First Things First: Opening Words

Theater Series | Hiroshi Sugimoto | Socks Studio

Coal Barges, 1888

Thematically, “Peaches” also seems to reference John Prine’s 1971 song “Spanish Pipedream” (“move to the country / build you a home. Plant a little garden / eat a lot of peaches”) though this might just be coincidence (anyone know for sure?).

A dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson

Distiller: One who makes and sells pernicious and inflammatory spirits.

Dull: Not exhilaterating (sic); not delightful; as, to make dictionaries is dull work.

Excise: A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.

Far-fetch: A deep stratagem. A ludicrous word.

Pastern: The knee of a horse. (This is wrong. When Johnson was once asked how he came to make such a mistake, Boswell tells us he replied, ”Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.”)

Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery.

Pension: An allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.

To worm: To deprive a dog of something, nobody knows what, under his tongue, which is said to prevent him, nobody knows why, from running mad