"Crooked Spine" was heavily inspired by Tom Waits. Vocally, I wanted to break new ground, try something I had never done before. The intro/verse riff was written years ago, and the rest of the song was written sporadically throughout the years. Eventually, all of the parts coalesced into the final product you hear today. "Crooked Spine" sounds, to me, like a band of ghosts playing dissonant swing in some old run down former booze mill. What really brought the song to life was Adam Walter's saxophone parts and Scott Zschomler's slide guitar.
lyrics
I'm just a penny spent, a dollar short on last month's rent
A nickel shy of one more for the road
You're just a melody, you're sung out loud and out of key
I swear to God, you're haunting my soul
So let us cry and let us dance and let us spend our second chance
Just looking back on what we left behind
We'll dig a hole, we'll jump inside, we'll fall asleep, we'll say goodnight
We'll whisper just one more lullaby
I still feel your teeth dragging down my spine, in a crooked line...
I know I've said it all before, and you swear it all sounds the same
But what good is living if you just keep giving up on the hope for a change?
Don't give up on the hope for a change...
I'm just a heart with a hole, you are my shore in the sea
Well the girl and the ghost and the grave diggers' son
Cut a crack in the earth just for me...
And home is a rain never-ending, washing away all the world
And I can't surrender 'cause you are forever
The light in this tired old soul...
I still feel your teeth dragging down my spine, in a crooked line...
I know I've said it all before, and you swear it all sounds the same
But what good is living if you just keep giving up on the hope for a change?
Don't give up on the hope for a change...
credits
from Erstwhile,
released August 18, 2015
Written by Gabriel Soriano
Gabriel Soriano - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion
Scott Zschomler - Backup Vocals, Slide Guitar
Adam Walter - Saxophone
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