The band's website once noted Cracker as "The only band to ever open for both Grateful Dead and Ramones," a unique distinction which is also indicative of the band's sound and style. Cracker comfortably mixes influences and sounds ranging from classic country music, psychedelia, punk and folk into their brand of "Americana" style rock.
Lowery and Hickman are inalterable constants. The band continues to tour (as a full band, and also as the "Cracker acoustic duo").
Kerosene Hat
Cracker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
While the magpie sings some shiny song?
Old corn face, row of teeth
She says sweetly to me in the elevator
Everything seems like a dream
And life's a scream
With his ear flaps waxed, a-courting his girl
Come clattering in here on your old cloven skates
With that devilish spoon
Everything seems like a dream
And life's a scream
When you're submarine
So don't you bother me, death
With your leathery ways and your old chaise lounge
Wickerman's fence of leathery tyres
And the cook's gone bad, started several fires
Everything seems like a dream
When you're submarine
Head like a stream, she says softly to me
From the rattling chair
"Bring me a steak and my old pair of crows
My medicine lamp"
Everything seems like a dream
So life's a scream
The lyrics to Cracker's song Kerosene Hat are characteristically enigmatic, and open to a variety of interpretations. At the outset, the singer is feeling weighed down by his own limitations - the metaphor of "old doggy wings" suggests that he feels himself incapable of flying high or soaring to new heights. Meanwhile, the magpie's "shiny song" serves as a siren call that beckons him to strive for more. Against this backdrop of self-doubt, the singer encounters a woman who he describes as "Old corn face, row of teeth" but who nonetheless speaks to him with a sweetness that he finds compelling. This is an overture to the larger theme of the song: the ways in which people strive to find meaning and fulfillment in an often-chaotic world.
The second verse pivots away from this personal encounter and towards a character known as Kerosene Hat. The hat is an object that's often associated with danger and destruction, and the image of the ear flaps being waxed could be a reference to the proverbial "safety valves" of society being sealed shut. Kerosene Hat himself is courtinmo his girl, suggesting that amidst the chaos and danger of the world, people still find ways to connect and form relationships. The devilish spoon could be a symbol of temptation, or perhaps simply a reminder that even in moments of joy and comfort, danger is never too far away. The final lines of the verse reinforce this idea of a world fraught with peril: "Everything seems like a dream / And life's a scream / When you're submarine."
The final verse leaves behind the imagery of Kerosene Hat and returns to the singer's personal experiences. Death appears as a character, personified and almost whimsical, but still a force to be reckoned with. The line "Wickerman's fence of leathery tyres" is a reference to paganism and the practice of creating effigies, while the cook's many fires could be a symbol for the destruction and chaos that life often brings. Despite these dark and troubling motifs, the singer seems to take solace in the fact that he is still alive, and still able to find moments of connection and joy. The final line, once again, seems to suggest that life is both exhilarating and terrifying, a dream and a scream all at once.
Line by Line Meaning
How can I fly with these old doggy wings
I feel limited and powerless, unable to achieve my dreams with my current state
While the magpie sings some shiny song?
In the midst of my struggle, others seem to be enjoying life and succeeding
Old corn face, row of teeth
I see a person who is unremarkable and not attractive
She says sweetly to me in the elevator
The person I see speaks kindly to me in a mundane moment
Here come old Kerosene Hat
A person with a helmet made of kerosene cans is approaching
With his ear flaps waxed, a-courting his girl
He is dressed up and trying to impress his significant other
Come clattering in here on your old cloven skates
He arrives loudly and awkwardly, perhaps stumbling
With that devilish spoon
He is carrying a spoon, possibly symbolizing his mischievous nature
So don't you bother me, death
I am rejecting thoughts of mortality and any negativity in my life
With your leathery ways and your old chaise lounge
Death is envisioned as a worn out, old figure with outdated, uncomfortable furniture
Wickerman's fence of leathery tyres
I imagine an eerie fence made of tires, like the structure in the movie The Wicker Man
And the cook's gone bad, started several fires
There is chaos and destruction happening in the world around me
Head like a stream, she says softly to me
A woman with a flowing or wandering mind speaks quietly to me
From the rattling chair
She is sitting in a chair that is shaking or rattling
"Bring me a steak and my old pair of crows
She makes an unusual request, asking for both food and dead birds
My medicine lamp"
She has a unique, unconventional way of treating her ailments
Everything seems like a dream
All of these experiences and situations feel surreal and detached from reality
And life's a scream
This is both exciting and frightening, as life can be absurd and unpredictable.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: David Lowry
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind