One of my favorite Isbell songs. I always thought of this one as a younger, more modern-day cousin to the Buford/Boys From Alabama/Cottonseed trio. Great bass line. Badass all the way around.



Let this be a lesson to you girl: Don't come around where you know you don't belong.
They're riding on the avenue and probably coming after you and they all look mean and strong.
Mean and strong like liquor.
Mean and strong like fear.
Strong like the people from South Alabama and mean like the people from here.
Take it from me... We ain't never gonna change.

Daddy used to empty out his shotgun shells and fill 'em full of black-eyed peas.
He'd aim real low and tear out your ankles or rip right through your knees.
There ain't much traffic on the highway. There ain't much traffic on the lake.
The ATF and the ABI got everything they could take.
Take it from me... They didn't take it from me.

We ain't never gonna change.
We ain't doin' nothin' wrong.
We ain't never gonna change
so shut your mouth and play along.

I thought about going in the army. I thought about going overseas.
I wouldn't have trouble with a piss test; only problem is my bad left knee.
My brother got picked up at Parker's, got him a ride in a new Crown Vic.
They said that he was movin' on a federal level but they couldn't really make it stick.
Take it from me...

We ain't never gonna change.
We ain't doin' nothin' wrong.
We ain't never gonna change
so shut your mouth and play along.

You can throw me in the Colbert County jailhouse.
You can throw me off the Wilson Dam
but there ain't much difference in the man I wanna be and the man I really am.

We ain't never gonna change.

I have a buddy who doesn't like DBT but loves this song.

I like it a lot too. Jason sounds a little like Tom Petty on this one to me.

I really love this song but it reminds me of some of my relatives in Alabama (LA) that ain't never gonna change.

The Dirty South was the first Trucker album I purchased and this track was the one that initially jumped out at me. I always thought the band sounded a bit like Crazy Horse on this one. It's heavy and slow, just kind of plods along. Love the opening strum and how the song just kind of settles into a groove. Some great guitar blasts scattered throughout. Jason has a real confident swagger in his vocal delivery. One of his finest moments in the band for sure.

cortez the killer wrote:The Dirty South was the first Trucker album I purchased and this track was the one that initially jumped out at me. I always thought the band sounded a bit like Crazy Horse on this one. It's heavy and slow, just kind of plods along. Love the opening strum and how the song just kind of settles into a groove. Some great guitar blasts scattered throughout. Jason has a real confident swagger in his vocal delivery. One of his finest moments in the band for sure.

The Crazy Horse thing jumped out at me, too. Probably because the chord progression is pretty close (if not identical) to Rockin in the Free World.

I like NGC quite a bit. Reminds me of This Fucking Job, in that it's sort of a "gateway song." Gives you a taste of what DBT is all about (great storytelling, the southern thing, balls out rock), without overwhelming newbies the way a song like Puttin People on the Moon or The Great Car Dealer War might.

This song is super badass like Clams says. I can't think of another way to describe it.

Some great analysis so far.

Clams, NGC is definitely the contemporary cousin to the TBFA suite.

Cortez, Jason absolutely has great swagger on this one - it's my favorite JI/DBT track. The opening to the song kills it.

Duke, great idea to use NGC as a "gateway song."

I love the "got a ride in a new Crown Vic . . . moving on a federal level but couldn't really make it stick" line. I also love how they then drop the chorus and allow the music to take center stage. The stetches at 3:37 to 3:50, and 4:45 to the end, are some of my favorite examples of 3 distinct guitar rock.

I like this one ok, but have never loved it. The melody has a little bit of the "ear worm" thing going on where it sticks in your head for hours like an unwelcome guest. Probably my least favorite song on TDS.

I love this song. It's full of the bad-boy thrill that good girls love.*











*taken to the scary nth degree...too far...

Daddy's a mean sonofabitch

Dirty South was my second DBT album. The first time I heard this song, I couldn't help but think that the singer was snarling the entire fucking time. Hell yes.

"Mean and strong like liquor" pops into my head more than 99% of DBT lyrics.

This is a great song. Still probably #5 of Isbell's for me, which really shows he great he can be.

So, does the woman have a real problem, or is the narrator just playing her?

but there ain't much difference in the man I wanna be and the man I really am

has been my quote on FB and before that myspace for years and years.

I love the live versions of this song Jason has been doing the past few years. The 30 seconds or so of soloing before the start, the overdriven main riff, the Stone Free portion in the middle, the rocking out at the end....just great stuff.

Tequila Cowboy wrote:I like this one ok, but have never loved it. The melody has a little bit of the "ear worm" thing going on where it sticks in your head for hours like an unwelcome guest. Probably my least favorite song on TDS.

Whoa... I think Zip City has gotten ahold of TC's password.

Good song.......I just have never loved it. There are too many other classics on TDS for me for this one to really stick out.

Clams wrote:

Tequila Cowboy wrote:I like this one ok, but have never loved it. The melody has a little bit of the "ear worm" thing going on where it sticks in your head for hours like an unwelcome guest. Probably my least favorite song on TDS.

Whoa... I think Zip City has gotten ahold of TC's password.

Hey, I like this song!

400 Unit>DBT

Zip City wrote:

Clams wrote:

Tequila Cowboy wrote:I like this one ok, but have never loved it. The melody has a little bit of the "ear worm" thing going on where it sticks in your head for hours like an unwelcome guest. Probably my least favorite song on TDS.

Whoa... I think Zip City has gotten ahold of TC's password.

Hey, I like this song!

So let me get this straight, I like virtually EVERY DBT song but when I'm lukewarm on a couple of sacred cows I get shit?

Tequila Cowboy wrote:So let me get this straight, I like virtually EVERY DBT song but when I'm lukewarm on a couple of sacred cows I get shit?

Now your gettin' it!

Smitty wrote:400 Unit>DBT

In regards to live versions of Never Gonna Change I completely agree.

ScottyC wrote:but there ain't much difference in the man I wanna be and the man I really am

has been my quote on FB and before that myspace for years and years.

so true

John A Arkansawyer wrote:So, does the woman have a real problem, or is the narrator just playing her?

I'm still wondering about this. Is he just trying to get over on her? Trying to get over on her but she has real enemies? Or is he completely sincere? We never do see her after the first bit, so maybe she's just a convenient plot device. And I do tend to overinterpret Jason's songs in particular.