Harpers Bizarre / The Secret Life Of Harpers Bizarre (US, Warner Bros. , WS 1739) <September 1968>

Harpers Bizarre / The Secret Life Of Harpers Bizarre (US, Warner Bros. , WS 1739) <September 1968>
(SIDE 1) 0 1 DJ 39347 WS 1739 A -1A A2
(SIDE 2) 0 1 DJ 39348 WS 1739 B -1A A2

マトリクスは以前にupしたものと全く同じです。

アメリカで1939年に発表されたジェームズ・サーバーの有名な短編小説『ウォルター・ミティの秘密の生活(The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)』いう作品があります。この作品は「容易に白昼夢に入り込む男」を描いたコメディで、この短編からダニー・ケイ主演映画『虹を掴む男』(1947)が作られ、また2013年にはベン・スティーラー主演映画『LIFE !』が作られました（映画はいずれも原題が"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"です）。この作品から生まれた表現と思われる"a Walter Mitty" 「自分を有能だと勘違いしている人」「（実現性はないが）自分の成功を夢想する人」や、"Walter Mitty dream"「平凡な人が見る夢」という言葉があるらしいですから、一世を風靡した作品だったんでしょう。

ということで、このレコードはタイトルからして"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"へのオマージュとして作られたコンセプト・アルバムというのが一目瞭然なわけです。歌詞も、ハーバーズ・ビザールの面々が白昼夢の中で世界の様々な場所を訪れて冒険を繰り広げる・・・という作りになっているようです。見開き内側にさまざまなコスプレ写真がありますが、これらが一部ピンボケになっているのは「白昼夢」のつもりなんでしょう。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAVMtSiNdig

"The Battle Of New Orleans"
(originally by Jimmy Driftwood)

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
We fought the bloody British in the town of New Orleans

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Well we looked down the river and we see'd the British come
And there must have been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drum
They stepped so high and they began to sing
We stood beside our cotton bales and didn't say a thing

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Well we fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down
And we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round
We filled his head with cannon ball and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin
Wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go
Oh Papapa, papapa, papapa on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin
Wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

They ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico