Song Of The Day 6/6/2012: Gilbert O'Sullivan - "Permissive Twit"

Never known exactly what I thought of Gilbert O'Sullivan. I'm predisposed to like his music. The melodies, I mean. It's exactly the kind of music I'd listen to in a dark room with a fire raging, drinking brandy and reminiscing over past lustful escapades, or road trips in the British countryside that ended in heated ecclesiastical discourses, ambivalence and car repairs.

But in terms of lyrics, sometimes Gilbert could be very exact. Extraordinarily literal. He was like Harry Nilsson with a master's thesis. Can't decide if it's for Oxford or Cambridge. Maybe just a fellowship. The song I almost chose as SOTD today is called "January Git," and it talks about someone having "mundane conjectural." Whoa, thee of the pursing lips, better buy me a drink first!

He also had a hit called "Alone Again (Naturally)," which displays all that exactitude quite efficaciously and even interjaculates an instance of malefic propensity. That's right, that's right -- malefic propensity! Boom! Malefic propensity, all over dis trollop. 

Still, even given his occasionally stilted, proper lyrics and page-boy tendencies as so easily rendered here, there are many Gilbert O'Sullivan songs I love. There are his hits "Clair" (which is not about a girlfriend), "Get Down" (which is about an errant dog, not disco dancing), and several from his debut album Himself, including "Nothing Rhymed," "Houdini Said," and this cautionary tale in which he really slathers on the Dickens.