Drunk in Algiers

This was written when I was playing in punk bands and reflects the series of investigations into the JFK assassination and various government conspiracies that took place in Congress in the late 70s in the wake of Watergate and the Nixon implosion.

When I was a kid, I stayed up late with my dad one night to watch the early 30's Mummy. When it came to the part where the workers burying the pharoah (or whoever the heck he was supposed to be) were slain with spears -- and then the spearsmen were themselves slain with spears, all to keep the burial place secret,I thought, damn, that's cold.

In this song, I imagined the protagonist as the last surviving triggerman in the JFK hit, living out his days drunk in Algiers, waiting for the inevitable day when some mysterious strangers would burst through the door, guns blazing.

The guitar accompaniment on this version was improvised on the spot, since I had no real recollection of the chords I used to use. As always, I recorded the rhythm guitar and vocal in one pass and, as I often do, I then went back and overdubbed a lead guitar.

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DRUNK IN ALGIERS

I was on team one
and I'm not saying that I'm scared
but the rest are dead
and it's probably just a matter of time

they know where I am

one of these days a stranger
walks into this little dive
and bang
no witness left a live
one of these days they're gonna cowboy me

one day late indian summer
standing on a grassy knoll
just a little squeeze of my trigger finger
changed the history of the world

shoved my AR 14 up inside my overcoat
me and my time man shimmied down the manhole
made our way through the Dallas sewers
team one changed the history of the world

(C)1979, TK Major