Portrait of President George W. Bush

Lyrics

The right side of the tip of the nose,
The opening of the right nostril,
The middle lower lip,
The inner-rear
Of the right ear,
The underside
Of the left eyelid
Of President George W. Bush.
A portion of the hair
At the middle front,
A portion of the hair
As it touches the left forehead,
A part of the left eyebrow,
The opening of the left nostril,
A portion of the lower left cheek
Near the mouth,
A portion of the mid lower lip,
A portion of the throat
And the laryngeal region
Of President George W. Bush.
A light area
And two shadows
In the hair
At the front of the left cheek,
Part of the lower lip,
The point of the chin,
A crease in the neck,
The right cheek
From ear to chin,
A crease in the forehead,
The right cheek,
Of President George W. Bush.
A crease in the forehead
To the right,
Ridges across the forehead,
Part of the left eyebrow,
Hair at the left temple,
The lobe and forward ridge
Of the left ear,
The forward prominence
Of the left cheek,
The chin below the lower lip
Of President George W. Bush.

Chronology

Five American Portraits
- Gina Birch - vocals

Retrospectives

Mayo Thompson, 2010^[1]

[...] I thought of George Bush as being a figure who is intimately associated with the very idea of Texas. I thought, 'Well, that's my turf.' So I borrowed the University of Texas' fight song, which they borrowed from some other tune they borrowed from, you know, the levee song and 'I've Been Working on the Railroad,' and then I had some other music which I had written. Back in the '80s I wrote a piece called 'The New Eyes of Texas' which I had never done anything with, but I had this piece sitting around.
I thought about 'Home, Home on the Range,' which was written in Texas I believe, and 'Red River Valley' and 'Oh Texas, My Texas,' 'The Yellow Rose of Texas' - I just thought of all that Texiana and thought about George Bush, thought about there being a piano in the White House and, you know... it was pretty straightforward, you know what I mean? It was just a game of association.

Interpretations

Musical references listed on the back of the record:
- "Texas, Our Texas" (William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright)
- "The Eyes of Texas" (lyrics by John Lang Sinclair, music based on the American folk song "I've Been Working On The Railroad," a.k.a. "Levee Song")
- "The New Eyes of Texas" (music and lyrics by Mayo Thompson)

References

↑ https://www.houstonpress.com/music/inquiring-minds-an-hour-with-the-red-krayola-mastermind-mayo-thompson-6520083?showFullText=true

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