Uploaded January 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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"Skeleton Town" by Mary Gauthier
Album: Dixie Kitchen (1996)
marygauthier.com

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LYRICS
Joey got sick in ’82
Back there wasn’t much the doctors could do
They put him in the General I.C.U.
And the whispering started cause some people knew
Joey’s got the sickness that’s got no cure
They put warning signs on Joey’s door
Half of the staff on Joey’s floor said
I ain’t going in that room no more

Skeleton town, it’s a skeleton town
Shadows keep moving when the sun goes down
There’s plenty of ways to say good-bye
In the darkness shadow multiply
In skeleton Town

Joey’s daddy got angry and started to yell
Told the nurses they could all go straight to hell
Put his fists on the counter, looked ‘em in the eye
He said, “My son deserves better and he started to cry.”
Joeys mama walked up and took his daddy’s hand
She said, “Honey lets talk him back home again.”

Skeleton town, it’s a skeleton town
Shadows keep moving when the sun goes down
There’s plenty of ways to say good-bye
In the darkness shadow multiply
In skeleton Town

Joey’s mama sat with him every day
With her rosary beads in her hands she’d pray
The doctor looked down he had nothing to say
He’d never seen a sickness do a man this way
The neighbors started talking then the talking broke down
Someone shouted lets run their asses out of town