Though little known outside of the Michigan area, his popularity is slowly growing, in most part due to his excellent website and some loyal fans spreading the word. Sycamore is an accomplished lyricist, and his songs often reflect his love of his home area and his atheism (Hokum All Ye Faithful).
..Well, that's one way of looking at it. Sycamore, on the other hand, considers himself more of an "agnostic," when he considers himself at all. Also--his feelings toward his home area are ambivalent at best, downright negative at worst. It should also be noted that Sycamore has a terrible habit of writing about himself in the third person on the internet, which is just so sad...
The Antler Pile
Sycamore Smith Lyrics
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A golden arm is tarnishing upon a shelf
It holds a glass and raises it to Barbara's health
It's the 4th of July, yet
The cuckoo is quiet
The Captain is wrapped in his rat-skin rags
The river is jammed up with cats in bags
It's thinner than gauze
And spangled with moths
I've got all the answers to your questions, my lass:
Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No…
And Don't Ask
The sailors empty vessels in the dingy bar
And pass around a sabre-toothed scimitar
The Captain's on the antler pile gettin' carved
While the lighthouse spins
Like it's lit with gin
A double-agent drinks a dram of muscatel
While dreaming up a secret plan that he can sell
A sniper on the tree-top aims a musket well
Ba-BOOM, and it's done
By a baboon with a gun
I've got all the answers to your questions, my lass:
Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No…
And Don't Ask
My pops used to say it a lot
But I never say it too often:
"The hardest man will soften
Betwixt the handles of his coffin"
I've got all the answers to your questions, my lass:
Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No…
And Don't Ask
A strangler is loose & folks are frantic
The hearses he has filled are choking traffic
While hiding out he'll tidy up your attic
With the duster he made
From your grandmother's braids
Before you croak there's something that you ought to know
The afterlife is hot no matter where you go
For Hell is roasting Heaven, slowly, from below
I've seen it all from the window
Of my villa in Limbo…
I've got all the answers to your questions, my lass:
Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No…
Oh...
Oh...
Oh...
And Don't Ask
The lyrics to Sycamore Smith's "The Antler Pile" describe a surreal, dreamlike world with bizarre and disjointed imagery. The song seems to take place in a mythical place called Scarlet Town where the singer is surrounded by strange characters and events. In this world, a golden arm, presumably belonging to Barbara Allen, tarnishes on a shelf while holding a glass raised to her health. Despite it being the 4th of July, the cuckoo is quiet. Meanwhile, the Captain is wrapped in his rat-skin rags, and the river is jammed with cats in bags. The singer pledges alligators to the flag, which is thinner than gauze and spangled with moths.
The song continues in this surreal vein, with sailors drinking in a dingy bar, passing around a sabre-toothed scimitar while the captain is getting carved on the antler pile. The lighthouse spins as if it is lit with gin. In this world, a double-agent drinks a dram of muscatel, a sniper aims a musket, and a baboon with a gun finishes the job with a flourish. The chorus repeats "I've got all the answers to your questions, my lass/Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No…/And don't ask" adding to the sense of unease and disorientation. The song concludes with the warning that before one croaks, they should know that the afterlife is hot, and Hell is roasting Heaven slowly from below. The final lines state that the singer has seen it all from the window of his villa in Limbo.
Line by Line Meaning
In Scarlet Town where Barbara Allen killed herself
In a place called Scarlet Town, where a woman named Barbara Allen took her own life
A golden arm is tarnishing upon a shelf
There is a golden arm that is losing its shine as it sits on a shelf
It holds a glass and raises it to Barbara's health
The golden arm is holding a glass and toasting to the memory of Barbara Allen
It's the 4th of July, yet
The cuckoo is quiet
Despite it being the 4th of July, a holiday associated with fireworks and noise, things are surprisingly quiet
The Captain is wrapped in his rat-skin rags
The Captain is wearing clothes made out of rat skin
The river is jammed up with cats in bags
The river is clogged with bags full of cats
Me, I pledge alligators to the flag–
It's thinner than gauze
And spangled with moths
The singer is pledging alligators to the flag, which they describe as incredibly thin and covered in moths
I've got all the answers to your questions, my lass:
Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No…
And Don't Ask
The artist claims to have all the answers to the listener's questions, but only provides a mix of yes's, no's, and a final instruction not to ask
The sailors empty vessels in the dingy bar
And pass around a sabre-toothed scimitar
The Captain's on the antler pile gettin' carved
While the lighthouse spins
Like it's lit with gin
The sailors are drinking in a dirty bar and passing around a sword with teeth, while the Captain is getting carved on a pile of antlers nearby. Meanwhile, the lighthouse is twirling around in a dizzying manner
A double-agent drinks a dram of muscatel
While dreaming up a secret plan that he can sell
A sniper on the tree-top aims a musket well
Ba-BOOM, and it's done
By a baboon with a gun
A double-agent is drinking and coming up with a plan to sell, while a sniper up in a tree is ready to fire off a shot. Suddenly, a baboon appears and fires a gun to complete the task
My pops used to say it a lot
But I never say it too often:
"The hardest man will soften
Betwixt the handles of his coffin"
The singer's father used to say that even the toughest man will become more gentle once they pass away and are put into a coffin, and while the singer doesn't say it much, they believe it to be true
A strangler is loose & folks are frantic
The hearses he has filled are choking traffic
While hiding out he'll tidy up your attic
With the duster he made
From your grandmother's braids
There is a murderer on the loose, causing people to panic, and the hearses he has filled are affecting traffic. While in hiding, he will clean your attic with a duster made from your grandmother's hair
Before you croak there's something that you ought to know
The afterlife is hot no matter where you go
For Hell is roasting Heaven, slowly, from below
I've seen it all from the window
Of my villa in Limbo…
The singer warns that regardless of where you go in the afterlife, it will be hot, because Hell is slowly cooking Heaven from underneath. They claim to have witnessed all of this from their home in Limbo
And Don't Ask
Oh...
Oh...
Oh...
The singer provides a final warning and then repeats the phrase 'oh' three times
Contributed by Lucy B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.