By takeitawayGuru
A Twist in the Tail Bone
The theme music used as my introduction isn’t from Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, which I had long believed, but from the TV series Jonathan Creek; but it is better known as Danse Macabre composed by Camille Saint-Saëns.
According to legend, Death appears at midnight every year on Halloween. Death calls forth the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle (represented by a solo violin). His skeletons dance until the rooster crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.
Yet our story doesn’t take place on All Hallows' Eve but an ordinary day. It is is about Jack and Sally, two kids growing up in the American heartland. Now, wait a minute, that’s Jack and Diane, isn't it? And there’s already a song about them. But what about Jack and Sally?
So let’s first go back to Jack’s birth, and right from the very start, the nurse knew he was a wrong ‘un. She knew he was Bad to the Bone.
Jack was a just waif, barely there at all, and not even Skin & Bone, just Bones really.
He longed to be normal, to qualify as a Bag of Bones. A strangeness rattled his skeleton, but he was no Bonebag, he was tired and saggy, aged only 21, but feeling 99.
Perhaps Jack could use ribbon or cloth, just like the mummies of Egypt? Bones of Ribbon perhaps that would give him substance.
All this thinking was caused Our Skulls to reverberate and giving Jack an awful migraine. He was going to have to bury his head somewhere; it needed to be dark where no one can disturb him until the pain had gone.
So outside, underneath the paving stones, hiding, like a secret waiting to be told, Jack could stay out of sight like a long lost soul, a skull beneath the ground: A Backyard Skull, possibly even in a Boneyard!
But where does Sally fit in? Perhaps Jack could bury Sally too. No – that’s would be far too risky. Someone would come along and Dig Up Her Bones.
He couldn’t risk losing Sally. The punishment would be too harsh.
Jack's final thought was that the police would find him and Grind My Bones from his Skeletal Remains. Ashes to ashes … dust to dust.
Atlas Bone A-list Playlist:
Camille Saint-Saëns – Danse Macabre
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Bad To The Bones
Foo Fighters – Skin & Bones
Editors – Bones
Guy Clark – Bag of Bones
The Cult – Bonebag
London Grammar – Bones of Ribbon
Imaad Wasif – Our Skulls
Frightened Rabbit – Backyard Skulls
Jon Cleary – Boneyard
Michale Graves – Dig Up her Bones
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Grind My Bones
Bohren and der Club of Gore – Skeletal Remains
The Boney B-list Playlist:
Led Zeppelin – Ribs and All/Carrot Pod Pod
The White Stripes – Rag & Bone
Clouds – Make No Bones About It
Laurel Aitken – Boogie in my Bones
Breed – Shaking the Bone
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates – Shakin’ All Over
The Killers – Bones
Robert Plant – Bones of Saints
The Sound – Skeletons
The Bevis Frond – Portobello Man
The Young ‘Uns – Tom Paines Bones
Earth – The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull
Guru's Wildcard Pick:
Biffy Clyro – As Dust Dances
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Making the connection: songs about bones. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address.