By Marco den Ouden
The digestive system, from M to A (rather than A to Z) starts at the mouth, goes down the esophagus, the stomach, the intestines and finally terminates at the anus. The handy diagram of the digestive system The Landlord included with his topic Intro adds in the auxiliary organs, including the salivary glands, the pharynx, the liver, the gall bladder and the pancreas. But most of the song suggestions this week revolved around the stomach and the belly. The belly is an all-inclusive term that means the lower abdomen or as the dictionary puts it, “the front part of the human trunk below the ribs, containing the stomach and bowels.”
One song stood out for me because it mentioned more parts of the digestive system than any other suggestion. It was written by Cole Porter for the musical Nymph Errant, a controversial play about Evangeline, a woman determined to lose her virginity, but sadly all her male “friends have been idealists or very tired business men.” The Physician is Evangeline’s humorous lament about a doctor she once fell in love with. It mentions the esophagus, the pharynx, and the pancreas, as well as the epiglottis and the appendix (parts of the digestive system not included in the diagram). Gertude Lawrence, who starred in the 1933 West End production, is the songstress.
Weird Al Yankovich is particularly enamoured of his Pancreas. The song parodies a number of songs from the Beach Boys including Our Prayer, God Only Knows, Wind Chimes, Heroes and Villains and Good Vibrations. What does the pancreas do? The weird one tells it all, even down to the insulin and glucagon “comin' from the islets of Langerhans” to “flow flow, into the duodenum.”
The liver, according to Wikipedia, has over 500 functions including production of bile and detoxification of the body. As a detoxifier, it handles alcohol among other things. Cirrhosis of the liver is the seventh leading cause of death in Americans age 25 to 64. The Cowmen sing of heartbreak leading to excessive-drinking in Liquor Store Liver.
From show tunes to rock parody to country, we move on now to the blues. Junior Wells tells us “I Got a Stomach Ache.” Some nice guitar licks in this one.
How do you remedy a stomach ache? Guava Jelly has a number of medicinal properties including as a source of vitamin C for healthy gums and oral health, a source of dietary fibre, and lowering bad cholesterol levels and raising good cholesterol levels. Can it cure a stomach ache? Probably not, but the Ka’au Crater Boys tell us it sure feels good when your honey smears it on your belly. Wikipedia tells us that guava jelly as referenced in this Bob Marley penned number is used as a sexual lubricant. Yep! That will cure a belly ache!
A more modern cure is Alka Seltzer. Sammy Davis Jr. took one of their commercials and sings a paean to this popular remedy with Plop Plop Fizz Fizz, a jazzy big band number.
Another Alka Seltzer ad spawned The T-Bones instrumental No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In). It’s not Nicko’s favourite of the four versions he nominated but it is mine! It would have been one of my guru picks if not nominated. (Two of the other versions are in the other lists.)
Before leaving the stomach behind, please note that many animals, including cows, have more than one stomach. Ruminants, including giraffes, deer, cattle, antelopes, sheep, and goats, have four. Lisa Germano wishes she had four stomachs. Her life is so out of whack she finds herself constantly throwing up. Four stomachs would help her deal with the problem.
The Patti Smith Group sings of heartbreak over a lover who has left her. The pain she feels is palpable. What a voice! What passion! “My bowels are empty, excreting your soul, “ she sings. “What more can I give you, baby, I don't know… Everything I've done I've done for you. Oh I give my life for you.” But will he come back or is she just Pissing in a River?
There were a few nominations of songs referencing the Biblical myth of Jonah and the whale. For Hugh Laurie it’s a metaphor for life’s troubles. “The Whale Has Swallowed Me,” he sings.
The function of the digestive tract, of course, is to digest food. When we have enough, we are said to be well fed. All too often there are those who go hungry. Poverty sucks. Poverty often goes hand in hand with demagogic and tyrannical states.
Lucky Dube is a South African reggae artist and was recognised as the Best Selling African Musician at the 1996 World Music Awards. He poses the musical question: would you rather be a well fed prisoner or a starving free man, jobless and homeless? Released in 1997, three years after the end of apartheid, the song is a critique of unemployment in South Africa which continued to be high among black South Africans. The AIDS pandemic hit South Africa particularly hard and life expectancy dropped from 62 in 1992 to 53 in 2005. Newly won freedom did not produce the rewards expected.
