Lately I’ve been measuring
Seems my time is growing thin
Wind me up and watch me spin
Watch me spin
Watch me spin
Skin and bones
Skin and bones
Skin and bones
Don’t you know?
Well damn, will you look at the time? It’s October 31st. Already.
Of course this is totally exciting and wonderful, and totally dreadful as Halloween is here and we have one day to make the most of it.
So let’s not wait a single moment of it. Jumping right in to our next tune we have Foo Fighters’ 2005 B-side Skin and Bones, a haunting acoustic number written, sung, and performed on guitar by frontman Dave Grohl.
Listening to the tone of the song, you hear it immediately: the tone is somber, the key minor, the vocals melancholy. Throughout the verses and chorus, the despair is undeniable. This is about pure decay. Giving yourself into the natural entropy that breaks down everything that lives and breathes in this universe.
You can make the argument that Skin and Bones is about an eating disorder; indeed, that first line “lately I’ve been measuring” makes a powerful argument for it. Or you could take the song as the sad recognition that your body is being ravaged and destroyed by disease.
Yet you can apply the lyrics to anything or anyone feeling more and more disillusioned with life, disaffected from the joys of existence, or perhaps just growing more and more isolated from any and everything.
Skin and Bones gives musical artistry to the wasting away of the spirit; when your very sense of self and identity slowly returns to a murky oblivion it probably never should have left. The true horror of realization that what’s left is just an animated meat skeleton with just enough electricity flowing through it to pretend it still has a soul.
But don’t despair! It’s still Halloween. I’ll see you all a bit later…
Deep within this frame of mine
Heart of hearts a valentine
Tell my mom I’m doing fine
Doing fine
Doing fine
Skin and bones
Skin and bones
Skin and bones
Don’t you know?
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