Randy Newman won an Oscar last Sunday, I think for one of his whimsical songs for one of those "Toy Story" movies. He had a funny acceptance speech.
His movie work is not why I've liked Randy Newman. It's because he's written great songs for decades. I read an essay once about his stuff, the author called his style "the unreliable narrator" because the listener can't trust the narrator in the song to be saying what's right or correct, or even Newman's point.
I'm not sure if the narrator of Let's Burn Down The Cornfield is unreliable. Well, I guess a pyromaniac is unreliable, but the narrative is straightforward. The bluesy sensuousness of the song, the danger of doing something so naughty... "Let's burn down the cornfield, and I'll make love to you while it's burnin'." When this song came out in 1970 no one else was writing anything like this. That great slide guitar is Ry Cooder.
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