Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 42-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
We wrote “Beppo’s Room” spontaneously while on tour in Germany, having secured a recording studio in Augsburg on a day off. Beppo was a young guy who lived across the hall from our tour manager, Dirk, in the small town of Kaufbeuren, where we ended up staying at both the start and finish of our incredible tours. On this particular tour, I was staying alone in Beppo’s large apartment and Dave was over at Dirk’s. Beppo evidently went to his girlfriend’s place while we were in town. This was actually a very common way to be housed while on the road.
The venue we played at was downstairs and around the corner. I think we went there every night along with everyone else in their scene. I’m not sure why Beppo’s girlfriend made a point of telling me that Dirk had paid Beppo for the room, but it felt like maybe she wanted to burst some kind of bubble surrounding our presence. It was the only thing she ever said to me. I recall her leaning toward me to be heard over the music, to let me know about this payment, which, I must admit surprised me, because things weren’t usually like that. I’m not sure what she thought I’d say, but I think my response was akin to a shrug. Maybe she assumed I’d assume something, but I have no idea what.
I doubt I mentioned it to Dirk. Typically, venues put bands up in nearby hotels. Before and after tours, we were relying on him to sort it out. If there were times when he needed to pay for our accommodation with civilians, that seems reasonable. I can only guess that the girlfriend didn’t want us to think it had been a gesture of support. Noted. There was such a vast network of support that this instance seemed somewhat remarkable.
The song lyrics are about sitting on the floor of Beppo’s room matching colors with sounds, which is not something I’ve ever done, but perhaps the concept gives a sense of abstract associations within absurdly obscured circumstances.
“Beppo’s Room” from Sitting On Snaps (Matador, 1995) (download):
