Dead Skunk - Loudon Wainwright III, 1972

Crossin' the highway late last night,
He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right,
He didn't see the station wagon car,
The skunk got squashed and there you are!

(Chorus)
You got yer
Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Stinkin' to high heaven!

Take a whiff on me that ain't no rose!
Roll up yer window and hold yer nose,
You don't have to look and you don't have to see,
'Cause you can feel it in your olfactory,

(Repeat Chorus)

Yeah you got yer dead cat and you got yer dead dog,
On a moonlight night you got yer dead toad frog
Got yer dead rabbit and yer dead raccoon,
The blood and the guts they're gonna make you swoon!

You got yer dead skunk, in the middle,
Dead skunk in the middle of the road.
Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Stinkin' to high heaven.

C'mon stink!

You got it,
It's dead, it's in the middle,
Dead skunk in the middle!
Dead skunk in the middle of the road,
Stinkin' to high heaven!

All over the road - technicolor, man!

Oh, you got pollution.
It's dead, it's in the middle,
And it's stinkin' to high, high heaven!

---

Loudon Wainwright lll claimed that he was musically inspired by seeing Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1962. He was briefly married to Canadian singer/songwriter Kate McGarrigle, and together they brought Martha Wainwright into the world. Father and daughter had a stormy musical relationship, singing songs about one another, but eventually finding harmony in the song "You Never Phone" on Loudon's 2003 album, So Damn Happy. This musical family wouldn't be complete, however, without a talented son, Rufus. From what I gather, father and son got along.

Wainwright is also an actor, having appeared in 3 episodes of M*A*S*H, and more recent movies such as: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Elizabethtown, The Aviator, and Big Fish. Here is a quick look at Loudon's movie career.

(No animals were run-over during the making of this website...)

Connections: on a rather more somber note, here is son Rufus featuring the song Hallelujah.