Inspirations

The Mayor of Simpleton

   So I was in college in the 90’s and I was heavily into bands like 10,000 Maniacs and Peter Murphy and REM. My husband—friend at the time, or maybe we were in one of our many enemies’ stages—was very into music and introduced me to a band called XTC. They’re known for thoughtful, political statement songs, but the one that caught me is a song from their Oranges & Lemons album. It wasn’t much of a hit. Its highest chart was #72, but I loved it. Now when I think about the song, not only do I associate it with summers spent at the University of North Texas, riding around in my future husband’s super-old Scout (he still misses that car) but I also see one of my characters. “The Mayor of Simpleton” is basically about a man who doesn’t think he’s very smart, but he loves a woman and offers her everything he has. Even if it’s not much—in his mind. What he can offer her is love. And that’s why this is my song for Boomer Ward. He’s big and gorgeous, and for so many years his intelligence has come into question. But he knows one thing when he meets Daphne—he loves her. Give this oldie a shot and maybe think about Boomer when you do. 

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