Cooley's take on the fast food business, dead end jobs and (as always) more. Plus horns.

Like most Cooley songs, it;s got a couple of really good and memorable lyrics that can be interpreted a lot of different ways. About the horns: as good as they are, I love the guitars that rage beneath them.


Put your cigarette out get your hat back on,
Don’t mix up which is which
They don’t pay you enough to work,
They don’t pay me enough to bitch
The boss ain’t smart as he’d like to be,
but he ain’t nearly as dumb as you think
He just wants evolution on a budget, with a schedule to keep

Suburban four lanes move like blood through an old mans dying heart
Enough at a time to keep hope alive at the speed of a stream of tar
He bought in young and I’ve no doubt,
he’s gonna cash out with a winning deal
Trophy tail wives taking boner pill rides for the price of a happy meal

Shit shots count if the table’s tilted
Just pay the man who levels the floor
Prides what you charge a proud man for having
Shame is what you sell to a whore
Meats just meat and it’s all born dying,
some is tender and some is tough
Somebody’s gotta mop up the A-1
somebody’s gotta mop up the blood

High ground ain’t high enough to kill you quick if you fall
Idealistically speaking it sounds like you ain’t listening at all
Friday night rich is all you’re ever gonna be
until the fight in you on Monday’s gone
One more drag, tuck your hair in your hat
don’t act so surprised, and try not to look so lost

The consensus here is definitely in favor of the fast food industry but I've noticed a lot of critics think it's about the construction biz. I don't think it matters all that much though the references to A1, etc seem harder to fit into a construction site unless the condiments section of the lunch wagon has improved since I last visited a construction site.

Regardless whether this song is describing power struggles in fast food or construction, the second verse appears (to me) as a statement on the owners while the first verse presents the plight of the working man... the fourth verse explains how quickly the bottom can fall out when the powerless worker takes a moral stand... in this context, I am not entirely sure of the exact meaning of "shit shots" in the third verse (chorus?), in terms of who is the one for whom the "shot shots count" or who is "paying the man who levels the floor"... if there is an autobiographical slant, I would love to know what job Cooley is referring to!

phungi wrote:Regardless whether this song is describing power struggles in fast food or construction, the second verse appears (to me) as a statement on the owners while the first verse presents the plight of the working man... the fourth verse explains how quickly the bottom can fall out when the powerless worker takes a moral stand... in this context, I am not entirely sure of the exact meaning of "shit shots" in the third verse (chorus?), in terms of who is the one for whom the "shot shots count" or who is "paying the man who levels the floor"... if there is an autobiographical slant, I would love to know what job Cooley is referring to!

I know he has said that the worst job he ever had was fast food management so I guess he just wrote what he knew when it came to bad jobs.

On the flip side he has said that his favorite job ever besides his current one was the time he spent as a house painter. He's a better man than me. I hate to paint.

I did plenty of lyrical guessing in the EO thread. I'll have to dig it up

Shit shots count if the table’s tilted
Just pay the man who levels the floor
Prides what you charge a proud man for having
Shame is what you sell to a whore
Meats just meat and it’s all born dying,
some is tender and some is tough
Somebody’s gotta mop up the A-1
somebody’s gotta mop up the blood

What was that line from TSTAHE about Cooley's songs having essential truths or whatever? I can't think of anyone besides Cooley who could write something similar to that, or even think of it that way. Amazing.

SSC has always reminded me of playing foosball down in one of the local pubs

Smitty wrote:Shit shots count if the table’s tilted
Just pay the man who levels the floor
Prides what you charge a proud man for having
Shame is what you sell to a whore
Meats just meat and it’s all born dying,
some is tender and some is tough
Somebody’s gotta mop up the A-1
somebody’s gotta mop up the blood

What was that line from TSTAHE about Cooley's songs having essential truths or whatever? I can't think of anyone besides Cooley who could write something similar to that, or even think of it that way. Amazing.

