Double entendre, bubble gum, and another family hit

After a week spent on vacation in Las Vegas, I thought I would skip a posting this week.  (By the way, I highly recommend the Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur.)  But inspiration can strike at any time, and in writing a "response" song to a recent hit, this is what occured. - D.H.


The sexually-charged phrase "blow me" became familiar in 2012 as part of the title of a hit song by global pop star Pink, "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)."   But few people know of another song called "Blow Me" that was written and recorded the year before!

It started with a conversation between Reba Pearl "Hambone" Barefoot and one of her nieces, Kimberly Strickland.  (Kimberly's mother, Dina Barefoot Strickland, is the brother of Alfred Wayne Barefoot, nephew of Hambone's father Alonzo.)  Like her famous cousin Buddy Wayne Barefoot, she is an acoustic country guitarist.  "I channel the old music of Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette, but give it a rock-star voice twist to make it my own," she says.   At the annual block party - a reunion with extended members of the families of the 13 core members - Hambone whispered a joke to Strickland:
HAMBONE: What did the stick of bubble gum say to me?
STRICKLAND: What?
HAMBONE: Blow me.
With that, Strickland was inspired!  She wrote a song to the tune of the modern-rock song "Monsters and Angels," recorded by Voices of the Beehive in 1990.  However, Strickland modified it to be an upbeat country song called "Blow Me (The Bubble Gum Song)."  Unlike Pink's tune - which is centered on a fictitious breakup - this song takes double-entendre and makes it fun and friendly.

One night I was laying down on my bed,
And I noticed a pack of gum that said,
"Blow me."

I couldn't believe what was on the label
But it kept screaming at me on that table,
"Blow me."

(Chorus)
Yes, the song's about bubble gum,
Put it in your mouth and have a little fun
It just sat there, like a sign
Like it was winking back, as if to show me
The only thing that I knew I could do
Was "blow me."

So I opened a stick and began to chew,
I understood it and I got a clue,
"Blow me."

Then I smiled and laughed in total bliss,
Knowing it was a sign that I couldn't miss,
"Blow me."

(Repeat chorus)
(Guitar instrumental)

Now I make bubbles every night and day
Because of a label that I obey,
"Blow me."

There's just one thing of which I think
When I see sweet rubber and the color pink,
"Blow me."

(Chorus)
"Blow me."
"Blow me."
"Blow...me!"
(Final guitar riff)

Note: This is not related to the "blow me" billboard I wrote about in November 2012 and then later showed in this portfolio.

(Avatar: Brittany Barefoot, recent graduate of the University of South Carolina, originally from Greenwood, SC; taken at her high-school senior class dinner in 2008.)