In this episode, Singer/Songwriter John Shipe shares the story behind the lyrics to the title track from his recent album, “Yellow House”:
I used to live in Yellow House. With a woman 6 feet two inches tall. Only, she wasn’t my wife, she was just a roommate. (My girlfriend at the time was about 5’ 2”, but indeed beautiful, and people often reminded me.)
Frat boys really did steal my cat, and I did find the culprit. An animal-loving cop ran the plates of the getaway car, sending me to the parents of a young frat pledge. I called them up: “Did you raise the kind of kid who tortures animals?”
“I don’t know,” replied the woman.
I didn’t beat anybody up, but my six-foot woman-friend found my cat walking along a fence outside the fraternity.
But this song is about inferiority, not victory. Jonathan Kraus can’t win, even when he wins. He feels a constant undercurrent of oppression that he doesn’t understand. People take advantage of him. Disrespect him. Finally, he explodes on the catnapper, but the other frat boys are entertained by him more than they are awed.
Why inferiority and not victory? I wasn’t feeling up to par when I wrote the song, having a run of low confidence. Leonard Cohen says: when you sit down at the page to write, you have to confront the energies that arise. So, as I recalled the details from this charming period of my life, they morphed into looming threats to the psyche. Tall female roommate became overbearing wife. Talkative neighbors became judgmental detractors. The protagonist became a guy who’s not used to sticking up for himself until he becomes violent. And even then, it’s sort of a joke.
I never thought the song was funny. It makes people laugh, but it’s really sad. When recording it, producer Ehren Ebbage told, “You’re singing it too well, with swagger, like you believe in your good singing voice. Sing it more like a defeated man.”
“Yellow House” by John Shipe (copyright 2008 Tundrite Music BMI)
From the album Yellow House, by John Shipe 2008
My full name is Jonathan Kraus.
I live in a Yellow House
With my wife, six feet tall.
She bumps her head coming out of the hall.
And all my neighbors think she’s fine.
They tell me about it all of the time.
They say, “How could an awkward guy like you
End up with a girl so beautiful.”
It’s nice of you to wish me luck here.
But I’m just trying’ to wash my truck here.
Our living room has hardwood floors,
Cracks in the ceiling, creaky doors.
It’s kind of hard to get settled down
With a six-foot woman clomping’ around.
A homeless man sleeps on our porch
When the weather gets cold in early March.
It’s the least that we can give,
‘Cause there’s lots of them where we live,
Around the corner from the University.
There’s so much noise from the fraternity.
(There’s so much noise. There’s so much noise.)
Our landlord is a mysterious man.
He wrote his name on a coffee can,
Nailed to a board under the deck.
That’s where we put the rent check.
Some of the creeps from the rich-boy frat
Broke into our house, and stole our cat.
I did some detective work.
The cat was okay, but I found those jerks.
It felt good to beat up on a frat boy.
They were impressed, and they called me Crazy Cat Boy.
(You crazy cat boy. You crazy cat boy.)
My first name is Jonathan.
I’ll never run in a marathon.
I’ll never be on a talk show.
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