's 
got a drain...")

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Straw and Clay

I like straw and I like clay
Make mine natural any day
I want a place that's poison-free
Don't sell me nothin' on no TV
'Cause I like to sweat and use my hands
Build with love and solid plans
Set on the porch and pick a tune
Work by the sun and dance by the moon
I love life and I love mother earth

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