Forming in 1995 after a chance meeting in New York City club The Knitting Factory, the band's first release was the 1995 Human Pin Cushion EP on Dedicated Records. After some personnel changes the band released an eponymous EP on Motel Records in 1996 that Rolling Stone said "shows how pop culture and high culture can bring everyone to the same place." Original members Steve Calhoon and Rick Lee left the band soon after making this recording, going on to form the band Enon. Soon after their departures, Skeleton Key inked a deal with Capitol Records and put out the critically acclaimed (and Grammy nominated [for artwork]) Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon in 1997. The band then toured the US and Europe with a diverse assortment of acts (Melvins, Girls vs. Boys, Cibo Matto, The Jesus Lizard, They Might Be Giants, Morphine, Brainiac, Primus) before headlining their own US tour. After two gruelling years on the road and a half-finished album recorded, Chris Maxwell departed, leaving the future of Skeleton Key in jeopardy. (From Ipecac Records)
Eventually the band, which had by now been reduced to a lone Erik Sanko, signed with Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings to release Obtainium in 2002. With a revamped lineup the band hit the road again, playing several successful tours with bands such as Tomahawk, Melvins, Alien Ant Farm and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. That lineup of Sanko, Craig LeBlang, Ben Clapp and Sean Sankey recorded and released the five song EP The Lyons Quintette on Do Tell Records and a live album (Skeleton Key Live at Metro) which is available exclusively through eMusic.
Sankey amicably left the band at the end of 2006 and new drummer Bob Vacarelli was recruited just days before the band headed out on tour with Chemlab and USSA in late 2007.
Official Website: http://www.skeletonkey.org
Watch The Fat Man Swing
Skeleton Key Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He waves his chubby fists
Like blades of chubby windmills
As the punch the sky to bits
And he winks his puffy eyelids
And he pouts a puffy lip
And he pinches his accordian
In chubby fingertips
Watch the fat man swing. Watch the fat man swing.
Watch the fat man swing. Swing his chubby thing.
Invisible and stupid
His mistress finds a niche
And tries invest vain vain to ascertain
The man behind the twitch
"Tell my god he's such a genious"
Says his transparent bride
His accordian inflates
And then explodes in liquid pride
So watch the fat man swing. Watch the fat man swing.
Watch the fat man swing. Swing his chubby thing.
Because the bigger they are the hardey they breathe
Like undulating jello
He glistens and he slides
And he leaves his helpless audience
Amused and horrified
"Hell you people ha ve been lovely,
But now it's time go to"
And the bellows
In his yellow thing
Turn pink and start to grow
So watch the fat man swing. Watch the fat man swing.
Watch the fat man swing. Swing his chubby thing.
The opening lines of Skeleton Key's "Watch the Fat Man Swing" describe the eponymous man's movements like watching a "newborn" wave his "chubby fists", but with surprising grace. The way the man waves his fist is compared to "blades of chubby windmills" that "punch the sky to bits". The beauty of the grotesque is further emphasized as the man then winks his "puffy eyelids" and pouts his "puffy lip". However, this image of beauty is fleeting as the man then pinches his accordion with "chubby fingertips".
The song's mood shifts as the second verse describes the Fat Man's mistress, who is "invisible and stupid". She tries to understand the man behind the performance but ends up only worshipping him as a "genius". Meanwhile, the Fat Man's accordion "explodes in liquid pride". The chorus still calls on the listener to "watch the fat man swing" and "swing his chubby thing", but now with a sense of dark humor as the song describes the man struggling to breathe and grow in size.
Line by Line Meaning
As graceful as a newborn
He moves with a certain kind of grace, like a freshly born baby
He waves his chubby fists
He swings his arms, and due to his bulk, his fists appear chubby
Like blades of chubby windmills
His hands move so fast that they resemble chubby windmill blades
As they punch the sky to bits
His swinging arms look like they are tearing the sky apart
And he winks his puffy eyelids
He flutters his eyelids, which appear swollen and bloated
And he pouts a puffy lip
He makes a slight pouting expression, and due to his size, his lips appear bloated
And he pinches his accordian
He squeezes the accordion, which appears small in his chubby fingertips
Invisible and stupid
His mistress is not seen, and she is portrayed as foolish
His mistress finds a niche
His lover looks for a place to fit in
And tries invest vain vain to ascertain
She makes a futile attempt to find out more about him
The man behind the twitch
She wants to know what motivates his strange movements
Tell my god he's such a genious
She exclaims to the heavens that the fat man is a brilliant performer
Says his transparent bride
His wife who is invisible (or metaphorically transparent) says
His accordian inflates
The accordion he's playing begins to bulge due to the airflow
And then explodes in liquid pride
The accordion bursts with pride, suggesting that it's been overwhelmed by his performance
Like undulating jello
His body wriggles like jello
He glistens and he slides
He appears to be sweating and sliding as he continues to perform
And he leaves his helpless audience
His viewers are powerless to stop him
Amused and horrified
They find his performance hilarious but also frightening
Hell you people ha ve been lovely,
He thanks the audience for their attention
But now it's time go to
It's time for him to leave
And the bellows
The accordion's bellows, aka the air bag
In his yellow thing
Inside the accordion, which is yellow in colour
Turn pink and start to grow
They visibly begin to expand and turn pink
Because the bigger they are the harder they breathe
A pun on the phrase 'the bigger they are the harder they fall', with 'breathe' meaning the sound produced by the accordion
Contributed by Arianna S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bruce Klock
I remember hearing this song after I bought the Surge softdrink promo CD way back in college. It rocked and still does.
Tim Hatridge
+Bruce Klock That's the same place I heard it for the first time. I haven't thought about this song in years, but for some reason this morning it popped in my head and I headed to YouTube to give it a listen. I think I've still got that Surge cd somewhere....
bullshitdsd
Yo your band is the best music ive ever heard hands down completely awesome, please make more music I bought all your albums please make or come play in montreal pleasee
Kevin Magee
I still have my Surge music CD with this song on it
Yukinoshita雪ノ下
this rocks