That's Showbiz

This song is from the trio's 1996 album, It's Martini Time, released on Interscope Records. It marks the first album with drummer Scott Churilla, who was replacing Taz Bentley.

The song plays out with The Reverend Horton Heat delivering the lyrics in a smooth Tom Waits style delivery. There is no verse. There is no chorus. There is no singing. It's performance art of the spoken word with brief musical interludes allowing for short pauses between spoken thoughts. "The Rev" tells it best, explaining in a 2013 Songfacts interview: "Quite honestly, I dreamed the song. I dreamed the whole song from start to finish. It woke me up at four in the morning. I'd dreamed about some kind of MC at some really crappy little lounge bar, like a little old-style cabaret or lounge or strip bar, some kind of seedy little place where they had this MC guy. It is kind of a long recitation, more than a song; it's me talking" You can envision Reverend Horton standing in a dimly lit smoke filled room telling the audience his story. It's a story intimate to him and can only be told from his memories of a life on the road. The characters he met along the way and the towns he has rolled through. The dues he has paid. With a final sarcastic tip of the hat to "you, the little people, I would not be where I am today."