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I’ve always loved this lyric from “2 Kool…” in particular – I’ve often quoted it when talking to others about how Lucinda can paint a vivid picture of the Old South with an economy of words. Not having seen any of these pictures, or even the book “Juke Joint” itself, I have always interpreted the lyric as Mike does, but maybe even more broadly. To me, “June Bug” represents the Old South – not only places like juke joints, but also small general stores, garages, fruit stands, etc. – even small town squares – small, privately owned businesses & places where people used to hang out & socialize. And “Hurricane” represents the unstoppable forces of commercialization, globalization and homogenization – forces that are slowly yet irrevocably changing the Old South, fading its unique character to a generalized U.S. culture of Wal-Marts, chain restaurants and bars, television and music.
Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it… 😀
Tom
P.S. Great finds Mike & Gringo – fascinating stuff – definitely an inspiration for “2 Kool…”
P.S.S. Yes, bones, coffee4throad is right, I think – what you are hearing as “Play me choco train” in “Righteously” is “Play me John Coltrane”… 😉
Sorry for the double-post, but I did some Googling myself, this time on the phrase “june bug vs. hurricane” and found this (link). – read the 5th paragraph. Apparently Lucinda herself has cited the Birney Imes book (as well as the book “Appalachian Portraits” by Shelby Lee Adams) as the source of her inspiration for “2 Kool…”.
Also, speaking of juke joints, anyone interested in old Mississippi Delta Blues like that played in old-time juke (or alternatively, “jook”) joints should check out this CD box set (link). I have it (see my review at the link above) and love it…
Tom
P.S. And check out this (link). Read the Lu quote directly under the picture…
i’m fairly sure that this lyric and the song were also discussed in that infamous bill buford article.
i like mike and tnt’s interpretation (it’s easy to extend that thought to much of america, too). It’s been one of my favorite, poetic lyrics… And isn’t it a wonderful metaphor for all of us? Aren’t we all just june bugs in the hurricane?
Ray, you’re right. In his article, “Delta Nights”, Bill Buford discusses “2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten”. He says ” June bug vs. hurricane” is a reference to gang rivalries. His interpretation, or Lucinda’s ? Don’t know because he doesn’t really say. Anyway, thanks for all the posts – they all sound plausible to me !
@Gringo wrote:
This is a kool thread 😉
This must be the shot… its all there!
http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_911_144158_birney-imes.jpg
I have this book and there are other lyrics in the song taken directly from it.
Unless we spoke to the author of the handwriting on the wall,
not sure we can know for certain what it means.See the “True Love” at the top… would this be gang related ? 😕
I do wonder what those boys are up to these days.
hm, i always wondered about that until this:
2. Lucinda Williams: “2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten”
Peter: This came on in Alabama. Her music is such a product of its environment that it really couldn’t have been more perfect. Lucinda is one of the best songwriters of our time, and I think this is one of her best. The first lines are “You can’t depend on anything really/ There’s no promises, there’s no point/ There’s no good, there’s no bad.”
But before you could wonder how such a simple sounding song could dare to be so brazenly high-concept, the line closes with “in this dirty little joint,” bringing the scene back home, philosophically intact but tactile and visceral. A perfect, pillow-familiar country melody leads us from the existential to the biblical, all in the course of describing a bar in Mississippi.
Ben actually did a little research and it turns out this song is based on a Birney Imes photo: the title is on a sign in the background; the subject is a group of guys around a pool table in a Juke Joint in Mississippi. And my favorite lyric ever– “Junebug versus hurricane, hey hey”– is also a reference to booze. I think I had a Hurricane in New Orleans once; never had a Junebug but apparently they’re real.
http://pitchfork.com/features/guest-lists/6114-mobius-band-ten-songs-or-albums-from-a-15-seat-van/
makes sense, right?
Growing up in the beautiful mountains of western Virginia we used to catch June bugs, in June of course. They looked like really big Japanese Beetles. We would tie a thread around their hind leg and then have a tethered flying bug to scare off little girls, and parents. I imagine they wouldn’t do too well in a Hurricane.
I picked up a copy of Birney Imes’ Juke Joint on eBay recently for $16 – a bargain, considering it is in like-new condition. In looking through it, it seems that Lucinda drew on more than just the one photo of the three pool players above for inspiration for “2 Kool…”. In fact, much of the lyrics are an amalgamation of several photographs in the book.
While there is an exterior shot of a “Magic City” juke joint, it is not in Rosedale, MS, but in Falcon, a small town about 25 miles NE of Clarksdale (there is a juke joint in Rosedale featured, but it is named the Blue Lite Disco). The photo of the three pool players with the “June Bug” graffiti is identified as the Freedom Village Juke in Washington County. An interior shot of the Evening Star Lounge in Falcon has a “No Bad Language” hand-written sign on the wall and another which reads, “Sorry. No Credit. Don’t Ask.” Another shot of the interior of the Ferry Club in Lowndes County has a large hand-written sign with house rules listed: “No Dope Smoking! No Gambling! No Fighting! No Beer Sold After 12: O’Clock! No One Under 21! House Rules. No Exceptions!”, all of which except the “Under 21” rule are featured in the lyrics.
Also included in the book is the photograph used for the CWOAGR album cover – identified as Turk’s Place in Leflore County. All of the photographs were taken in the mid to late 1980’s, which explains the “Member’s Only” style of jackets the young men in the photgraph above are wearing! Speaking of which, I have a theory about the warped 45 RPM record in that photo. In another photograph in the book from the same Freedom Village Juke, there are several old 45’s hanging high on the wall for decoration, all of which appear to be out-of-reach and are not warped. I think the warped one by the pool table, since it was lower and accessible to the pool players, has had some Bic lighter flames applied to it by someone waiting for their shot on the table…
Tom
TNT, great reporting and insight into 2 Kool 2 Be Forgotten. Thanks for taking the time to educate us with your thoughts and theories. Interesting!
here’s the photo tntracy mentioned:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Gbj0mpn5XyA/SANM_vNPfMI/AAAAAAAABP4/DHsjXbs0Orw/s1600-h/2kool.jpg
i found it here: http://boogiewoogieflu.blogspot.com/2008/04/essay-on-influence.html
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