Max's Theorem

This weekend I bought "Live in Aught-Three," a live album from several of James McMurtry's shows. Now I am not the Texas music-scholar that my brother-in-law is. But I do think he'd agree with me that James McMurtry is one of the best songwriters Texas has produced, and that's a pretty bold statement.

So I bought the album and was listening to it, wondering if it was worth the $12 I spent, since all but one of the songs are already on his studio albums.

But then I heard the following soundbite off a track called "Max's Theorem," and I suddenly felt I got my money's worth:

Max told me that a good old boy can become an intellectual, but an intellectual cannot become a good old boy. I believe that to be true.

So why is it that the son of a couple of blue-blooded erudite Connecticut yankees gets to stand behind the Presidential podium and talk about nuc-you-lar weapons?

I mean Jeb Bush doesn't say nuc-you-lar. You know good and damn well Barbara doesn't say nuc-you-lar.

James McMurtry is the man. And this is what he is not: a pre-packaged, focus-group driven image. Too bad we can't say the same about our pop stars or, more pertinently, Presidents.