Slam John Against a Brick Wall is the 17th track on Close Calls with Brick Walls
John's Identity
Japanese printings of Close Calls with Brick Walls included a DVD, which contained the following explanation.
So, "Slam John Against a Brick Wall" is based on a chant of the title. And, the song came from -- this is actually the oldest song I've ever recorded in terms of a song that I wrote. Let's see, when I was, uh, somewhere between the ages of 8 and 12, um, elementary school, there was a school bus that would pick me up every day from a bus stop near my house and we would drive to school. And, the bus driver's name was "John," and, I'm not positive but I think John had some sort of mental issue ... he was very strange, yet he was able to drive the bus.He was also kind of mean so me and a friend of mine a bunch of other kids had these ideas to start these chants. And, uh, we would all pound on the bus seats real loud ... and then we'd sing Slam! John! Against a brick wall! Slam! John! Against a brick wall! Slam! ... And we'd sing it louder and louder and louder until he would, like, GYAAAAAAHHHHH! He would slam down on the brakes, stop the bus, and say, "SHUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!"
Links
- Interview at YouTube (beginning at roughly 28:51)
- Interview at AWKShare (beginning at roughly 28:51)