My Daddy used to give me a bath every night when I was little, up until I was old enough to bathe myself. We had our routine; Daddy would bathe me first, doing “tricks” with the washcloth, then I would play for a while with my “collection” (Interesting bottles and containers I collected and kept along the side of the tub), and finally Daddy would wash my hair. As I laid back in the water to get my hair wet, he’d start to sing. There was some Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynard, some funny songs he remembered. But the lyrics of one song in particular have really stuck with me all these years. I can still hear him singing “I don’t mind stealing bread from the miles of decadence, (I recall not knowing what decadence meant, but never interrupting to ask), but I can’t feed on the powerless when my cup’s already overfilled.” Then he would wail out “I’m goin’ hungry…” A few years back, this memory came to mind, and I looked up the lyrics. It turns out that the song is called “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog, released in 1991, the year I was born. I watched the video on YouTube, listened to all the lyrics. Along with the ones I still remembered, I found the other lines to actually be quite powerful. Yeah, it’s pretty off beaten path from my usual Jim James and Sam Beam, but I find myself thinking about the song pretty often. Daddy kids around a lot, jokingly sings songs all the time. But something about the way I remember this one specifically leads me to think a part of him wasn’t just kidding around when he sang the lyrics to this one (copied and pasted below). An important piece of my own “coming of age” has been the realization that my parents are actual individuals, just like me, not just Daddy and Mama, but Kay and Mark. And I wonder what Mark was thinking when he sang “I’m goin’ hungry” all those times while he washed my hair. What was his day at work like? I think this is during the time that he was working a pretty unfulfilling, menial-type job. What was his relationship like with Kay? In my eyes, my parents have always been happy. It’s unlikely that I thought about this so deeply as a child. I’m sure I was more preoccupied with hoping Daddy didn’t find any ticks in my hair or thinking about the splinter he’d have to remove from my heel after my bath. But, somehow, I remember those lines. Whatever I was thinking, I was listening too.
“Hunger Strike” Temple of the Dog
I don’t mind stealing bread
From the mouths of decadence
But I can’t feed on the powerless
When my cup’s already overfilled,
But it’s on the table
The fire is cooking
And they’re farming babies
While slaves are working
Blood is on the table
And the mouths are choking
But I’m growing hungry
I don’t mind stealing bread
From the mouths of decadence
But I can’t feed on the powerless
When my cup’s already overfilled
But it’s on the table
The fires cooking
And they’re farming babies
While the slaves are all working
And it’s on the table
The mouths are choking
But I’m growing hungry
I’m going hungry
