Live! Max Rebo Live! AKA “Max Rebo”, “Rebo No Mo’”
Banjer. Key of cresh. gDGBD
Source: Originally broadcast on Echo Station’s Radio Free Alderaan. Written by Oster Brath for the album “Galactic Basic Standards”.
Region: Tatooine. Outer Rim.
Holodiscography:
Four Rodian Records FRT-083, Oster Brath - “Galactic Basic Standards” (9 ABY).
Four Rodian Records FRT-121, Oster Brath - “Trimming Vines in Hardened Times: Songs from Rodia” (12 ABY).
Spaceways Records TRJ-034, Nejarin Rosht - “Songs of Scum and Villainy” (12 ABY).
Traditional Tatooine Preservation Center NRSA- 954, Various Artists - “33 Songs of the Outer Rim: Sound Archives of The New Republic” (10 ABY).
Mos Espa 120321, The Modal Nodes - “Edge of the Dune Sea: Collected Songs of Mos Espa” (10 ABY).
Outer Rim Heritage Collection ORH-3421, Kyher Pavan - “Home Demos” (10 ABY).
The Ronto’s Call 33S-002, Folk The Empire - “Episode IV” (10 ABY).
Additional Metadata Formats:
Printed Source
Oster Brath. “Trimming Vines in Hardened Times: Songs from Rodia” (12 ABY).
Acula Brath. “Oster Brath; Vioddle Tunes of the Rodian Wastes” (12 ABY).
Folk The Empire. “Thee Old Rebel Songbook” (10 ABY).
Lyrics:
Liner notes by Oster Brath’s spawn partner, Acula Brath, suggests that the original title “Live! Max Rebo Live!” was purposely meant to be pronounced “Live” instead of “Live”. It is still unclear how that helps.
Rebo, Max Rebo
What makes you play so grand?
On piano you be wailin’
With Feet where should be hands
There are numerous references to Gungan slang in this song. It is believed that Brath based this tune on a pre-Galactic Civil War Gungan lament called “Stickgooshy Tings”.
I came here to seek my fortune
To this palace in the sand
And at Jabba’s I did hear you
The room you do command
Although numerous bounty hunters found employment in the cities and outskirts of Mos Eisley, Brath’s protagonist appears to be a non-native of Tatooine. It is unclear which scoundrel Brath referenced.
“Fancy Man” hearts a-thumpin’ (1)
Y’make me tap my toes
But onstage, ya, youssa jammin’ (2)
Better than the Modal Nodes (3)
(1) Known widely across the galaxy as “Lapti Nek”, the song “Fancy Man” dominated Outer Rim airwaves and even broke through a few Mid-Rim charts. Famed song collector Stiv Froliman once called it, “A repulsive blend of dance floor idiocy and sophisticated jett ball organ jizz-wailer vibes: A delicacy for Klatoonian ear worms” .
(2) Again, Gungan dialect is incorporated into the lyrics for reasons unclear. It has been suggested in Oster Brath’s biography that these lines were a nod to the famed Gungan Aqua Drooma player Yoss Narshi with whom Brath shared a brief four-parsec tour following the destruction of the second Death Star.
(3) This apparent dig at the famed The Modal Nodes plays on the long standing feud between the Max Rebo Band and the Nodes. The Nodes would later rework the track into a Northern Sohl dancehall Mod anthem. They kept the verse untouched.
I dreamed I was a sailor
In the hot Carkoonan air (4)
Cerulean hearts a-thumpin’
Your music in my ear
(4) Famed gangster Jabba Desilijic Tiure delighted in long trips to the great pit of Carkoon, also referred to as the nesting place of the Mighty Sarlaac Pit. Stories abound regarding the pleas and final words of some of the galaxy's most wretched scoundrels: Many are collected in the holovid “‘Free Us or Die!’ and Other Famous Last Words from Jabba’s Palace”. Copies can be purchased at the Boba Fett Memorial Armory in Mos Espa.
When we heard you were exploded (5)
We feared you were destroyed
Then you showed up in Mos Espa (6)
Gainfully employed
(5) General Leia “Hutt Slayer” Organa Solo is considered by some historians to be the only human to have ever killed a hutt with her bare hands. She is certainly the only one reported to have ever choked a hutt. It is believed the phrase, “It’s easier to choke a hutt than reunite a Republic” originated here.
It is also rumored that a Jedi led to the destruction of Jabba’s sail barge and the collapse of his criminal empire.
(6) Rebo was last seen at Garsa Fwip’s Sanctuary where it is rumored that he survived its destruction at the hands of the Pike Syndicate. Although it is believed Rebo died in the explosion, several posthumous tracks have appeared on the holonet recording, “End of Time”. It is worthy to note that the album contains numerous references to incidents which occurred after his pro-ported death. This has led some to assume Rebo faked his demise and is currently living in hiding.