You think I’m psycho don’t you mama
I didn’t mean to break your cup
You think I’m psycho don’t you mama
You better let ‘em lock me up…
It was 1981. Maybe it was ‘82. I was hammered, it was a blur. Me and the boyfriend du jour drove to Nashville from Memphis for an Elvis Costello concert. It takes about four hours. Unless you’re eating Valium like a halitosis sufferer eats breath mints. Then it takes a little longer.
I was toasted. I was practically in a coma. Coma-toast is what I was, so I don’t remember much.
But I remember “Psycho”.
Not the movie. The song. It was written by Leon Payne. On his ’81-’82 “Almost Blue” tour, Elvis Costello did a cover of it.
Can Mary fry some fish, Mama? I’m as hungry as can be
Oh, Lord how I wish, Mama, you could stop the baby crying, ‘cuz my head is killing me
I saw my -ex again last night, Mama, at a dance at Miller’s store
She was with that Jackie White, Mama, I killed ‘em both, and they’re buried under Jacob’s sycamore
It brought me out of my coma.
“Psycho” was written by Leon Payne and recorded by Eddie Noack. Leon Payne was a country music singer/songwriter; they called him "the Blind Balladeer". He was born blind in one eye, and later lost sight in the other. That’s a country song right there. Payne’s biggest hit was “I Love You Because”, in 1949. It made the top ten and stayed there for thirty-two weeks.
Eddie Noack was a country singer out of Texas given to bouts of dipsomania. He had fallen on hard times, but he was good friends with Leon Payne. In 1968, Eddie recorded “Psycho” on K-Ark, a tiny, independent label.
Oh, don’t hand me Johnny’s pup, Mama, ‘cuz I might squeeze him too tight
I’m having crazy dreams again, Mama, so let me tell you about last night
I woke up in Johnny’s room, Mama, standing right there by his bed
With my hands around his throat, Mama, wishing both of us was dead
You think I’m psycho don’t you Mama
I just killed Johnny’s pup…
And that, I suppose, is why we can’t have nice things; there was, of course, much speculation about the origins of this ditty. A lot of people thought it was inspired by Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower Sniper.
On August 1, 1966, after stabbing his mother and his wife to death, a heavily armed Whitman went to the top of the University of Texas Tower; two hours and sixteen dead people later, Whitman was killed by a police officer.
Oh you recall that little girl, Mama, I believe her name was Betty Clark
Oh don’t tell me that she’s dead, Mama, ‘cuz I just saw her in the park
We was sitting on a bench, Mama, thinking of a game to play
Seems I was holding a wrench, Mama, then my mind just walked away
You think I’m psycho don’t you Mama
I didn’t mean to break your cup…
Clearly someone had a chip in their china; I should point out, these are the lyrics as sung by Elvis Costello. Leon Payne wrote, and Eddie Noack sang: “you can pour me a cup.”
Overall, I like E.C.’s version better, but it is an odd line. I didn’t mean to break your cup. Always reminds me of that scene in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", after the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface does a walk-through, and Drayton, the older, more disciplined maniac, says to the headcheese lovin' Nubbins, “look what your brother did to the door.”
There were bigger fish to fry than broken door slats I would’ve thought, but what do I know. Speaking of frying fish—which conveniently brings us back to the origins of this bewildering ballad—Leon Payne’s daughter, Myrtie Le Payne, says her father wrote "Psycho" after talking with fellow musician Jackie White—yes, it should sound familiar—about the 1968 Richard Speck murders.
In the early morning hours of July 14, 1968, Richard Speck killed eight student nurses in their south Chicago dormitory. The less said about Mr. Speck the better, but if you enjoy being totally creeped out, google “richard speck prison video.” Yeesh.
Anyhoo, according to Myrtie Le, Leon and Jackie were drinking coffee one day, talking about murder and mayhem as we all do—and Charles Whitman was, indeed, one of the names that came up. Along with Richard Speck. And Ed Gein. Albert Fish and Mary Bell.
Albert FISH and MARY Bell. Can Mary fry some fish. See how I did that? I had always wondered where that line came from. Now I know.
Country singer Jack Kittel did a cover of “Psycho”, in 1974. The Beasts of Bourbon did too, in ’84. Leon Payne died of a heart attack in 1969; Eddie Noack died in ’78. Cirrhosis of the liver. Who saw that comin’, hunh.
You think I’m psycho don’t you Mama
I didn’t mean to break your cup…
It’s an odd song, but a great one, sort of Red Sovine meets The Cramps.
You think I’m psycho don’t you Mama
Mama why don’t you get up…
On a scale of one to ten, I give it nine heebie-jeebies; only “Hamburger Lady”, by Throbbing Gristle, gets ten.