paying the rent
text by ARNAUD VIVIANT
Permit me to make a confession. Back in the 2000s, I was an apostle of the freebie. Especially when it came to art. It was then that I founded an experimental rock band that I called Le Ballu, after the bar where the drink-sodden idea came to me. To join the band, all you had to do was write original music for a little ditty composed more or less to my own glory. Here are the lyrics:
Don’t touch yourself just yet, my sweet
John Thomas is back in the saddle
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Ain’t me who wrote this shit
It was Arnaud Viviant
Shame.
To date, there are some 50 versions of this song — in French, English, Italian, Russian, German, reggae style, Cajun style, country style, industrial-rock style, indie-rock style, trip-hop style, hip hop style, and on…