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I continue to be amazed how the world of new media and the web informs and illuminates in unexpected ways. I picked up a bargain-bin DVD of Lawrence of Arabia, about which I have no particular memories since I first saw it on first release as a child. Peter O'Toole's performance is certainly an eccentric classic, and through modern eyes its portrayal of Arab politics is certainly eccentric, too. All told, I have to admit that I didn't understand the plot any better this time around than I did when I first saw the movie as a small child. But maybe that's just me. Anyway... I watched the credits and noticed that Nicholas Roeg was a cinematographer on the crew. Roeg later went on to direct one of my favorite all-time films, Performance -- in which there certainly no shortage of eccentricity. It's the tale of a gangster on the run and an over-the-hill rock star, whose chance meeting resolves their shared problem of existential impotence (hence the film's name, evoking the idea of "sexual performance"). Seeing Roeg's name made me think about Performance for the first time in years, and that brought to mind the piece of music that opens the film's soundtrack, "Gone Dead Train" sung by Randy Newman. I'd never really understood why that song was given such a place of prominence in the film, in which every element is so carefully symbolic. But that's because I couldn't understand the lyrics. Enter the web. I googled for the lyrics, having been curious about them for, say, thirty years -- and here they are, on the first bounce. How about that -- a rock and roll song about sexual impotence. Got to love it.

It's a gone dead train
Yes, it's a gone dead train

My engine was pumpin' steam
And I was grindin' at you hard and fast
Burnin' down the rails, tryin' to heat the way
Haulin' ass and ridin' up the track
And I laughed at the conductor who was tellin' me my coal
It would never last

But then the fire in my boiler
Up and quit before I came
Ain't no empty cellar
Like a gone dead train

Once was at a time when I could
Mama shave 'em dry
And raise a fever ice-down chill
Waitin' at the station
With a heavy loaded sack
Savin' up and holdin' just to spill
Shootin' my supply through my demon's eye
Instead of holdin' my time, I hope I will

But then the fire in my boiler
Up and quit before I came
There ain't no empty cellar
Needs a gone dead train

Yes it's a gone dead train
I'm gonna teach it to learn now, now
It's a gone dead train
Yes it's a gone dead train
I'm gonna teach it to learn now, now
It's a gone dead train
Gonna teach it, gonna teach it to learn

There ain't no easy day
When your daily run's a downhill pull
And there ain't no easy way
Wishin' for some jelly roll
There ain't no switch been made
To make your juicy lemon find
A spring to run a dry well full

But then the fire in my boiler
Up and quit before I came
Ain't no empty cellar
Needs a gone dead train

Yes it's a gone dead train
I'm gonna teach it to learn
You know it's a gone dead train
Gonna teach it, gonna teach it to burn
It's a gone dead train
It's a gone dead train, you gotta learn
It's a gone dead train
Gonna teach it, gonna teach it, gonna teach it to burn.

Bonus round. The Performance soundtrack may be the first in history to include a rap number. Can anyone think of an earlier example?

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