Music Monday: Follow That Man
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I’ve always adored this opening verse to “Follow That Man” from Boz Scaggs’ 1994 album Some Change:
You take one part Buddha
And two parts cat
Run them through your computer
And that’s where he’s at
Some say he’s ruthless
And some say he’s a saint
They tell you he’s innocent
I tell you he ain’t
One could equate this to how certain actors portray themselves in Silicon Valley in 2020, and how people like me characterise them and their influence. Though according to a 1994 interview on NPR, the words just fit well:
Boz: They just sort of tumble out. I think a lot of songwriters play on that. Sometimes when you’re stuck for a word, or you’re stuck for an idea, you just sing along with the music. The music will tell you what the song is about.
Scott Simon: “You take one part Buddha and two parts cat, run them through your computer and that’s where he’s at.”
Boz: A friend of my who writes had me early, early in the process, about the legality of rhyming Buddha and computer and I said it’ll go over in New York.
