Story Behind the Song: Eli Young Band, ‘Skin & Bones’
One of the Eli Young Band's songs from their Fingerprints album, "Skin & Bones," is particularly personal for the band's lead singer, Mike Eli. The song, written by Eli, Lori McKenna and Phil Barton, was inspired by the artist's relationship with his wife, Kacey. With lines such as "She’s in my skin and bones, she’s grace and glory / She’s the back roads home, she’s a long story / She's the one goodbye that I can't even imagine / She's a well-thought out plan, and I don't know how it happened ...," the song is Eli's favorite on the Fingerprints record.
Below, Eli shares the story behind "Skin & Bones" with The Boot.
Lori is obviously this animal when it comes to writing, and that’s one animal you really don’t want to tame. I think when we had the idea, we started moving towards “Skin & Bones” being this title, [and] we had to establish what kind of love song this was going to be.
When you’re together -- when you get married or you’re with someone -- for so long, there comes a point when your life is so intertwined that there’s so much gray area between the two people. And I think my wife and I are like that -- trying to figure out at what point did Mike end and Kacey start, or where is that influence coming from when we both act a certain way. She’s so much a part of me, as I am of her.
And I think that that was one of the reasons we went with “Skin & Bones,” is, she’s so a part of who I am that it’s almost like she is in my skin and bones. She’s every part of me. And I think we found a way to say that in a romantic way, that wasn't going too far into the anatomical world.