My Brother Woody

Ohmguh, it's Free Design Friday. This week's song is "My Brother Woody," which has never been one of my favorites, but after reading the lyrics, its stock has certainly risen significantly.

Play or download: The Free Design - My Brother Woody

First, let's get some background on the song from Free Design's official website: "Chris' brother Woody is eight years old. His real name is Jason, but he and a second cousin who lives across the street have a group; and for "professional" purposes they call themselves Wo and Woody - The Woodpeckers ("We Live In The Sea"). Woody plays ukelele and, Chris says, plays all the right changes. In this song, Chris and Sandy and Bruce have caught the lively feeling of a little boy busy with his fun. Ralph Casale and Jay Berliner set the introduction on guitar, while Bill Lavorgna's drumming helps to build the piece as it becomes livelier and livelier."

Oh, it gets livelier all right. If it were any livelier, it'd be a living, breathing creature and not just the greatest song about a sibling ever. It's nice to see that even the younger siblings not a part of the family band have musical talent they are pursuing.

I'd contend, though, that the family is not really celebrating the "lively feeling of a little boy busy with his fun," but instead pointing out what a dumbass he is. Let's examine the lyrics:

My Brother Woody - Free Design

Hikin’ a football between his knees
runnin’ to catch a pass
Climbing up the friendly trees,
fallin’ in the grass
My brother Woody.

Singin’ a song and playin’ guitar
laughin’ at every goof
Tryin’ to touch the morning star
from the toolshed roof
My brother Woody

Don’t go away and leave the lights on
Curtain strings don’t get yanked
Gotta watch out for Mom "the Bomb"
Be good enough not to get spanked
My brother Woody

In the first verse, their brother Woody is a clumsy dumbass that falls out of the trees. In the second first, their brother Woody is a naive dumbass that attempts to touch something light years away. In the third verse, their brother Woody is an inconsiderate dumbass with no concern for the environment or the upkeep of the house.

Notably, this is Free Design's second reference to their mother, the previous one being when she ignorantly denied the appeal of flying kites, both of which add up to a portrayal of an uncaring, aggressive stage mom. Don't fool yourself, the phrase "the bomb" didn't mean "totally cool" until the 90s, so apparently the kids envision their parent as a brutal spanking machine. Sigh, when even family bands have problems, how can there be hope for the rest of us? I suspect alcoholism is at play, but we'll let future editions of Free Design Fridays more fully illuminate this issue.