Karen Mantler - 2.01 - The Flu

In 1990 Karen Mantler released her second solo album, only a year after "My Cat Arnold". As far as I know, her first album hadn't had much commercial success. A normal musician wouldn't have been given a second chance, but Karen had the advantage of having parents who owned a record label.

The second album's name is "Karen Mantler and her cat Arnold get the flu", but I prefer to call it "The Flu". It's in the same whimsical style as her first album. The only difference is that her harmonica isn't used on every track. Most tracks, but not all. The backing group is the same as on the first album. Eric Mingus once more supplies vocals as The Man.

This was her last album until "Farewell" in 1996, which has a darker style.

For the songs that I quote, I'll use the following system, unless otherwise stated:

Karen's vocals are in normal text.

The Man's vocals are in italics and indented.

Vocals by the group are in bold italics and indented.

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The Flu

Nothing is as bad as the flu.

Torture would be nice compared to this.

The other day I noticed that Arnold wasn't looking so good,

And the more I thought about it I realised that I didn't feel so good myself,

So I went and I got the thermometer,

And I took my temperature,

Arnold doesn't like thermometers.

I couldn't believe it. It was 105.

So we dragged ourselves to the doctor,

The doctor said we had something called Shanghai A.

It was awful.

And although it was a couple of weeks ago

I remember it as though it was yesterday.

I start to shiver and then I sweat,

The room is spinning and my bed is wet,

My head hurts so much I can't think,

My lungs hurt so much I can't sing.

What is as bad as the flu?

    Nothing.

What would be nice compared to this?

    Torture.

    We start to shiver and then we sweat,

    The room is spinning and my bed is wet.

My head hurts so much I can't think,

My lungs hurt so much I can't breathe.

    Drink lots of herb tea and chicken soup,

    Bundle your neck up, wear a hat.

    These are a few things you an do,

    Don't take a chance or you'll catch the flu.