Mike Cooley Lines

[Degenerex]

The Paul Westerberg and Elvis Costello threads like this were great, so I figured I'd start one for one of the most underappreciated songwriters around today.

 

DBT currently have 2 great writers, but Cooley is a favorite of mine. I could go on for days, but here are a few favorites:

 

"My daddy didn't pull out, but he never apologized. Rock and Roll means well but it can't help telling young boys lies"

 

"We've been this close to death before but we were just too drunk to notice

Guess the price of being sober's being scared out of your mind.

When it comes your time to go

Ain't no good way to go about it

Ain't no use in thinkin' bout it.

You'll just drive yourself insane.

There comes a time for everything, and the time has come for you

Shut your mouth and get your ass on the plane"

 

"I'll meet you at the bottom, if there really is one...

they always told me when you hit it you'll know it.

But I've been falling so long, it's like gravity is gone

and I'm just floating"

[CortezTheKiller]

Once a country boy

[bleedorange]

While I think the entirety of Zip City can be included here, these lines stand out:

 

Keep your drawers on, girl, it ain't worth the fight

By the time you drop them I'll be gone

And you'll be right where they fall the rest of your life

[myboyblue]

You guys seem to have covered ground pretty well. The guy, unfortunately, doesn't have near the songs of a Westerberg. However, he sure has a way with words. I'm loving the bulk of his contributions to the latest album.

 

"It was 1990 give or take I don't remember

when the news of revolution hit the air

The girls hadn't even started taking down our posters

when the boys started cutting off their hair

The radio stations all decided angst was finally old enough

it ought to have a proper home

Dead fat or rich nobody

[CortezTheKiller]

You guys seem to have covered ground pretty well. The guy, unfortunately, doesn't have near the songs of a Westerberg.

Definitely can't be considered prolific. However, the quality of his songwriting is very high.

[Mrs. Peel]

"Well, my daddy didn

[myboyblue]

If you have an iPod and don't have a "Cooley" playlist, you should.

[Degenerex]

I love Westerberg as much as anybody, but with Cooley its about quality, not quantity.

 

Even something as simple as,

 

"Bob's still got an antenna on a pole,

2 channels come in, 2 more come and go.

He used to watch the news, but he don't anymore,

Ain't none of it new, its the same as before,

Claims all any of its any good for is keeping everybody bored,

'till there ain't nobody like Bob anymore"

 

Or

 

"If all you need's a badge to take whats left from those who lost it,

a badge ain't no more real than bullets are"

 

Him and Craig Finn are my #1 and #2 song writers right now.

[CortezTheKiller]

Definitely can't be considered prolific. However, the quality of his songwriting is very high.

 

I love Westerberg as much as anybody, but with Cooley its about quality, not quantity.

[myboyblue]

I wasn't comparing Cooley to Westerberg, nor insulting his output. I was more or less just implying that the thread had already covered about 80% of his lyrics.

 

Just reading his lyrics makes me want to run and listen to him....

 

edit:

 

"You say you're tired of me taking you for granted

Waiting' up till the last minute to call you up and see what you want to do

Well you're only fifteen, girl, you ain't got no secretary

And "for granted" is a mighty big word for a country girl like you

You know it's just your Daddy talking

Cause He knows that blood red carpet at the Salem Church of Christ

Ain't gonna ever see no wedding between me and you"

[John Smith]

While I think the entirety of Zip City can be included here, these lines stand out:

 

Keep your drawers on, girl, it ain't worth the fight

By the time you drop them I'll be gone

And you'll be right where they fall the rest of your life

 

First lines I thoughtof, great verse, great song.

[Degenerex]

"He kept a load gun in the closet

And another one in the dresser drawer,

Just in the case the one in the closet didn't make a big enough hole"

 

"Saw you standing in the hallway, red plastic cup, and one of those big long cigarettes

You asked me if I could play you some Dylan

I said

[myboyblue]

"Daddy tell me another story

Tell me about the lows and the highs

Tell me how to tell the difference between what they tell me is the truth or a lie

Tell me why the ones who have so much make the ones who don't go mad

With the same skin stretched over their white bones and the same jug in their hand"

 

You see? Already repeating each other.

[Degenerex]

You see? Already repeating each other.

 

Very true. The only solution - Cooley needs to write more songs!

 

If any of the Truckers need a solo album, its him.

 

To be fair "you oughta be a silent film star, keep that pretty little trap shut" was mentioned many, many times in the Westerberg thread - and rightfully so.

[CortezTheKiller]

Got Decoration Day on the turntable right now and "When the Pin Hits the Shell" is such a great fuckin' song.

[myboyblue]

Very true. The only solution - Cooley needs to write more songs!

 

If any of the Truckers need a solo album, its him.

 

I would fucking LOVE that. Hell, i'd take a solo show in Chicago some time. My interpretation is that he is more than content with his output. He must have a pocket full of outtakes he could put out. Although, a couple of the songs on the latest probably should have been outtakes.

[Mrs. Peel]

"You say you're tired of me taking you for granted

Waiting' up till the last minute to call you up and see what you want to do

Well you're only fifteen, girl, you ain't got no secretary

And "for granted" is a mighty big word for a country girl like you

You know it's just your Daddy talking

Cause He knows that blood red carpet at the Salem Church of Christ

Ain't gonna ever see no wedding between me and you"

 

Fucking fantastic.

[CortezTheKiller]

I would fucking LOVE that. Hell, i'd take a solo show in Chicago some time. My interpretation is that he is more than content with his output. He must have a pocket full of outtakes he could put out. Although, a couple of the songs on the latest probably should have been outtakes.

