Skeleton - May 23, 2012

Though I wrote this song about a year ago,  it still feels a little fresh and new, maybe because I haven't performed it live a zillion times. This version of it is recorded with Rachelle Reath on violin, Emily Goodenough on cello, and Marek Tyler on the drums. We have been rehearsing for our first show in this configuration June 9 at The Fort St. Cafe with Vancouver band Cloudsplitter.  Emily just learned the song tonight, so kudos to Emily I say.  Anyone got a name for this sweet combo? Bring it on - let the blog comments rain down.

Here we are playing the song

Skeleton - David P. Smith

The skeleton in my closet he knows how to party

down by the river amongst the debris

There we discuss alien conspiracies

trailer park lesbians, UFC

How it feels to see your reflection in a glass of whiskey

Whiskey rivers swum like public pool lengths

dreamlessly sinking in quicksand beds

Unresolved nights became resolute dawns

the angry sparrows twittered as the sun grew strong

Days begun orange, then turned to blue

with periods of brown forecast for the afternoon

Fat robins feast on freshly turned worms

starlings flit and swoop like sci-fi insect swarms

A little brown bird lies still on the street

near the passenger door to the left of my feet

Maybe, maybe, maybe he's asleep

The skeleton in my closet likes to go out on the town

likes to paint it red, he really likes to get down

Sometimes he gets so down I find him crawling around

And I say

if you piss in the carburetor, the car will stall

if you piss on the temple floor, the walls will fall

you can piss your pants, buddy it's your call

You can do what you want, I'll pick you up when you fall

The digital satellite unit casts a hideous shadow on our house

while I recline on the sofa in the costume of a louse

While on the TV, weeping women flee

the good doctor eats a live chimpanzee

and the air is alive with fleas' disease

The skeleton in my closet pulls me aside

he says 

brother got a minute, I need to confide

you see, my dreams all cower like scared cats in the rain

and I don't mind feeling numb, it means I don't feel pain

but it scares me being numb, in case I don't feel again

It was a sad good-bye to the jugglers and clowns

went working for the man in a jackhammer town

Now I have a daughter and I have a wife

and this is the foundation on which I build my life

The skeleton in my closet says he's feeling tired

says it's hard to care, says he feels uninspired

And I say

put your pants on one leg at a time

open the curtains and let the sun shine

every minute in the world a hundred ten people are dying

Sing a song, stop crying

Sing a song, stop crying

you