Scott Gould’s collection Idiot Men is filled with inventively told stories both heartrending and funny, often at the same time.
George Singleton wrote of the book:
“Yes, the protagonists in Idiot Men make questionable choices at times, but they do so with big-hearted, well-meant, honorable intentions. And if they’re idiots, well, they’re our idiots. Here’s a great congregation of stories, told in Gould’s unmistakable voice.”
The stories in Idiot Men focus on—wait for it…men who are idiots. They make poor choices, stupid decisions and generally shoot themselves in their respective, figurative feet as their narratives unfold. The collection has an odd, tortured publishing history that involves jail time (not mine), rehab (not mine) and myriad rejection (all mine), and it’s a quirk of luck and timing that it’s actually seeing the light of day. Those are all stories for another time. In consideration of a playlist, the stories in Idiot Men were written across a number of years, so there’s no singular musical inspiration that I remember. I mean, I can’t recall what I was listening to ten years ago when I was doing a rewrite of “Taps on the Forehead.” However, the book’s title, of course, lends itself to a musical theme, so I’m running with that. (One note: I asked my creative writing seniors at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities for some help creating this playlist. I’ll let you know when the selection was theirs.)
“Stupid Man” by Lou Reed
I was never a Lou Reed fan, then I read Anthony DeCurtis’ killer biography of Reed. I became a convert. I remembered this song from The Bells album, a tune which could definitely be an anthem for Idiot Men. Plus, with a slight mispronunciation, he’s able to rhyme “stupid man” and “Saskatchewan” in the first verse. Bonus points.
“No Scrubs” by TLC
My memories of this song involve my daughters hollering along with the radio, driving them to school, back around 1999 or 2000. But I had totally forgotten the tune, until one of my creative writing students suggested it for the Idiot Men playlist. Ah yes, a senior in high school in 2023 going the old school route. Makes my heart warm.
“The Fool on the Hill” by The Beatles
You might think this would be the walk-up song for every idiot man in the world, but you’d be wrong. “The Fool on the Hill” is actually about someone who’s more misunderstood instead of foolish, someone with inherent wisdom. (Supposedly, McCartney wrote it with The Beatles’ meditation teacher in mind, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.)
“How Sweet to be an Idiot” by Neil Innes
Neil Innes wrote some pretty good stuff, when he wasn’t performing as an extra with Monty Python or creating The Rutles, a Beatles parody group. This song sounds like Billy Joel and Harry Chapin collided on top of a piano.
“The Idiot,” Amy Shark
I ran across this song by accident. (Or maybe it wasn’t an accident that it popped up on my phone. Algorithms have taken over for fate, I suppose.) I liked the song so much, I went down the IRH (Internet Rabbit Hole) on Amy Shark and found a rabid fan’s post, instructing me to a particular order in which to listen to Shark’s music. “The Idiot” was #12, right after “You Think I Think I Sound Like God.” So there’s that.
“’Cause I’m a Man” by Tame Impala
When one of my students suggested this, I didn’t have to pretend to know who Tame Impala is. (Or that Kevin Parker is the brains behind the one-man studio project.) But I wasn’t familiar with this song. It seems kind of funny that, amid all the lush, pseudo-psychedelic arrangements, the guy in the song says that all his missteps and bad behavior boil down to a single, flimsy excuse: “’Cause I’m a man.”
“Dumb All Over,” Frank Zappa
While this song doesn’t single out a man as dumb (it’s more a blanket condemnation of global stupidity), it would be difficult to make a playlist about idiotic humans and not include a Frank Zappa song. This one came out in the early ’80s, but it’s still relevant forty plus years down the road, unfortunately.
“Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind” by Kellie Pickler
Country music has its share of idiot men appearing in songs, but this one is a little strange because of its origin. What I mean is, Pickler bemoans a litany of things that never cross a man’s mind (e.g., “that joke is too dirty/that steak is too thick), and yet the song was written by a trio of men. Satire or self-awareness? Your call.
“Big Hat, No Cattle” by Randy Newman
Goofy lyrics and a bouncy melody about an idiot man…sort of describes the Randy Newman Musical Wheelhouse. And this song is indeed goofy. But damn, it gets a bit dark at the end: “When it came down to the wire/I called my little family to my side/Stood up straight, threw my head back/And I lied, lied lied…”
“Redneck Crazy” by Tyler Farr
Back to country music. If you can get beyond the country power ballad arrangement, you quickly understand the guy in the song is completely bonkers and probably ended up in jail. I mean, he drives drunk over to a woman’s house in the middle of the night, pulls into her yard, shines his headlights into her window and tosses “empty beer cans at both of your shadows.” Because, you know, there’s another guy there.
“Norman Fucking Rockwell” by Lana Del Rey
This was another suggestion from the creative writers. Every year, it seems there’s a small, fiery cadre of Lana Del Rey devotees in my classes. This year was no different. And the little cadre shouted out this title. (Gotta say, wasn’t expecting a juxtaposition of Norman Rockwell and the f-bomb.) But this is a really, really good song. And the guy in it is an idiot.
“What a Fool Believes” by The Doobie Brothers
The only reasons I put this one on the playlist are 1) it has the word “fool” in the title, and 2) every few years I like to start the argument about whether Michael McDonald really ruined The Doobie Brothers. I mean, check out the official video for this song. Patrick Simmons and Skunk Baxter look completely bored.
Finally, because there are too many of her songs to choose just one, Fiona Apple has been named the patron saint of Idiot Men.
also at Largehearted Boy:
Scott Gould’s playlist for his novel The Hammerhead Chronicles
Scott Gould’s playlist for his memoir Things That Crash, Things That Fly
Scott Gould’s playlist for his novel Whereabouts
Scott Gould’s playlist for his story collection Strangers to Temptation