[joe-frank-list] Joe and guns

[russellbell at gmail.com]

	In 'Cocktails before dinner' (1986):

	'to satisfy her [his then-wife] and also because I shared to
some extent her fears [of the danger of nuclear war] I went to a local
sporting goods store and bought the pistol.  Then, on a cold fall
afternoon, I drove out to the country and stood on the hillside
shooting at a row of soda cans.  I remember feeling somewhat sheepish
firing my pistol in the wilderness but I did like the way the grip
fits snugly in my hand the gun felt like a natural appendage of my own
body it gave me a richly satisfying feeling; sometimes even now I take
it out of the shoe box and hold it.'
	'The gun feels like a natural appendage of my own body it
gives me a richly satisfying feeling.'

	In 'Sleep' (1988) Joe says, and in 'Goodbye' (2006) sings, 'I
got me a gun but don't be afraid I just have it for protection.'

	'Insomnia' (2001):
	'You're like that guy in Massachusetts who killed all those
people at that dot-com company then I'm imagining going to a gun club
and renting a 357 magnum stepping out on the range firing off a few
rounds and then turning the gun on myself and blowing my brains out
because that's the only way I can finally stop these damned thoughts
from overwhelming me.'

	In 'Four part dissonance' (2001):
	'So I was thinking of going down and purchasing a hand gun -
this is my latest fantasy - bring it back in my house - and you know
I'm terribly afraid of death but at the same time I just don't want to
keep on thinking.  The idea is to fire off rounds into my lawn and
then quickly - maybe having drunk a half a bottle of vodka or
something - then turn the gun on myself to just take a quick shot.'

russell bell