“Soft Skies, No Lies”

“Soft Skies, No Lies” is the second track from Strawberry Alarm Clock’s second album, 1968’s Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow. It’s the polar opposite of the terrifying album opener “Nightmare Of Percussion”. An extravagantly sunny pop song praising nature for creating soft skies, there is a kind of meta-irony in its extreme inoffensiveness due to its placement on the album. “Soft Skies, No Lies” lies between that first song and later dirges such as “They Saw The Fat One Coming” and “Curse Of The Witches”.

There is, however, no outward irony. Groovy and pleasant and cheerful, “Soft Skies, No Lies” points to the direction the band would take after this album. Instrumentally, the best parts are the imaginative drumming and the dancing harpsichord. The vocals are eager and earnest, and the SAC harmony vocals, as ever, decorate the background. One chorus towards the beginning of the song admits “I think maybe I love you” while the final chorus is “I’m sure that I love you”. All smiles here.

The best part of the song, and what makes it memorable and even deserving of its prominent placement on the album, is the somewhat odd timing and unconventional melody of the line “and I’ll try to make you believe what I’m doing is right”. It’s an unexpected touch that throws the whole song into better relief. It even sets up the excitement of the next, soaring line (“as we wait for the morning to take over the night”).

If the first two tracks are supposed to encapsulate an album, the 1-2 punch of “Nightmare Of Percussion” and “Soft Skies, No Lies” certainly defines the opposite edges of Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow. After this song the LP bounces between off-the-deep-end strangeness and barely-psych pop. “Soft Skies, No Lies” is a particularly melodic example of the latter.

“Soft Skies, No Lies” appears on…

Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow (1968)