At a concert earlier this week, I heard a chorus that has been echoing in my head ever since:
I’m standin’ out here in the spotlight
Holdin’ a chair in my hand
Open the cage, I’m ready —
I’m lettin’ the lions in!
That’s from a song by Dinty Child, who’s apparently a longtime stalwart of the local roots/Americana scene and a delightful new discovery for me.
The lyrics are an extended allegory about the circus, but you know and I know that’s not what he’s really singing about.
(Dinty knows it, too, of course: in the last chorus, he changed the words to “holdin’ my heart in my hand.”)
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[I’ve spent a long time searching for a link of any kind to that song, but it looks like I’ll need another concert ticket instead. In the meantime, here’s Dinty’s band and another song he performed — which Zach Hickman, the evening’s impresario, called his “favorite 103 seconds of music.”]
Colin Steele 