I'll Not Be a Gentleman

Hanging threads, fused together more than a decade after they started hanging: for the most part, the only long-lasting cultural impact of 90s rock band The Toadies is the song "Possum Kingdom." It's a good one, if a little darker than most stuff that got radio play back in the day. It's the song that goes like this:

Make up your mind
Decide to walk with me
Around the lake tonight
Around the lake tonight
By my side
By my side
I'm not gonna lie
I'll not be a gentleman
Behind the boathouse
I'll show you my dark secret

Anyway, most people who didn't buy the CD are usually surprised by the song's actual name, as the words "possum" or "kingdom" are never mentioned in the lyrics and together they're fairly nonsensical. In fact, I only realized this when I decided to download it through Napster during my freshan year of college. After trying possible titles like "Do You Want to Die?" and "Help Me, Jesus" — those both being phrases that are spoken a lot in the song — I eventually just tried this one. Go figure.

Now Spencer recently came across a body of water in Texas called "Possum Kingdom Lake" — in Palo Pinto County, no less. Now it finally all makes sense. The song, which details how the narrator wants to drown his ladyfriend, is apparently referencing the lake he's planning to use for the murder.

Like I said, dark.

Now if anybody can tell me why the lake was named "Possum Kingdom," I can die a happy man.