CRANFORD NIX JR IN TEN SONGS

Cranford Nix was the most honest songwriter I have ever heard. A sometimes brutal, unsettling honesty. Some of his best songs were written when he was not even 20 years old, and his style did not change a bit until the day he died in 2002.

He was who he was, and he sang exactly who he was.

Nothing is spared in his lyrics: various kinds of drugs, alcohol, violence, failures. All in the lucid awareness that his life was a big mess ("My mom blames alcohol, I think I'm just a jerk"), but without that annoying mixture of self-glorification and self-pity of the various Johnny Thunders wanna-be's.

Indeed in his tragic tales he almost always manages to bring a smile to your face ("And my Doctor says man if you apply yourself here, you'll be working at McDonald's in about two years"), and you cannot remain insensitive to the fact that after all, in his own way, he really was a true romantic ("Please princess give me one last chance, one last feel and one last dance, one last kiss and one more glance into your eyes. Tomorrow gotta say goodbye").

His records are unfortunately almost all out of print and hard to find. However, at www.cranfordnix.com you can listen to and download everything he has recorded, solo and with his various bands (Malakas, Boomerang Bitchslap, Semi Precious Gems, Mars Needs Women).

If you don't know where to start, here are my 10 favorite songs.

I FELL

I'd spit in Jesus Christ's eye right now if I could

Acoustic demo recorded probably in the 1990s. For me simply the most beautiful Cranford song.

KLONOPIN

Stoned on the fire escape

I'm laughing at the whores on the street

First recorded with Boomerang Bitchslap in 1989. There is also a later, wonderful acoustic version.

CIGARETTES AND HEROIN

I'm in a sanitarium wearing Depends

Released on the Malakas' first CD "Sorry about my drinkin" in the late 1990s. One of his funniest pieces. The acoustic version is a bit slower, and I personally prefer it.

MET A GIRL AT N.A.

She was a teenage prostitute, and I was just a punk

From the Malakas' second CD "Too good to be true," released in 2000 by the never-too-praised I-94 Recordings. The AIDS/Lemonade rhyme is still unmatched. There is a wonderful acoustic version of this one, too.

THE TOAST OF ROSEVILLE

To have her smile I would've burned my guitars. I'd quit playing songs in fagot bars

Only an acoustic demo of this exists, probably dating back to the 1990s. The vocal melody of the chorus is pure class.

TATTOO ON HER ASS

All that happened last september

The lesson I learned, I don't remember

 It had something to do with growing up and how life's so fucking unfair

Another tragic tale turned into a funny song. Poor Cranford discovers his wife in bed with some guy, and he even gets the shit beaten out of him. But there’s a silver lining, at least she “supplied the words to this song”. And finally he laughs it off thinking that every time the new boyfriend bangs his ex, he has to read CRANFORD tattooed on her ass. 

MEXICO

Asking the Devil if I can buy back my soul

The only existing version of this song, to my knowledge, is the one played in 1996 on the cable TV show Hidden Talent. The entire show can be found on youtube and also includes an interview of about 10 minutes with Cranford.

MY GIRLFRIEND'S DEAD

I think the angels will know her heart was pure gold

Well I think they'll know

Well I think they will understand

Hope they will hold your hand

I think they will understand

There are two versions of this one, a voice and guitar demo, and the Malakas' full band version released on the "Sorry about my drinkin" CD.

Perhaps Cranford's most moving piece. Ok, I’m a moon pie, but the chorus gets me every time.

FUCK YOU LORRAINE

There must be something wrong with your heart

Something wrong with your brain

From the Malakas' second CD "Too good to be true". Fuck you Lorraine! No mincing words. As always, after all. Adam Bomb recorded a cover of it. Yes, the "I want my heavy metal" guy. Apparently he did it because he too held a grudge against some Lorraine girl.

I DON'T WANNA BE WITH YOU

You think your looking good in your fishnet tights

But in the morning you look like shite

There is a video on youtube of a Cranford gig in which he plays this songs and explains that he wrote it with his wife in mind, when he was really angry at her. His wife is in the audience. First he sings to her "I don't wanna sleep in your cum stained bed," then when the song is over he reminds her that he loves her so much. Champ!