This reverie doesn't last for long. A moment later, Polt is railing against the illusion that pills are the cure for all of life's ills--a theme that runs through Hard Choir Gospel tracks such as "Mentalized State," "Dr. Shrinko" and "Ritulin [sic] Kids." Shaking a newspaper article entitled "Using Drugs for Discipline" in his fist, he seethes, "This pisses me off, because they're giving one-year-olds something that will knock a grown man's dick in the dirt. This is our society. You 'dare to keep your kids off drugs,' but you go home and give them some Ritalin. You don't want Johnny running around playing, so you give him a bunch of drugs. I'm confused with this society, dude, on a lot of issues. You see shit like this, you've got to stand up and say, 'This is fucked up.' I get incensed about the doctors and all their drugs, so I started writing a bunch of 'shrinks suck' songs. I started thinking, 'I want to save these kids.'
"You've got all these shrinks talking, and people think their word is God," he asserts. "But you see the stories in the paper where this guy's on this, and this guy's on that, and they're all test subjects. And you're surprised he went and blew up a carload of people or blew his brains out? It doesn't surprise me, because when you don't even know where your own brains are, who knows what you'll do? I was in the hospitals battling them, so I know what I'm talking about; I'm an expert witness when it comes to drugs, bro. So I'm stepping up to them. This is a continuation of the battle I was in, when I told them there was nothing wrong with me, and that I was just kind of wild."
Not every Polt number is so solemn. "I've got some drinking songs, too, for the rock angle," he concedes, "because you've got to have a lighter side, too. I like the catchy comedy songs to throw people off--stuff like that. People need to be shocked a little, but you can't take things too seriously. I try to make it entertaining when I'm getting my message across."
How successful is Polt at striking this balance? He'll get an indication what the average Joe thinks this week, during his first appearance at a Denver nightspot, the Mercury Cafe. He's excited about having an opportunity to present his work in a live setting, but he also wonders what sort of responses he'll receive; he knows that raving testimonials to faith aren't exactly hip on the local club circuit. But since he's aiming more for saved souls than mass acceptance, he's hardly sweating over being rejected.
"I offer a different perspective to the listener," he says, "and maybe I can draw different crowds--people who normally wouldn't get a dose of religion. I never thought of myself as a preacher, and at first I was a little uncomfortable with it, but all the good feelings I get from it makes up for all that. And just because someone doesn't agree with what I'm saying or what I'm doing, that doesn't mean I'm going to forsake what's given to me. I could never do that. I'm strong in my convictions, and I'll die for them if I have to. I'll walk naked down the street. I don't care as long as God's with me. And you've got to remember, there was a time not too long ago that I'd give somebody five bucks just to put me out of my misery. But not now. I'm God-drunk, dude."
Andy Polt. 9 p.m. Friday, August 14, Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St., 294-9258.
