This song was inspired by a flattened little stinker on a suburban New York road. When it was released, there were a number of alternative interpretations of the meaning of this song's lyrics ranging from man's destruction of nature to an allegory about president Nixon. When asked about these differing readings by the London Times July 26, 2008, Wainwright replied with open palms: "Well, OK. But for me, it was just about a dead skunk lying there in the highway."
Loudon Wainwright III is one of the most proficient and accomplished singer-songwriters of his time, but his best-known song - and only chart entry - is this novelty hit. Exposure from the song led to his first acting role: a stint as the guitar-playing Captain Spaulding on the M.A.S.H. TV series. Wainwright did a lot more acting later in his career, appearing on the shows Ally McBeal and Undeclared, and in the movies Big Fish and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Wainwright confessed it only took about 12 minutes to pen "Dead Skunk," which became his most well-known song. The singer's brief sniff of fame left him with a foul odor. "Yeah, and it was revolting in some ways, horrible and I hated it, because it was grotesque," said Wainwright to the A.V. Club ."It can be grotesque at that level where you are riding around in cars and there are 14-year-old kids pressing their faces up against the window. For no reason other than your song is on the radio. It made me very uncomfortable, particularly at that time. I imagine that now I would see it with a little more humor and detachment, but when I was 25 and it happened to me, it kind of blew me away."
His new fans expected him to produce more of the same, but the singer wasn't complaining (too much) about his new persona. He explained, "I became the 'funny-animal-guy songwriter.' [Laughs.] Which got to be a drag after a while. But I certainly made a lot of money that year."
Wainwright would often have the crowd sing the chorus with him when he performed this song. When he played outside of America where folks were less familiar with skunks, we would have to give an explanation like "it's an animal that emits a terrible odor when struck by an automobile or attacked by a dog."
Loudon's son Rufus was born the year this song was released, and when Rufus was little, he would sometimes join his dad on stage to sing along with this song. Rufus became a very popular songwriter in his own right, but had a tense relationship with his dad, who didn't get to spend much time with his son because of his touring schedule. In 2012, Loudon recorded a duet that he sang with Rufus called "The Days That We Die," where they both sing, "You'll never change, neither will I."
