Gentle readers, there is a rock band by the name of Cracker, and this band, they have a song where they mention our tree of interest. Solely for the sake of research, I present the lyrics for you below:

Dixie Babylon

by Cracker

We went down to the old part of town
By the stinking canal and the cotton mill
Under a ghetto palm with her bicycle shorts on
With a gesture she said to me

I really must confess
I’d like to get undressed with you
And though the thought had never really crossed my mind,
Oh, but that was a lie So we went along

We ran out under the turning leaves
And the fetid earth, it was damp and cool
Autumn’s feeble light on her salty neck
All innocence it was lost

I really must confess
I’m feeling quite distressed, my stars are always crossed
But I have always taken more than I have given back
And as a matter of fact, I’ve given nothing up

Published by bingregory

Official organ of an American Muslim in Malaysian Borneo, featuring plants, pantuns and pictures from the Malay archipelago. Oversharing since 2002.

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10 Comments

  1. Confidential, huh? Don’t worry. I don’t judge ppl based on their musical taste. I’m also fine with ppl who don’t listen to music 🙂 It’s not their choice to become deaf. No offence, sir…

  2. wa alaykum salam, Abu Sahajj. Thanks for stopping by. I have a thing for this one tree, Ailanthus altissima, known as ghetto palm. I collect references to it. You can check out my collection here or my longer explanation of what I’m doing here.

  3. Hey there! I didn’t think we’d met, but you were definitely looking at me, haha. I guess it’s a small enough town that we were bound to bump into each other eventually. Nice to [almost] make your acquantaince.

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