Well Fed Slave/Hungry Free Man is a false dichotomy. Far better to be a well fed free man which was the great hope when apartheid ended. But Dube’s song reflects a different reality, a problem post-apartheid South Africa struggles with to this day.
Hunger is also a metaphor for wants and desires. Man does not live by bread alone says the Bible. “I’ve got a hollow inside my stomach that I can’t seem to fill,” sing The Middle East in Hunger Song. Even though he fills it with mead and bread, “I’m still hungry for something to fill me. Ah, make me whole again so I won’t be hungry anymore.” Spiritual hunger can often be felt as a gnawing in the gut, a literal hunger for something more. Not necessarily religion either. A sense of purpose more than anything.
As I mentioned in comments over the week, I have a date with a colorectal surgeon on July 5th to remove a cancerous polyp along with about a quarter of my large colon. So I was surprised to see a song singing the praises of these masters of the scalpel. Sure, they are the butt of a joke here, but one done in jest and with good will. Bowser and Blue sang it at a conference of The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons where they were a “tremendous hit.” So we close with The Colorectal Surgeon Song. One of them may one day save your life like Dr. B is saving mine.
Esophagus to Anus Abdominal A-List Playlist:
The Physician - Gertrude Lawrence (SongBarLandlord)
Pancreas - Weird Al Yankovic (Nicko)
Liquor Store Liver - The Cowmen (Fred Erickson)
I Got a Stomach Ache - Junior Wells (magicman)
Guava Jelly - Ka'au Crater Boys (TarquinSpodd)
Plop Plop Fizz Fizz - Sammy Davis Jr. (TarquinSpodd)
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) - The T-Bones (Nicko)
Ruminants - Lisa Germano (Fred Erickson)
Pissing in a River - Patti Smith Group (severin)
The Whale has Swallowed Me - Hugh Laurie (Loud Atlas)
Well Fed Slave/Hungry Free Man - Lucky Dube (tincanman)
Hunger Song - The Middle East (vanwolf2)
The Colorectal Surgeon Song - Bowser and Blue (Nicko)
Belly and Beyond B-List:
Surfin’ USM - Carter USM (happyclapper)
Silicone Beergut - Peter & The Test Tube Babies (Carpgate)
The Belly of the Whale - Meg Washington (ajostu)
Nanny Goat - Larry Marshall (pejepeine)
Butterflies - Kacey Musgraves (Loud Atlas)
Swallowed Up (In The Belly Of The Whale) - Bruce Springsteen (Loud Atlas)
Stomach vs Heart - Barenaked Ladies (Fred Erickson)
Level Up - Ciara (Uncleben)
Foreign Bodies - Herbert (ajostu)
Let Me Clear My Throat - DJ Kool ft. Biz Markie & Doug E. Fresh (IsabelleForshaw)
Red Beans and Rice - Michael Franti & Spearhead (IsabelleForshaw)
Ram Goat Liver - Pluto Shervington (Nicko)
Midsection C-List (Instrumentals):
Pot Belly - Lou Donaldson (pejepeine)
Egyptian Bellydance - Bastannak (TarquinSpodd)
Constipated Duck - Jeff Beck (tincanman)
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In) - Willie Bobo (Nicko)
No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In) - Booker T & the MGs (Nicko)
Stomach Acid - Future Sound of London (Fred Erickson)
Fire Eater - Rusty Bryant (Loud Atlas)
Belly Laugh Humorous H-List Playlist:
Constipation Blues - Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (Noodsy)
That’s Why You’re Overweight - Eddie Harris (BanazirGalbasi)
The Intergalactic Laxative - Donovan (Fred Erickson
Eat It - Weird Al Yankovic (Loud Atlas)
Hunger is From - Ken Nordine & The Fred Katz Group (IsabelleForshaw)
Train Song - Brabbins & Fyffe (IsabelleForshaw)
God’s Own Drunk - Jimmy Buffet (Fred Erickson)
Little Pain Inside - Buck-O-Nine (Fred Erickson)
Wildcard Picks:
What can I say? I like Weird Al Yankovic. My wife and I took our kids to see him live back in the 1990s and it was a fabulous show. He's a terrific showman and his songs are witty and often relevant. So this week four Weird Al songs are featured. Pancreas in the A List, Eat It in the B List and my two wildcards: Constipated, a parody of Avril Lavigne's Complicated, and I'm Fat, a parody of Michael Jackson's I'm Bad (which he performed in a fat suit at the concert we saw.)
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Gut instinct: songs about the stomach and digestive system. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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