Thanks to Wayne who wrote to say that the following line from Tight Connection:

While they’re beatin’ the devil out of a guy
Who’s wearing a powder-blue wig.

… has always puzzled him, but recently he made a mental connection to a poem he studied in school, A.E. Housman’s Oh Who Is That Young Sinner:

Oh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?
And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists?
And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air?
Oh they’re taking him to prison for the colour of his hair.

‘Tis a shame to human nature, such a head of hair as his;
In the good old time ’twas hanging for the colour that it is;
Though hanging isn’t bad enough and flaying would be fair
For the nameless and abominable colour of his hair.

Oh a deal of pains he’s taken and a pretty price he’s paid
To hide his poll or dye it of a mentionable shade;
But they’ve pulled the beggar’s hat off for the world to see and stare,
And they’re haling him to justice for the colour of his hair.

Now ’tis oakum for his fingers and the treadmill for his feet
And the quarry-gang on Portland in the cold and in the heat,
And between his spells of labour in the time he has to spare
He can curse the God that made him for the colour of his hair.

Well, that’s an oblique connection if there ever was one, but a great excuse to read the poem.

…

Addendum 5/11/2007: Thanks to Jody for writing in and informing me about the background to this poem, namely that it “is about Oscar Wilde–an equating of homosexuality to hair color.” Ah, now I see.

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