New Tracks: 'Daddy Was A Real Good Dancer' by the Dismemberment Plan
D.C. artpunk vets The Dismemberment Plan are back after a decade-long material hiatus with a new album due out October 15. And lucky for us, they’ve released some tracks from it, the latest of which is ‘Daddy Was A Real Good Dancer’. Lead singer Travis Morrison is presumably singing about his own father, whose death was a major catalyst behind their 1999 breakout record ‘Emergency & I’.
The track opens with chiming guitars that recall ‘The City’, and it’s (shockingly) in 4/4 time. And it totally works. The song is bittersweet and reflective. “When they finally lay my cold and creaky bones to rest / I hope I’m not a mystery to those who knew me best” sings Morrison, connecting his father’s death to his own eventual one. He also sings vaguely of parental responsibilities and absenteeism – DPlan have never been a band to shy away from writing an emotionally difficult song, but they sure know how to make it sound good.