I was walking along on one of those walks
You take in the middle of the night.
When you feel a little bit out of place
And you'd like to get out of sight,
But who should stand up in my way
But a man with nothing left but bone
And that's no metaphor, I don't exaggerate
He said, "I'm Skeleton Jack
And these roads are my home."
Oh rattle my bones.
Rattle my bones,
The name's Skeleton Jack.
Well, on his skull he wore a crooked, cracked crown
To go with a similar smile.
And whenever he talked he did a clattering jig,
But despite being dead, Jack had style.
He said, "I stole this crown from the Devil,
But it stole my soul from me,
And now each night I walk these roads one by one,
Telling passing travelers my story."
Well rattle my bones.
Here comes the story of Skeleton Jack.
"Oh, when I stole that golden egg from heaven,
I thought I'd be fair and steal from hell as well,
So I opened that old beanstalk and climbed right in,
And went down through the roots seekin' some sin,
And at the end of the deepest of the thirteen roots
I found where the seventh circle begins
And around the other side of that fiery bend
I saw the devil's palace off in the distance."
Oh rattle my bones.
You can dance with the devil
Just don't you dance too close.
And "rattle my bones," said Skeleton Jack.
"You can dance with the Devil
Just might be tough to get back."
"Well the demons were easy to trick my way past,
But I couldn't say as much for the Prince of Pain's palace,
Though as these things go I made my way up
To the tallest of the three of the towers of below. And I saw Mr. Lucifer sitting on his throne
Bent crooked over a silver guitar
That he was playing in place of a golden violin
That he gambled away way-back-when.
And the next thing I saw twinkled my eyes
And made the good lord cry,
That golden circle sitting on Satan's head,
That crown, the Devil's crown, it had to be mine."
Oh rattle my bones.
You can dance with the devil
Just don't you dance too close.
And "rattle my bones," said Skeleton Jack.
"You can dance with the Devil
Just might be tough to get back."
"As I ran away I heard the Devil roar.
It rumbled the ground and shook the Earth's floor,
But by the time he'd realized I'd stolen his crown
I was far, far away from the Devil's town.
But there was one little thing that I didn't know
Was the curse that was put on my soul.
You see the minute I touched that red gold to my head,
Well I could never die even after I was dead!"
Oh rattle my bones.
You can dance with the devil
Just don't you dance too close.
And "rattle my bones," said Skeleton Jack.
You can dance with the Devil
Just might be tough to get back.
Well there was a long silence after Jack's story's end,
Then I said, "Jack, I won't even pretend
To be able to do something even close to what you've done."
I said, "Jack you're more clever than the Devil's own son.
He said, "Boy, your words are too fine."
I said, "Jack don't be modest, you're one of a kind,
And I know it was long ago but we won't get another chance
So Jack will you dance with me a victory dance!"
So we danced and we shook and we sang and we rolled,
And I'll tell you, that night it never got old,
But all along I was waiting for Jack to put his guard down.
Then I knocked off, I knocked off Jack's crown!
And he looked horror stricken as the crown flew away
And the bones crumbled down to the ground there to stay,
And the crown hit the floor with a thundering crack,
And then I put it on and said, "I'm the new Jack!"
God wants gratitude,
Satan wants souls,
Man wants material,
And the dead are just bones.