Their early sound was seen as very Do-It-Yourself take on Folk/Rock and had been retrospectively compared to punk music by some, subsequently however over the next few years the bands sound would become more refined and psychedelic.
The band was named by Kupferberg who borrowed it from the euphemistic substitute for the word "fuck" famously used in Norman Mailer's novel, The Naked and the Dead. Incidentally, the band is featured in a chapter of Mailer's book, Armies of the Night as they play at the 1967 march on the Pentagon in protest of the Vietnam War (with Scott Rashap on upright bass).
The Fugs were a satirical and self-satirizing rock band that performed at protests against the Vietnam War nationwide.
Their 1968 Transatlantic Records album "It crawled into my hand, honest" (TRA 181) also helped to make them more widely known on the European side of the Atlantic. (This album {minus LP artwork, of course,} is now also available as tracks 11 to 30 of "Electromagnetic Steamboat")
The band's frank lyrics about sex, drugs, and politics aroused a hostile reaction in some quarters, and enthusiastic interest in others. One of their better known songs was an adaptation of Matthew Arnold's poem, Dover Beach. Another was a William Blake poem.
The Fugs played their "final" concert of the 1960s in 1969 at the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania with the Grateful Dead.
The Fugs, minus Weaver (plus Rashap), reunited in 1984 with several performances at the Bottom Line in New York.
A reunited Fugs toured in the fall of 2004, with Josh Lieberman on glass armonica in several Chicago performances.
My Baby Done Left Me
The Fugs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
mah ba-by done went to the drive-in movie
with someone else
and I feel like homemade sh......yodel yodel layhe hoo
mah ba-by done left me
mah ba-by done parked by Coonskin Creek
with somebody else
and I feel like homemade sh......yodel yodel layhe hee yodel layhe dee
I'm a kickin up sparks fur yoo
Clara-June, Clara June
I'll give up [] fur yoo
cause I feel like homemade sh......yodel yodel layhe, yodel layhe, hoo
I'll sit in church
and hold your haaaa-nd
I'll give up Hef-fer Fucking
I'll buy a suit from the Sears' Catalogue
Clara-June, Clara June
come back, come back,
Clara-June, Clara June
I feel like homemade sh....yodel, yodel layhe, yodel layhe yodel layhe hoo
Clara-June, Clara June
I'm sitting in a []
My heart is pounding like sixteen dogs
Clara-June, Clara June
I sure do miss that poon
Clara-June, Clara June
I feel like homemade sh....yodel, yodel layhe, yodel layhe yodel layhe hoo
I feel like homemade sh....yodel, yodel layhe, yodel layhe yodel layhe hoo
The Fugs's song "My Baby Done Left Me" is a heartbreakingly sad song about a man whose lover has left him for someone else. The singer is devastated, and it is clear from his lyrics that he is in a lot of pain. He talks about how his baby has gone to a drive-in movie and parked at Coonskin Creek with somebody else. He feels like "homemade sh... yodel yodel layhe hoo," which gives the impression of a man who is completely broken down.
The singer then addresses Clara-June, presumably a friend or confidante, and tells her that he is willing to do anything to win his baby back. He will give up his pride, his money, and even his sexual exploits if it means getting his lover back. The singer goes on to say that he will even sit in church and hold Clara-June's hand if it means that he can win his baby back.
The song is a simple yet powerful lament of love lost. It captures the pain and desperation of a man who has been left alone by the person he loves the most. The lyrics are raw and emotional, and it is clear that the singer is in a lot of pain.
Line by Line Meaning
mah ba-by done left me
My significant other has abandoned me
mah ba-by done went to the drive-in movie with someone else
My significant other went to the drive-in movie with someone other than me
and I feel like homemade sh......yodel yodel layhe hoo
I feel terrible, like low-quality homemade goods
mah ba-by done parked by Coonskin Creek with somebody else
My significant other parked by Coonskin Creek with someone other than me
Clara-June, Clara-June, I'm a kickin up sparks fur yoo
I'm putting in effort to impress you, Clara-June
Clara-June, Clara June, I'll give up [] fur yoo cause I feel like homemade sh......yodel yodel layhe, yodel layhe, hoo
I'll give up something important to me for you if you come back, because I feel terrible
I'll sit in church and hold your haaaa-nd
I'll go to church with you and show affection
I'll give up Hef-fer Fucking
I'll give up sexual activity with cows
I'll buy a suit from the Sears' Catalogue
I'll make efforts to improve myself, such as buying a suit
Clara-June, Clara June come back, come back
Come back to me, Clara-June
I'm sitting in a [] My heart is pounding like sixteen dogs
I'm feeling anxious and my heart is racing
Clara-June, Clara June I sure do miss that poon
I miss being intimate with you, Clara-June
I feel like homemade sh....yodel, yodel layhe, yodel layhe yodel layhe hoo
I feel absolutely terrible
Contributed by Anthony J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bob
on I Shit My Pants
The song "I Shit My Pants" is not The Fugs, someone uploaded it with a Fugs album cover but it was a Canadian band named "Salty Seamen", it's available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vjOmICY2vg