Today, sees the release of Jad Fair + Kramer’s LP History Of Crying. In honor of the release, the two legendary musicians have shared a video for “I Wanna Make A Movie”, which features Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers.

From Kramer:

So one of the 12 song titles i sent to Jad for this LP (hoping he’d write some great lyrics for it) was “I WANNA MAKE A MOVIE”.

and a few hours later he sent me some lyrics in his truest style…with “happy endings”, and “starring you and me”, and “action packed and thrilling”. all things that reflected his lifelong, unbreakable optimism and love for everything and everyone around him and all around the world. Jad is Joy. Jad is Hope. Jad is Love.

but i knew from personal experience that the world of movies was filled with jealousy and rejection and a sea full of vindictive people who will stop at nothing in their unholy crusade to destroy the lives of others, their livelihoods, even destroying their own love for the cinema itself in the process of destroying others. I have seen it. some people will stop at nothing when their goal is to stop you. it’s the air that they breathe. they’ll wither and die and blow away if they don’t have someone to destroy.

so i added some lyrics that reflected MY feelings about the world of movie making. Lyrics like, “I am a power couple, like Angelina Jolie, and Mr. Pitt will call me, he says he’ll work for free”, and, “my head is big as Texas, my ego bigger still”. stuff like that. I felt this brought some realism to the proceedings that the music was screaming out for, and Jad was fine with us co-writing lyrics whenever i felt compelled to put my two cents in. and i thought to myself…no one’s ever going to think that Jad wrote a line like, “I will die in a car crash, and have my dreams fulfilled.”

i mean, that’s not Jad. not in a million years. That’s me.

“And he can go climb a tree.”

So it is with the deepest reverence that Jad Fair and I (and guitarist Paul Leary) give you this song, in dedication to all the great songwriters who’ll never make a record, and all the great actors who’ll never get the shot they deserve, all the great directors who never got to make their movie, and all the great singers who never saw a microphone. Their stories are fully half of the stories in THE HISTORY OF CRYING.

-Kramer, June 2021

Jad Fair & Kramer
The History of Crying
Tracklisting

1 Red Red Sun
2 I Wanna Make a Movie
3 The History of Crying
4 I Won’t Eat ‘Til You Come Back To Me
5 I’ll Give You The Moon
6 Pickpockets Of Love
7 Show Me The Way To Nowhere
8 Do You Really Need a Map To My Heart?
9 All I Need Is a Kiss
10 I Miss My Analog Warmth
11 You Cripple Me
12 Tearjerker