semantikon feature literature
November 2006
Guest Editor Nathan Singer with works from three new writers
angela marsh works
Aaron Kerley
2. Muses
3. Of the signs by which it will be known...
Paul Toth
1. cc:All Clowns
2. Bonehead Blues
3. The Undeniable
Ravana Vajpayee
Yvette Williams
1. 1000
2. Marriage In Springtime
3. dishonesty

Paul A. Toth lives in Michigan. His first novel Fizz and its successor Fishnet are available from all online bookstores, as well as retail outlets. He received honorable mention in the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 17th Annual, ed. Ellen Datlow. See www.netpt.tv for more information. His TothWorld podcast is available for download at http://tothnews.libsyn.com/ or via I-Tunes.

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Bonehead Blues by Paul Toth

Bonehead Hawkins never had a hit single, nor did he influence or even witness the birth of rock and roll. However, Bonehead survived his death in certain parts of Chicago, where he is still remembered as the dumbest blues musician who ever lived. As T.P. Whitback put it, "Bonehead's stone should read, 'Here lies one stupid motherfucker."

Now Bonehead always knew his leaves fell a little far from the tree, but he never realized his music reflected this shortcoming. "He came to me one time," drummer Pete Conroy recalls, "and played me this song called Bonehead Blues. And I said, 'Bonehead, those lyrics don't rhyme.' He looks at me, shakes his head and says, 'Rhyme?' So I said, 'Not only don't the lyrics rhyme, but the song's all chorus. All you do is keep repeating, "I got the Bonehead blues, I got the Bonehead Blues, it's Christmastime again, I got the Bonehead blues."' So he stares at me with those big brown eyes and says, 'But that's how the song goes.' I couldn't help but say, 'Bonehead, ain't you got no goddamn sense in your head?' And he just says, 'Naw, but I got ten cents in my pocket.' So we went downtown and split a hotdog with the ten cents."

Bonehead Blues became an underground hit of sorts, played at parties and afterhours clubs by drunk and semi-of-duty blues musicians. Through polish and variation the song attained a certain beauty and became a masterpiece of sarcasm. For a while women in certain neighborhoods could be heard telling their boyfriends, "Go sing the Bonehead Blues somewhere else, honey, 'cause I can't stand that song." But as the aging musicians grew tired of bars and parties, the song faded and sank into the place where all the drunken memories of bars and parties die forgotten.

May you rest in peace, Bonehead, with ten cents in your pocket.