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lyrics
Daddy was giant and radioactive:
He rose like a tidal wave out of the sea.
They called him a monster, the terror of nations,
Scourge of the cities; still Daddy to me.
We watched in the den as he made the news nightly.
(He wasn’t that big on our twelve-inch TV.)
I learned all the steps to the dance he perfected,
And knew that he danced it for Mommy and me.
(chorus)
Step-two-three, stomp-two-three, kick down the buildings,
Pivot and topple and pose as they quail.
Dip the skyscraper, crush, ball change, breathe fire,
Then once more again, but this time add the tail.
Daddy was giant: it made him seem distant.
I needed a ladder to kiss him goodnight.
Whenever we’d hear he was coming to visit,
I’d hold Mommy’s hand and say it was all right.
Sometimes they’d fight, and his voice was like thunder.
Sometimes we’d fear he might do us some harm.
And sometimes he’d give me a ride on his shoulder,
Or cradle me safe in the crook of his arm.
They finally got him with a top-secret weapon.
They turned him to vapor; they blew him away.
That was the day that I swore I would grow up
To dance like my Daddy and make them all pay.
(chorus)
Daddy was giant. He cast a long shadow:
Such great expectations I never could meet.
When your father leaves footprints the size of a townhouse,
To walk in his shoes is no trivial feat.
No, I never grew up as big as my Daddy.
No nuclear accident altered my genes.
You can’t topple houses at five-foot-eleven,
And the cities I’d savage were just in my dreams.
(Cello solo)
Now I have a job selling housing insurance.
I live in the suburbs, with kids and a wife.
Mommy lives with us; she’s started a garden,
And I’ve grown content with this miniscule life.
But sometimes at night when my family is sleeping,
I sneak to the basement room where my kids play.
I cover the floor with a city of legos,
And I dance like my Daddy did, back in his day.
(chorus twice)
credits
from The Monster Songs,
released November 5, 2016
Music and Lyrics by Toby Mulford
