Have A Small Cigar: Some Anthems For Cigar Smokers
By Ann Knapp
Cigars are part of the world of music - or vice versa. After all, a lot of great pop and jazz music has been created by people who cut their teeth playing in ultra-smoky bars, and Cuban folk music features an entire tradition of songs about cigars. Such musicians as Miles Davis and, more recently, Arturo Sandoval have smoked cigars, and legendary cigar maker and connoisseur Avo Uzevian is, in his turn, a jazz pianist.
It's no surprise, then, that references to cigar smoking turn up in a number of rock, rap and country songs - especially given the recent popularity of the old-fashioned, '50s-style playboy persona among rappers, a style choice with which fine cigars blend right in. (Think of Jay-Z and his tailored business suits, or the amount of fine Scotch consumed in rap videos.) Everything old is new again, and here we consider several songs - both old and new - that might serve as anthems for a good cigar-smoking session.
Country singer Brad Paisley narrates the penalty for lawbreaking on his wryly humorous "The Cigar Song." Paisley tells us about the box of fine Cubans he managed to snag, despite his concerns about their high cost; he's so happy that he ends up having them all insured. A few weeks later he reports to his insurance agent that, through "a series of small fires," all the cigars in his insured box have been destroyed. Unbelievably, he collects a huge settlement (with which he plans to buy more Cubans), but ends up being charged with insurance fraud and sent to jail - where he can only afford to smoke ten-cent cigars. All in all, the song offers a hard-hitting take on the serious social problem of: cigar-related insurance fraud.
Jethro Tull proclaims, with great earnestness, that "A small cigar can change the world," on "A Small Cigar," a bonus track included on the recent reissue of their 1976 concept album Too Old to Rock'n'Roll/Too Young to Die. The song, recorded at the time but left off of the original album, celebrates the way that "A little flat tin case - and one of those ciggie lighters that look rather good" can help make a lame party "swing again." The protagonist of the song finds himself trapped in a world full of uncomprehending cigarette smokers, who don't know what they're missing, but his small cigars can still change life for the few connoisseurs who know a great smoke when one's offered to them. What cigar smoker can't relate? Indeed, despite the fact that the song was only officially released in 2002, there's already a clip of a guy singing it on YouTube.
Our last stop is Pink Floyd's cynical classic "Have a Cigar," which occupies a strategically crucial spot (Side Two, Track One) on the British prog-rock group's legendary Wish You Were Here album. That's the one with the businessman-on-fire album cover, which is itself a matter of legend: a longtime rumor held that the man depicted actually caught fire during the photo-shoot, motivating Pink Floyd to use a different image after initial album pressings. (This is just an urban legend; you'll be glad to know that the man survived that day's photo shoot just fine.)
Speaking of businessmen, "Have a Cigar" is essentially a story-song, in which the members of the classic-prog band are ushered into the office of an uncomprehending record-company executive and offered a cigar, some patronization, and - perhaps - a ticket to ride the "gravy train." According to devoted Pink Floyd fans, the song is the band's somewhat-bitter response to the sudden fame thrust upon them as a result of the preceding album, Dark Side of the Moon (that's the one that supposedly was made to synchronize with The Wizard of Oz; this band sure does inspire a lot of urban legends). In any case, it's the song that gave us that classic musical question: "Which one of you is Pink?"
About the author
CigarFox provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters. from http://www.FreeArticlesAndContent.com
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