Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 6 · middle
Tight as a Tick
VOLUME I — being gloriously, world-tilting DRUNK (the night at full tilt). The idiom and the song's title hook: "Tight as a Tick". Its true history: US, mid-19th c. ('full as a tick,' 1670s) — a tick engorged and swollen tight with blood after feeding; 'tight' long meant drunk. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.
Lyrics
[Intro] [Steady acoustic guitar strum and a rambling harmonica drone] [Verse 1] Well the barkeep is pouring a ruby red shine And the tavern is humming, ignoring the time You're sinking the spirits and soaking the grain Like a hound in the yard catching drops of the rain Your boots are unlaced and your posture is loose But you're stretched like a drum on the fermented juice [Chorus] Oh, tight as a tick, round and complete Swollen up good on the sour and the sweet Back in the 1670s out in the brush They watched the bug fill in the twilight flush Now it’s 1850, and the frontier just smiles Tight as a tick, glowing over the miles [Verse 2] They used to say "tight" when a fellow was blind When the compass had totally slipped from his mind But look at you sitting there, holding the stool A glorious, heavy, and satisfied fool Your skin's like a canvas that’s catching the gale Engorged to the edges on whiskey and ale [Chorus] Oh, tight as a tick, round and complete Swollen up good on the sour and the sweet Back in the 1670s out in the brush They watched the bug fill in the twilight flush Now it’s 1850, and the frontier just smiles Tight as a tick, glowing over the miles [Bridge] It’s a mid-19th century trick of the tongue To name the old drinker from where the bug clung Just a little creature parked in the wood Gorging ourselves on the very best goods [Outro] Yeah, you're tight Stretched to the limit of the seam Don't burst now Just sit there and lean into the hum [Harmonica slowly fades into the tavern noise]