Friday, June 6, 2025

A Jackknife To a Swan - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

A Jackknife To a Swan - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
2:48
A Jackknife To a Swan, 2002
Written by Dicky Barrett, Tim Burton, Joe Gittleman

More rock than ska at this point in their career, the Bosstones here serve up a grim tale of urban violence, in which a woman is burned to death and a man, fleeing some predatory group of men, apparently runs into the path of a train.  The title evokes two types of diving, but the story makes the image more literal and visceral, as a harmless life is brutalized.  Apparently the events in the song are based on a real life incident in Boston, which (if true) makes me wonder why Barrett doesn't sound angrier.

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