Way back in 1972, when I was just a young man of 17, Loudon Wainwright III became famous for his novelty song “Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road” with its (in my opinion) hilarious lyrics. The first time I heard it on the radio I was driving through the downtown section of Miami Springs, Florida in morning traffic and I was laughing so hard tears were rolling down my face.

Crossin’ the highway late last night
He shoulda looked left and he shoulda looked right
He didn’t see the station wagon car
The skunk got squashed and there you are!

You got yer
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
You got yer dead skunk in the middle of the road
Stinkin’ to high Heaven!

Take a whiff on me, that ain’t no rose!
Roll up yer window and hold yer nose
You don’t have to look and you don’t have to see
‘Cause you can feel it in your olfactory

You got yer
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
You got yer dead skunk in the middle of the road
Stinkin’ to high Heaven!

Yeah you got yer dead cat and you got yer dead dog
On a moonlight night you got yer dead toad frog
Got yer dead rabbit and yer dead raccoon
The blood and the guts they’re gonna make you swoon!
You got yer
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
You got yer dead skunk in the middle of the road
Stinkin’ to high Heaven!

C’mon stink!

You got it!
It’s dead, it’s in the middle
Dead skunk in the middle!
Dead skunk in the middle of the road
Stinkin’ to high heaven!
All over the road, technicolor man!

Oh, you got pollution
It’s dead, it’s in the middle
And it’s stinkin’ to high, high Heaven

Play the video below and sing along!

Driving down an Iowa back road the other day, I had my own “Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road” experience (he or she was already dead when I came across its carcass) and here are the photos. You’ll have to imagine the smell on your own, because it was indeed “Stinkin’ to high Heaven!”