Well that's it isn't it? Cooley's songs reflect how Cooley sees things which is entirely unique to him, until you hear them of course and then you go "ah ha!". Patterson has said something in interviews more than once something along the lines that Cooley was a songwriter before he ever wrote songs. I can see that because his songs are such a reflection of him. It' like the "chicken wing puke" line in 3DD. I don't have the slightest idea how one writes something like that, or like this one. I am in awe though.

I have my own theories about Cooley's process and they will likely remain theories because I am under the impression that he doesn't even discuss his songwriting process with other members of the band. He just brings a song to the band when it is finished and they arrange it.

My theory is that he comes up with his best Cooleyism lines independently and when he has a song where it will work he modifies it to make it fit.

RevMatt wrote:I have my own theories about Cooley's process and they will likely remain theories because I am under the impression that he doesn't even discuss his songwriting process with other members of the band. He just brings a song to the band when it is finished and they arrange it.

My theory is that he comes up with his best Cooleyism lines independently and when he has a song where it will work he modifies it to make it fit.

Well he said as much about this particular song. I don't know if that's how it works every time. But he said for a long time all this song was was the line "evolution on a budget." That was it. He just liked the way it sounded and it was a few years before he fit it into what became this song.

I think it was David Barbe who said Cooley writes in bursts of inspiration. That seems to jibe with what we know for sure, that he doesn't write a ton of songs or at least nowhere near the pace of Patterson who seems to a write a song a day.

Then there are songs like Gravity's Gone, where he's not even sure what the songs about as he writes it. Or at least that's what he said about that song.

Hard to say. It may not be the same every time. I know I'm not going to ask him if I ever meet him. I too doubt that he would give you a straight answer and truth be told I don't really want to know. However he does it I love it and it's totally original.

The testament of a truly good song with some truly good guitar work....

The song inspires an office worker (with his door wide open) to sit at his desk in his office while listening on headphones and break out into full-fledged air guitar.

Yes, I just did this without realizing while listening to SSC! When I did notice my arm moving up and down, I put down my imaginary Fender and wrote this post. I don't think anyone else saw me. Shhh! Wait till they see me sit at my desk and play drums like Brad Morgan!

Happy Friday!

I'm usually just the opposite, but I like the faster tempo of this as played live versus the album tempo. First couple of times I heard it live I was skeptical but they won me over. And it's not only the energy, it just works better played faster. True opinion.

Markalanbishop wrote:I'm usually just the opposite, but I like the faster tempo of this as played live versus the album tempo. First couple of times I heard it live I was skeptical but they won me over. And it's not only the energy, it just works better played faster. True opinion.

I guess I haven't heard this live on enough occasions to notice the tempo discrepancy between live and album. I have a good friend who is a DBT nut, like me, yet he really is not a fan of this song. He always says, "What the hell is a shit shot!"

The song has never been an absolute favorite of mine, but there a days when I really admire the guitar work in it.

Beaverdam wrote:"What the hell is a shit shot!"

This is fully explored and explained in another thread. I believe it's the EO album thread.

beantownbubba wrote:

Beaverdam wrote:"What the hell is a shit shot!"

This is fully explored and explained in another thread. I believe it's the EO album thread.

I guess he never hung out in pool halls. or bars.

Gator McKlusky wrote:

beantownbubba wrote:

Beaverdam wrote:"What the hell is a shit shot!"

This is fully explored and explained in another thread. I believe it's the EO album thread.

I guess he never hung out in pool halls. or bars.

It's "slop" here.

Iowa Nice, I guess.

I know this thread is old, just happened upon, but a "shit shot" is when you pocket a pool ball that you didn't call (in 8 ball). You don't get credit for it.

justfloatin wrote:I know this thread is old, just happened upon, but a "shit shot" is when you pocket a pool ball that you didn't call (in 8 ball). You don't get credit for it.

Of course you do, did you even listen to the song?

Shit is also interchangeable with piss in this context.

Smitty wrote:
Of course you do, did you even listen to the song?

Yea, Cooley just told you the secret to climbing the ladder. To becoming the one mopping up A1 and cashing out with winning deals.

So the story has kind of a happy ending:

Neither Boss Nor Employee Paid Enough To Deal With Each Other