"Skeleton Man"

SUBJECT: An archaeology story.

Relation? Frank talking about the Pixie tune "Dig For Fire":
"It's probably about the summer I spent as an archaeology student, working on a burial ground and looking at the sky."

LYRICS:
i'm a skeleton i'm a skeleton man hold my skeleton hold my skeleton hand / i met a child in the hills from the people of the corn it's been 800 years since this child was born and in his ribs i found a pearl an offering from the corn world / hold my hand we'll walk in the hot sun hold my hand in the hot sand / down in the valley where there used to be the farms Doctor Digger found a room full of arms and now there's just a dog that barks chained to a one-man trailer park

REFERENCES:
Many Native American people, from the Maya to the Hopi, refer to themselves as “The People of the Corn”. It is uncertain exactly when corn made its way from Mesoamerica to the Southwest, but it was a staple of Native American diet by the time of Christ. Corn is a very special gift, indeed. Rice requires a semi-tropical moist climate, and wheat prefers a northern temperate climate, but some type of corn can be grown in almost every environment. [source]

The only archeologist "Doctor Digger" I could find any information on is Dr. Digger O. Bone, a character from the cartoon Speed Racer! Probably nothing to do with the song.

HISTORY: This song had been around for a while before it was released. Frank said it was a song he'd work on for a little bit each year, trying to finish it, but not putting too much effort to its progress. Lucky BBC radio listeners got to hear the song years before it's proper release, thanks to Frank playing it during a Peel Session in February '96.

LIVE: yes, a little in 96. a lot in 99-up

ACOUSTIC: yes, 96