New (to me) version week (4): The Mumlers

Here’s another tip that came my way courtesy of Alex Rawls. The band is called the Mumlers, from San Jose, California. Their take is called “St. James St.,” and while it uses the “SJI” melody, the lyrics are an unrelated rewrite (full lyrics after the jump). In this video interview for Pandora (which also includes a clip of the band performing the song), the songwriter explains the song is about transvestites and “going to 7-11” but is also “a ripoff of St. James Infirmary.” Evidently there’s a street in the band’s neighborhood, St. James Street.

The arrangement is a dreamy dirge, and a nice listen: guitar, drums, standup base, and a standout horn line. The tone of lament sort of makes sense when you get to their final verse, in which the singer, walking through the weird of haze of transvestites on his way to buy a beer, abruptly wishes he were in New Orleans, where could go “fishing in the flood,” and drink up “that mighty river.” A weird, pleasing song.

Check out a rather minimalist video, here. The band’s site is here; the song appears on their 2009 album Don’t Throw Me Away.

St. James St. / The Mumlers

I went down to St. James Street
To buy a bottle of beer.
I heard the sound of sirens singing
And church bells ringing in my ears.

I walked past a man in heels
And a skirt so short and pink.
I went down to St. James Street
To buy myself a drink.

Dewberry’s on the corner.*
He’s wearing an ankle-length leather coat.
I thought I heard him mutter
“Got bless your little boat.”

Oh wish I was in New Orleans.
I’d go fishing out in the flood.
I’d drink up that mighty river
And lie in the Mississippi mud.

* NOTE: I originally transcribed this as “There he is on the corner.” I was corrected by a source close to the Mumlers, who added: “Dewberry was one of the neighborhood characters. He always dressed in elaborate get-ups: ankle-length leather coats, fur hats, silk shirts unbuttoned to the navel. He walked really slow, talked to himself incessantly, & always had a smooth word for the ladies. He often drank beer in my driveway. He doesn’t know he’s walking around in a song or in anyone’s blog now.” Fantastic, no?