Out of Their Minds. Luis Humberto Crosthwaite
OUT OF THEIRMINDS
Translated by Johnny Byrd with plenty of help from the author and his friends Aaron Magnan and Francisco Bustos.
Illustrations by Francisco Delgado.
THE CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK—JUST LIKE THE NARRATOR, THE AUTHOR, THE FRIENDS OF THE AUTHOR, THE TRANSLATOR, EVEN THIS VERY NOTE—ARE FICTITIOUS. ONLY THE MUSIC IS REAL.
Originally published in Mexico as Idos de la Mente, Planeta, 1986. Copyright © 1986 by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite.
Out of Their Minds. Translation copyright 2013 © by John William Byrd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written consent from the publisher, except for brief quotations for reviews. For further information, write Cinco Puntos Press, 701 Texas Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901; or call 1-915-838-1625.
FIRST EDITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crosthwaite, Luis Humberto, 1962-
[Idos de la Mente. English]
Out of their minds / by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite ; translated by John William Byrd. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Ramon and Cornelio are best friends, driven by boredom as teenagers to start a band. Not just any band. A norteño band, playing God’s favorite music. God even pitches in to write the songs. Success, disaster and good music follow.
e-Book ISBN: 978-1-935955-57-3
1. Rock groups--Mexico--Fiction. 2. Mexico--Fiction. I. Byrd, John William, 1973- II. Title.
PQ7298.13.R67I3613 2010
863’.64--dc22
ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRANCISCO DELGADO
BOOK AND COVER DESIGNED BY BLUE PANDA DESIGN STUDIO.
To my daughter Alejandra
—Luis Humberto Crosthwaite
ENJOY! JB
A QUICK NOTE ABOUT TRANSLATION AND MUSIC:
Luis’ novel Out of Their Minds is full of references to popular Mexican music, meaning mostly songs with Spanish lyrics by Mexican musicians. But also a lot of American stuff. Luis loved to grab song titles or snippets of lyrics for chapter titles. I tried translating those into English, even enlisted my dad the poet to smooth them out. But they sounded clumsy and leaden in English. Worse still, the lyrics had no cultural connection to American readers.
So I gave up on translating the lyrics directly and tried instead to think of American songs that reminded me of the Spanish ones. The book is named after a real classic, “Idos de la Mente” (“Out of Our Minds”). I’d read the book all the way through before I heard that one the first time. And when I did, I immediately thought it was a song that Muddy Waters could have sung. The Mexican and American songwriters were singing the same things, just in different languages.
That idea shaped the direction of the chapter titles. A lot of them come from the blues/country/etc. mishmash that shaped early rock’n’roll, or from the early years that followed. And since the music is so fun, I wanted to share it with you. You can scan the QR code on the left to open up a playlist of the music in Spotify. You can also get it the playlist by going to this page on our website:
http://www.cincopuntos.com/products_detail.sstg?id=147.
ba•jo sex•to (bä’hō sěks’tō) n. Spanish a twelve-string guitar unique to Mexico. The highest two double courses of strings are tuned a half-step higher than standard guitar tuning.
nor•te•ño mu•sic (nōrten’yo myōō’zĭc) n. Southwestern U.S. A danceable style of music characterized by its use of the bajo sexto and the accordion: Norteño music was and always will be the best music in the fuckin’ universe.
re•lám•pa•go (rěläm’pägō) n. Spanish flash of lightning.
Ramón is sad. He’s just received some unexpected news that has caused him to quickly sink into a deep depression. Seated on his bed, he’s asked the other musicians to leave him alone with his accordion.
At times like this, he might write a melancholy song that would make a lot of people cry. Nothing like a serious funk for writing a good song. He closes his eyes and can see the notes appearing and disappearing in the corners of his mind, like the twinkling lights of a marquee. The melody comes and goes from his hands. A few words of friendship and betrayal join in with the melody. It is a corrido, one of those songs that lifts the spirit, that is a testament to the presence of man on Earth. Without a doubt it would be a success. Another triumph for Ramón.
He thinks about getting up and writing down the words to the song so that he won’t forget them. But the sadness wins, one of those sorrows that strikes deep in the gut and is difficult to get out of. He stays seated and the verses slowly disappear from his thoughts. The song goes away.
His red and white accordion is on an armchair. It seems to understand the misfortune of its owner.
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