April 18th - Det. James McNulty

Seven of Spades - Det. James McNulty
15 - Dylanesque rant

A few words about this posting:
- If you are going to read this, please do so out loud in your best Bob Dylan impression
- This poem is dedicated to Aaron Heilman, Dad
- The Wire is a great television show. Perhaps the best television show of the last decade. The following poem gives away some key pieces of plot exposition from the first season. So, if you have never seen The Wire and it is somewhere on your Netflix cue, I - grudgingly - urge you not to read this Dylanesque rant.


CAUTION!: SPOILERS BELOW FROM SEASON ONE OF THE WIRE

Officer McNulty (with Jacques Levy)

On the beat in Western district
You made yourself a name
Detective James McNulty, you've got
Bawl'more in your veins
You're cocksure in your knowledge
Of the courtrooms and the streets
You know how to push your boss
Or make the most brutal man go meek
You know sometimes at a crime scene
The only fitting word is, “Fuck”
You know quite a few things Jim, but
You're about to wake up

Irish in your bloodlines
Handsome in the face
Even if you have to make some waves
You'll do it for the case


Jimmy, Jimmy
Are you the one good cop left in Maryland?
Jimmy Jimmy
When all this is over
There'll be blood upon your hands

When you first laid eyes on Stringer Bell
You were sure you had his number
A top man in the Barksdale crew
Notorious drug runners
D'Angelo was up on murder two
A duke in Barksdale's kingdom
By bribing a security guard,
Stringer bought him his freedom
So you took this injustice to the desk
Your old friend the Judge
Who leaked it to the media
Gave the department a good nudge
Your dissent made the Major a
Very unhappy man
Vowing to confiscate your badge
In anyway he can
You forced you bosses to put forth
A message of their power
They put you on a special task force,
One designed to flounder

Oh McNulty you were never
One for saving face
Sent your own kids after
Stringer Bell
You did it for the case

Jimmy, Jimmy

You know very well that Justice is a journey

Jimmy, Jimmy

You're still in love with your ex-wife

But you fuck the state's attorney

The lieutenant's name was Daniels
He was a man of upright notions
But to some extent his hands were tied
Wanting a promotion
His number one was Kima Greggs
A woman you respected
She was good cop as could be found and
She was one you hadn't bedded
Lester Freamon seemed a house cat
But he changed before your eyes
Sitting whittling dollhouse chairs
A superhero in disguise
Good police though you all were
You situation was dire
Until you cloned some beepers
Until the advent of the wire
You lied and guilt-tripped, mutinied
To keep the case from going cold
Your buddy Bunk, he said it best
“Man's gotta have a code”


When Omar vowed to get revenge
Shot Stinkum in the face
Jim you looked the other way
You did it for the case

Jimmy, Jimmy

I know you only did what you thought was right

Jimmy, Jimmy

Now that it's all over

Will you sleep at night? 

How quickly things do fall apart
When hot on Justice's trail
The Major hatched a cunning scheme
designed to make you fail
Santangelo, your partner then,
now made to play the Judas
And though he told you of the plan
The knowledge borne was fruitless
Sting operations went awry and
Kima Gregg nearly got kil't
You didn't visit the hospital
Yeah, you were too filled with guilt
The Judge no longer had your back
And Daniels lost his power
His bosses sabotaged the case
in the eleventh hour
But arrests were made and things looked good
You went above the heads
Of those bosses to the FBI you thought you'd finally
Put this thing to bed
A meeting setup by your bureau friend who had given you
the wire and the cables
You expected to find Justice done
You found moneychanger's tables
They'd be pleased to keep the murderers free
if a senator took the fall
You screamed, “West Baltimore is dying
While you try to pin some politician to the wall?”

Walked out upon the District A.
Almost spit into his face
Did suicide to your career
But man, it was for the case

Jimmy, Jimmy
Loss of idealism is a lot like a punch straight to the gut
Jimmy, Jimmy
“Do yourself a favor and
Keep your fool mouth shut."


You cracked it though, you brought them down
You even had some fun
But all these bodies piled up
Was Justice really done?
D'Angelo he took the rap
and he's looking at twenty years
But Jim you knew all along
He was just a cog in their gears
While Stringer Bell's still on the streets
Now taking full control
Of Barksdale's operation
Crack will continue to flow
Daniels is still a lieutenant
While Kima tends her wounds
Santangelo, for sticking up
was made a boy in blue
Bunk and Freamon they are partners now
chasing after brand new perps
The system may be hopeless but
they still have legs that work
Lester and Bunk keep up the good fight
from Greenspring to the pier
While you're buoyed to your police boat
Tanning, drinking beer
“Officer”, Marine Unit
Wasn't that your greatest fear?


In the ocean, much like narcissus
You look at your own face
You mucked it all up, didn't you Jim
All for that futile case


Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy
Part with your life before your badge or your gun
Jimmy, Oh, Jimmy
Don't know where you'll end up next
I've just seen season one

(Harmonica break till end) 

Next