FAQ

No one has answered this question yet.

No. Honeydripper is based on a short story by American independent film director and screenwriter John Sayles.

"The Honeydripper" was the nickname of blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes, and the title of a massive 1945 R&B hit by pianist Joe Liggins, later covered by a number of artists including Sykes himself, Charles Brown and Count Basie. Tyrone, being a blues pianist himself, would have been quite familiar with Sykes and the song; he named his blues club in rural Alabama after it (Danny Glover). The word "honeydripper" was also slang for "a smooth-talking man" from the era in which the film takes place (1950)."

The morning after the performance, Tyrone meets up with Possum (Keb' Mo') outside of the Honeydripper Lounge. He tells Tyrone that his work is done and that he's leaving town. Maceo (Charles S. Dutton) walks by and asks Tyrone who he is talking to because he can see no one there. Tyrone replies that he was talking to himself. People who have seen this scene have interpreted it in different ways. Some suggest that Possum is a ghost of another musician or even the musician that Tyrone had killed in the past, while others interpret the "no-see'um guitarist" as a figment from Tyrone's conscience. The fact that Sonny (Gary Clark Jr.) also saw Possum is explained as Sonny being sensitive enough to see either the ghost or the manifestation from Tyrone's conscience or as Sonny being able to conjure up his own figment from his conscience. Finally, it's also been postulated that Possum is like a guardian angel who can appear to musicians during their times of need.