Using as the title a line from an obscure Indian poem, Michael Nesmith branched out for this 1981 video entry as he explains in his wittily overblown introduction pontificating about rising gasoline prices. This follows his Godzill-esquire spoof of his 1970 country classic Joanne, an introduction that sets the tone for the special, a compendium of unrelated comedic shorts and five music video segments involving four songs from Nesmith's 1979 rock album "Infinite Rider On The Big Dogma" (the source of one of the video's cleverest bits) and the song "Rio" from "From A Radio Engine To The Photon Wing," a song that is the uncredited inspiration for a mid-2000-decade rash of country party songs themed around Latin American beaches.
The comedic shorts run the gamut from brilliant to brilliant misfires; there are several drug-themed bits that fall into the misfire category, while several other skits stand out - the Infinite Rider bit, Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority, learning to fly (which resembles the airport gag from The Monkees episode "Success Story" involving Mike, Micky, and Peter), and the smartest bit of the entire special, Rock & Roll Hospital, as a doctor deals with patients exhibiting fits themed around rock music, such as Mike rampaging through the halls playing air guitar as a victim of Elvis disease, and the man who can only speak via 1950s-era babblingly rhythmic background vocals.
Of the five video segments, the smartest video may be for the song "Cruisin'," cleverly inserting and crosscutting Mike amid the scene in LA, while "Rio" and "Magic" have proved a source for video images for such artists as Shania Twain for "Man! I Feel LIke A Woman!" A decidedly mixed package, Elephant Parts nonetheless has enough to warrant ownership, and further displays the multifaceted quality of Michael Nesmith.
The comedic shorts run the gamut from brilliant to brilliant misfires; there are several drug-themed bits that fall into the misfire category, while several other skits stand out - the Infinite Rider bit, Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority, learning to fly (which resembles the airport gag from The Monkees episode "Success Story" involving Mike, Micky, and Peter), and the smartest bit of the entire special, Rock & Roll Hospital, as a doctor deals with patients exhibiting fits themed around rock music, such as Mike rampaging through the halls playing air guitar as a victim of Elvis disease, and the man who can only speak via 1950s-era babblingly rhythmic background vocals.
Of the five video segments, the smartest video may be for the song "Cruisin'," cleverly inserting and crosscutting Mike amid the scene in LA, while "Rio" and "Magic" have proved a source for video images for such artists as Shania Twain for "Man! I Feel LIke A Woman!" A decidedly mixed package, Elephant Parts nonetheless has enough to warrant ownership, and further displays the multifaceted quality of Michael Nesmith.