“Dance of the Manatee” by Fair to Midland

"Dance of the Manatee" first surfaced as the second track on Inter.Funda.Stifle, the 2004 record by art-rock band Fair to Midland, and it got a second life when the band cut it again for Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True. In 2007 it became their first single.

What it means is up for grabs, and the band likes it that way. Guitarist Cliff Campbell, who didn't write the words, says their songs are meant to be read however the listener hears them, but he takes this one as a portrait of how the modern world treats the decent guy: the polite, kind soul who goes out of his way for everybody and finds that nobody is looking out for him anymore.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.