Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel was a short-lived solo project by Les Cl… Read Full Bio ↴Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel was a short-lived solo project by Les Claypool in the mid 90s, he played almost all the instruments on the recordings of all of the songs.

The touring band consists of Bryan "Brain" Mantia on Drums, Mark "MIRV" Haggard on Guitar, Adam Gates on Bass (tuned an octave lower), and of course Les Claypool on Bass.

Calling Kyle
Les Claypool And The Holy Mackerel Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

His momma used to dance at the Broadway
shows
Broadway, where the young men go to drop
the coins in one two three

He remembered walking in
Not knowing applesauce from sin
And uncles trotted one two three

Calling Kyle

His pop was met at the Ballpark Franks
He used to root the radio for Yanks
They said they's aerate the greens

On Coleman he would spot the sheep
On Christmas he'd kept the keep
Turkey Day saw no greens

Calling Kyle

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Les Claypool And The Holy Mackerel's song "Calling Kyle" tell a story about a character named Kyle and his family. It starts by describing Kyle's mother who used to dance at Broadway shows where young men would go and drop coins in one, two, three. This could be interpreted as Kyle's mother being a stripper or another type of performer, and the young men being her customers. The next line describes how Kyle walked in not knowing "applesauce from sin," indicating that he was naive, inexperienced, and possibly innocent. The uncles "trotted" one, two, three, which could imply that they were teaching Kyle something, perhaps how to dance or how to navigate the world in some way.

The next line mentions Kyle's father being met at Ballpark Franks, possibly referring to him being a baseball fan. He used to root for the radio for Yanks, meaning he was a fan of the New York Yankees. In the next line, the singer mentions "they's aerate the greens," which is unclear in meaning, but could refer to someone working on a golf course. The following line mentions Coleman spotting sheep, which could be a reference to a sheepdog or someone who tends to sheep. On Christmas, Kyle's father kept the keep (meaning he took care of something) and on Thanksgiving, there were no greens.

Overall, it's difficult to pinpoint a specific narrative or meaning behind these lyrics without more context, but it could be interpreted as a homage to a specific family or group of people. The title of the song, "Calling Kyle," suggests that Kyle could be the singer or the person being addressed.

Line by Line Meaning

His momma used to dance at the Broadway Shows
His mother was a dancer at Broadway shows

Broadway, where the young men go to drop The coins in one two three
Broadway is a place where young men go and spend money quickly

He remembered walking in Not knowing applesauce from sin
He entered a situation without knowing anything about it

And uncles trotted one two three
He saw relatives dancing in sync with each other

Calling Kyle
Asking for Kyle

His pop was met at the Ballpark Franks
His father was often seen at the Ballpark Franks

He used to root the radio for Yanks
He used to cheer for the New York Yankees while listening to the radio

They said they's aerate the greens
Someone said they would improve the golf course

On Coleman he would spot the sheep
He would see sheep on Coleman street

On Christmas he'd kept the keep
He maintained the Christmas traditions

Turkey Day saw no greens
There were no greens on Thanksgiving Day