Sugarman :: Rodriguez

I heard the song "Sugarman" this morning and was so taken by it that I ditched the post I had planned on for today, and whipped together this quick little one just to get the song out there. Dreamy and dazey, syrupy and swooney, and full of horns, motown beats, delightfully psychedelic sound effects, and overt drug references, "Sugarman" represents a whole different era of songwriting. I loved his voice.

I had never heard of him before, but apparently, I'm not the only one. Rodriguez (Sixto Diaz Rodriguez) is a musician from Detroit that, after the 1969 debut of his home-recorded album Cold Fact, totally vanished from the American music scene. Oddly, he became wildly popular in South Africa and New Zealand, but never really gained much popularity in the U.S. Recently, the album resurfaced and was reissued, and the now 66-year-old Rodriguez had his U.S. concert debut over the summer.

Find out more about Rodriguez in this great NPR radio broadcast here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94076306

or this little blurb on The FADER...
http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/7/21/freeload-rodriguez-sugar-man

Then, listen to the song here!

LYRICS:
Sugarman
Won't ya hurry
Coz I'm tired of these scenes
For a blue coin
Won't ya bring back
All those colours to my dreams
Silver majik ships, you carry
Jumpers, coke, sweet MaryJane
Sugarman
Met a false friend
On a lonely, dusty road
Lost my heart
When I found it
It had turned to dead, black coal
Silver majik ships, you carry
Jumpers, coke, sweet MaryJane
Sugarman
You're the answer
That makes my questions disappear
Sugarman
Coz I'm weary
Of these double games I hear
Sugarman (x7)
[....fade to echo]
Sugarman
Won't ya hurry
Coz I'm tired of these scenes
For a blue coin
Won't ya bring back
All those colours to my dreams
Silver majik ships, you carry
Jumpers, coke, sweet MaryJane
Sugarman
Met a false friend
On a lonely, dusty road
Lost my heart
When I found it
It had turned to dead, black coal
Silver majik ships, you carry
Jumpers, coke, sweet MaryJane
Sugarman
You're the answer
That makes my questions disappear
[....fade to echo]