just Who is Billy Joe Royal?

December 06, 2001, 09:30 pm

Today at work I was walking downstairs to use the bathroom and for some reason, I was whistling "The Fishing Hole" (the whistle-y theme song for The Andy Griffith Show). And it reminded me of when I was probably five or six. I was swimming at the pool at "Sportsman's Lake" (which some would say is "out in the boonies"), but stopped to use the bathroom.

Here's the scene: crappy, square-shaped, cement floored bathroom with the door-open.

But I'm five and I don't yet realize how sound propagates and how certain textures and shapes can amplify sound. So I think I'm all alone in this very private environment, which is the perfect place to sing Down in the Boondocks, by Billy Joe Royal. For those of you not familiar with this song, it features a chorus that goes a little something like this:

Down in the boondocks, down in the boondocks
People put me down 'cause that's the side of town I was born in
I love her, she loves me, but I don't fit in her society
Lord have mercy, I'm a boy from down in the boondocks

Unfortunately, I was also not familiar with the song, 'cause I could only remember the first part and was singing Down in the boondocks over and over and over. I think I was also imitating the song's slow, white-boy-merengue (or is it rumba? my old percussion teacher would be embarassed... I think I'm going to start saying "white-boy-merengue" a lot more) percussive noises with my mouth (ung! ung-ung! CHA!).

I'm not sure if someone actually told me to shut the hell up or if I just heard lots of people laughing at me, but I definitely stopped and was really embarassed. In fact, everytime I hear the song (which is, like, never (except that I downloaded the mp3, and listen to it nonstop; ha)) I get a little nervous, but then I start laughing really hard. I wonder if anyone other than me remembers that and if they tell people about it.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't imagine why I would be singing that song. Maybe someone said something like, Hey! We sure are out in the boondocks! or something and it reminded me of that song. Or maybe it was on the radio just before we got there and it stuck in my head. Who knows? I don't think it matters now. The damage has already been done.



Chris just said to me, Oh, I'm sorry. I got you confused with Charles Manson. WTF?!? Then she sends me a link to a Charles Manson Tamagotchi. Scary.