Dang Me

Roger Miller possessed an uncanny jazz sensibility disguised as hillbilly foolishness. Backed by Bob Moore's walking bassline and Miller's spontaneous vocal pops, the song turns a tale of domestic irresponsibility and squandered rent money into playful self-mockery. Its famous opening line rhyming purple with maple syrple disarms the listener, but the humour endures because Miller sentences himself to the gallows rather than blaming anyone else. In less nimble hands the character might seem callous, yet Miller's scatting delivery and mock-solemn courtroom confession keep the song irrepressibly light.