You need to check this out then.

[Degenerex]

"I don't know why they even bother putting this highway on the map

Anybody that's ever been on it knows exactly where they're at"

[CortezTheKiller]

Mr. Phillips never blew enough hot air to need a little gold plated paperweight

He promised him a Cadillac and put the wind in Carl's face

He did just what he said he was gonna do and the money came in sacks

New contracts and Carl Perkins' Cadillac

- Carl Perkins Cadillac

 

If I could have one wish right now

I'd be about as half as tough as I pretend I am

- Space City

[Degenerex]

"Mr Phillips never said anything behind nobody's back.

Like 'dammit Elvis don't he know, he ain't no Johnny Cash?"

-Carl Perkins Caddy

 

"Dead is dead and it ain't no different than walking around if you ain't living

Living in fear's just another way of dying before your time"

-Shut Up and Get on the Plane

[myboyblue]

You need to check this out then.

 

Yes, I saw that on Southern Shelter and downloaded awhile back. Great stuff. I'd love to see this guy tour a bit on his own like Patterson does. The days of seeing them in a really small club in Chicago has passed so seeing them solo is about the only opportunity we have.

[myboyblue]

The only possible song that get me to give a rat's ass about car racing. Pumped to see these guys again tonight....

 

Daddy's Cup

 

Before I could walk, I had a wrench in my hand

I was my Mama's little angel and my Daddy's second chance

He went end over end the first year he went pro

Lost part of his eyesight and he couldn't race no more

 

But he never lost his touch when he got underneath the hood

He knew how to make them run and he knew one day he would

See his name in victory lane and engraved on that cup

Just like all them other crazy fools with racing in their blood

 

He would put me on his lap when he'd drive and I'd take the wheel

He'd say "What do you think about that son? How does she feel?

You just wait till them little legs get long enough to reach the gas

Once you put her on the floor one time there ain't no turning back"

 

Every Saturday, he'd take me out to the garage

He'd take an empty bucket and fill it full of engine parts

He's sit me down and pour em out in front of me on the floor

I'd have to tell him what each one was and what each one was for

 

We'd jump into the car and go down to the race that night

He'd tell me what each driver was doing wrong and what each one did right

He could always pick the winner before they ever took a curve

#3 might have the car but 43 has got the nerve

 

Before I turned 18 Daddy said "Now pretty soon

You'll be old enough to drive but I'll leave it up to you

I taught you all about it, taught you everything I know

You gotta have a car to do it and you gotta work and buy your own"

 

The first one I bought was a Mustang #2

Nobody kept'em any longer than they kept a pair of shoes

They started showing up at every used car lot in town

A V-8 on a go-cart, easy terms, no money down

 

Me and Daddy and my uncle took her home and tore her down

Checked her out real good, cleaned her up and bored her out

Took out all the seats, pulled the carpet off the floor

Knocked out all the glass and welded up the doors

 

The first time that I raced my qualifying was a shame

I started out way in the back and came back about the same

I pulled her in the pit, couldn't look my Daddy in the eye

He said "If you quit now son, it's gonna haunt you all your life"

 

It ain't about the money or even being #1

You gotta know when it's all over you did the best you could've done

Knowing that it's in you and you never let it out

Is worse than blowing any engine or any wreck you'll ever have

 

Since then I've wrecked a bunch of cars and I've broke a bunch of bones

It's anybody's race out there and I've learned to race my own

I'd shove em in the wall and I'd hit em from behind

I'd let them know that I was there, I'd let them know that track was mine

 

It's been several years now since my Daddy passed away

But his picture's on my dash every time I go to race

I lost more than I won but I ain't gonna give up

Till they put me in the ground or Daddy's name's on that cup

[CortezTheKiller]

Recent interview with the man.

Can you give us a brief history of your playing career?

I started learning to play when I was about 8. My first gigs were playing on an early morning TV show hosted by Al Lester. He was a local bluegrass musician, did some sessions, and was mainly a fiddler (I mean played a mean fiddle). But like most people of his generation, could play anything good enough to make some money come out of it. He had a little shop out back of his house where he rebuilt fiddles and gave lessons and I was one of his students. I was on his show 3 times when I was about 9 or 10.

 

I formed a few bands with guys from high school and maybe played 1 or 2 gigs with each and then lost interest for a while. I was a lousy student and my parents always used that as an excuse to put a stop to any of my rock 'n' roll ambitions. I can't say I blame them. They were afraid I would fall in with the wrong crowd and end up playing dive bars, sleeping on filthy floors, and coming home with nothing to show for it. And just to show them, I spent 20 years doing just that!

 

What inspired you to start playing guitar?

I was so young when I decided I wanted to play guitar, I don't remember what it was. It was probably something on TV.

 

What was your first electric guitar?

My first electric was a UNIVOX. It was a strat body with 3 humbuckers and a neck like a fence post. The amp was a pignose 1x12. I played my first bar gig with that set up.

 

What are your top 5 favorite records?

As far as albums I like... I like every album anybody had passion to make and disregarded what anybody had to say about it. I know there are more than 5.

 

[myboyblue]

Do you have any unusual hobbies, skills, or pastimes you'd like to share with us?

This used to be my hobby, but I fucked it up by trying to make a living out of it. I'm looking for a new one.

 

Do you have any advice for up and coming players?

My advice to up and coming players is look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Do I hate anybody bad enough to do this to myself?" If the answer is yes, buy a sleeping bag. If It's no, get a job.