My great uncle Philip – after whom I was named – was an ardent scholar and Maronite priest who fell in love with the housemaid and what do you know she got pregnant. To avoid scandal they went to California and there were married and had a family. On his deathbed he renounced his marriage, once a priest always a priest. The lyrics are 99% fictionalized as I know only the vaguest outline of his story.
lyrics
No priest, mad priest
She sets my breakfast, cleans my sheets
Jess is a mess oh yes
Never put yourself above the least
I'm making for the lowest seat
At the storied feast
She likes it in the kitchen heat
Jess is a mess oh yes
Low Sunday tarts and chat
I yawn my way through fake goodbyes
Pass through the kitchen oh yes
See what's up with Jess
Leaving hypocrites behind
I got honesty
At the stove fires we were that blessed
Jess is a mess oh yes
Sometime round episode ten
Jessica filled me in
Can't hide your child
She was cryin tried to calm her down
This is for the best
Ite missa est
Scandal pigs and tickets west
For me & Jess
At the stove fires we were that blest
Now deal with the rest.
August 2022
credits
from The Polka Queen,
released October 31, 2022
Chorus backup and 4pt choir: Rowland Hazard
3pt Cor Anglais consort: Michael P Albert