The poet Lord Byron famously dubbed himself "mad, bad and dangerous to know." The first time I heard the phrase I knew it was a great title for a song. This isn't a song about a famous mad poet though. "Mad, Bad and Dangerous" is about a femme fatale, and the song takes place in an antebellum setting no doubt influenced by my own life in Nashville, Tennessee, but also by the fantastical Southern landscapes that Canadian Robbie Robertson dreamed up in his lyrics for The Band's songs.
Here are my words for this one...
In your weeping willow mansion
behind your plantation door
you stroke your feline confidante
waiting for my arrival
And I come bearing gifts
like a thousand times before
but your thoughts are not on romance
and mine are on survival
Well the last time that I saw you
I didn't know what I felt.
I thought it might be love
but it came from below my belt.
And my friends they all warned me
and said, Joe, you better watch your back
cuz she'll bomb you on Pearl Harbor Day
in a full fledged sneak attack.
I did not believe them,
but now I see it's so
You're mad, you're bad, you're dangerous to know
You sit on your silver stool
a scepter in your hand
You got slaves who wanna wash your feet
and wait on your command
Some of them still love you
but all of them fell prey
to your sweet Southern accent
and your wild magnolia ways
I was once among them
see how my scars still show
Now I stand in your parlor
next to your gold spittoon
and like all your anxious callers
I've arrived much too soon
So I walk to your window
with the panoramic view
of the ragged rebel graveyard
where Sherman's men marched through
And when finally you arrive
I turn to see you there
with that diamond dust around your eyes
and daisies in your hair.
And you're taking me to your bedroom baby
down your death row hall
where you keep pictures of all your prisoners
plastered to your wall
And your boots are made of iron
and your bed in made of nails
and outside your window a lonely train
rattles on rusty rails
But you won't fool me this time
It's time for me to go
You're mad, you're bad, you're dangerous to know
Here's the video...
Be sure to find my recorded music on DSound