In my professional life I work as a computer consultant. Recently I’ve been working on a network configuration that’s known as the “golden triangle.” That’s where you have a Macintosh server and a Windows server that talk to each other and collectively provide services to client computers on the network. Apple claims that it’s easy to set up, but it can be tricky and it takes a bit of finesse to pull it off. After successfully implementing this setup for my client I thought that I should pay tribute to the Golden Triangle this week on Cover Freak.

The Bobs “Particle Man” (They Might Be Giants)
Triangle Man sounds like a real dick. He hates Particle Man, he hates Person Man, he’s always getting in fights. Universe Man really should put him in his place.

Vibrating Egg “Bermuda” (Roky Erickson)
There are some artists whose music is an obvious indication of mental health problems. Wesley Willis is a good example. Roky Erickson is another. This song starts out as a very nice tune about kicking it in Bermuda and then for no apparent reason he starts ranting about the Devil’s Triangle. The first person who heard this song should have given poor Roky some lithium.

This song is from the very excellent tribute album Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye, which is how I got introduced to Roky’s music.

Nouvelle Vague “Bizarre Love Triangle” (New Order)
I’m not a big fan of New Order but just about every cover of this song that I’ve ever heard I’ve liked. This one features some incredible harmonies. I’m not sure if there are two different women singing or if it’s done with overdubs but it’s very nice either way.

The Dropkick Murphys “The Auld Triangle” (comp. Brendan Behan)
This one’s a little more obscure than most of the stuff that I post here. The song was written by legendary Irish poet and playwright Brendan Behan as an introduction to his play The Quare Fellow and it has since become something of a modern Irish anthem. The triangle in the title refers to a large metal triangle that was beaten every morning with a hammer by prison guards to wake up the prisoners.

Counting Crows “Carmelita” (Warren Zevon)
The term “Golden Triangle” is also used to refer to the area of Southeast Asia where the majority of the world’s opium is traditionally produced. These days I think most of it comes from Afghanistan, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s a good excuse to post a cover of the greatest song ever written about being strung out on heroin.

This cover is really well done. The subject matter and lyrics suit Adam Duritz’s mopey delivery quite well. By coincidence my niece and her boyfriend were recently in Echo Park on vacation. I don’t think they were hanging out by the Pioneer Chicken Stand scoring heroin but I’ll confirm that when I see them in a few weeks.