Crackle And Drag

Album: Come Feel Me Tremble (2003)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Crackle And Drag" is about the suicide of poetess Sylvia Plath. The title is taken from the final line of her poem "Edge": "Her blacks crackle and drag."

    The "blacks" are stage curtains being drawn close.

    "Edge" is about a recently deceased woman, possibly Plath's future self. It might be the last poem she ever wrote. Uncertainties in her personal records make it unclear if the last was "Edge" or "Balloons," but historians lean towards "Edge."
  • And as her babies slept, she took a long deep breath
    Now they're zipping her up in a bag


    Plath committed suicide by sealing herself in her kitchen and running a gas oven as her children slept. Her nurse found her on February 11, 1963. She's still widely read and taught in university English classes.
  • In a 2003 interview with the Minneapolis/Saint Paul City Pages (Volume 24, Issue 1193), Westerberg explained that he read Plath's novel, The Bell Jar, and some of her collected journals and diaries. He was struck by the calculated way she killed herself.

    "Just the way she made the pillows so neat in the oven door," he said. In typical, grim Westerberg fashion, he added, "I always go back and forth: Would I have done that and saved the children, to see their dead mother? Or would I have killed the kids with me?"
  • Westerberg included two versions of the song on Come Feel Me Tremble, his fifth solo studio album. The songs appear back-to-back, with the first being a faster rock version that harkens back to his days in The Replacements, and the second being slowed-down and acoustic. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    John - Levittown, NY
  • On July 1, 2002, before releasing Come Feel Me Tremble, Westerberg played "Crackle And Drag" at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. He joked that he didn't include the song on his fourth studio album, Stereo, because it had "too many words." He fumbled through the beginning but then found his groove and delivered an emotional, evocative rendition.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."

Michael Franti

Michael FrantiSongwriter Interviews

Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.

Graham Parker

Graham ParkerSongwriter Interviews

When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.