Letters from New England

I’m just a plainspoken Colorado criminal defense lawyer, but the way I see it…

Time to time, folks write to remind me there are actual fun things to share with other folks out there coping with the trials and tribs of criminal justice and human rights.

Some of them like to do it in song.

Jim Barakat, a public defender in Brockton, Massachusetts, wrote to ask if I’d ever heard the song “Drunk & Disorderly,” by an Australian punk band called the Chats. I hadn’t, but the name sounded familiar, so I listened to it, and you can too, here.

Hard on the musical heels of that one, a divorce lawyer who also practices criminal law — Neville Bedford, of Providence, Rhode Island — wondered whether I kept a copy of Modern Drunkard magazine in my reception room, and if I would consider using an attached catchy tune by his favorite local band for my theme song.

I assured him that, while I had no reception room, I carried a miniaturized Modern Drunkard snug against my equally wee copy of the United States Constitution in the vest pocket of the three-piece suit I’m sure I’ll get around to wearing into court one day.

As for the song: I hadn’t heard it either. I had heard Neville likes to lock opposing counsel in a small room and play it over and over till his clients get what they want. It’s by The Horse-Eyed Men, it’s called “SFIS(A),” and if you want to know what those letters stand for you’ll have to hear it yourself, because I won’t spell it out in case someone of tender sensibilities is reading this with you.

It’s actually rather lovely, and I did consider it.

So, here’s my new theme song.