Dead Skunk

This song was inspired by a flattened little stinker on a suburban New York road. When it was released, there were a number of alternative interpretations of the meaning of this song's lyrics ranging from man's destruction of nature to an allegory about president Nixon. When asked about these differing readings by the London Times July 26, 2008, Wainwright replied with open palms: "Well, OK. But for me, it was just about a dead skunk lying there in the highway."

This was the only chart record for Wainwright. The song led to a stint as the guitar-playing Captain Spaulding on the M.A.S.H. TV series.

Wainwright confessed it only took about 12 minutes to pen "Dead Skunk," which became his most well-known song. The singer's brief sniff of fame left him with a foul odor. "Yeah, and it was revolting in some ways, horrible and I hated it, because it was grotesque," said Wainwright to the A.V. Club."It can be grotesque at that level where you are riding around in cars and there are 14-year-old kids pressing their faces up against the window. For no reason other than your song is on the radio. It made me very uncomfortable, particularly at that time. I imagine that now I would see it with a little more humor and detachment, but when I was 25 and it happened to me, it kind of blew me away."

His new fans expected him to produce more of the same, but the singer wasn't complaining (too much) about his new persona. He explained, "I became the 'funny-animal-guy songwriter.' [Laughs.] Which got to be a drag after a while. But I certainly made a lot of money that year."