Flaubie and the Fleabites circa 1968 during their Rockadoggie period. This was taken shortly before Flaubie descended into the cycles of addiction and rehabilitation which characterized his middle years. When this picture was taken Flaubie was still deeply interested in Buddhist meditation practice, but that was being tempered by an uptick in cynicism.
“Annoying Garden” is hence both an introspective meditation on the nature of turning thought, and at the same time a critique on the progressive consumerizing of religious practice. The song was a commercial flop, but is now considered a classic of its kind.
There are thankfully very few of its kind.
Annoying Garden
(Bodhisattva Pancakes)
I was walkin’ though the garden
Just the other day
All the flowers oh yeah those flowers
Kept gettin’ in my way
The bees were humming
A fearsome amount
And it was hard to think
About the things that count
Like moving fast
And how good it feels
To drive around
In great big automobiles
I wanted to think about
All the money I could make
Advertising
Every single step I take
In this annoying garden
You never get too far
Because you always end up
Where you already are
Zippity doo dah
Zippity ay
My oh My
What a wonderful day
I was listening to the birds
They was chirping’ everywhere
It’s very hard to concentrate
With all that noise in the air
And I was feeling grouchy.
‘Bout this nature situation
Holding up my plans
For future generations
You can’t get too far
With all these damn plants in the way
Growin’ all those leaves and stems and flowers
Day after day
I ignore the beauty
To the best of my ability
Need a mental weed whacker
For irritatin’ tranquilty
In this annoying garden
You never get too far
Because you always end up
Where you already are
Zippity doo dah, etc.
I think I’m gonna pave this annoying garden
[Just like Joni Mitchell]
Set up a franchise
[A big old capitalist franchise]
Selling Bodhisattva pancakes to the masses
And we’ll never go back to that annoying garden again
No we’ll never go back to that annoying garden.
Never goin’ back
To that annoying garden.
I’m gonna plow it right under
And open up the Bodhisattva Pancake chain.
Annoying Garden (Bodhisattva Pancakes)