Classic Cooley lyrics

[joelle]

You pack a purty mean punch for such a pretty little dish

aces.

[Nobody Girl]

Uncle Frank couldn't read or write
so there was no note or letter found when he died
just a rope around his neck
and the kitchen table turned on it's side.

I was listening to Uncle Frank today and thinking about how awesome Cooley is.

Anyway, here are some I don't think have been mentioned:

So 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's gone and I'm just floating
**************************************************************************************
If I could have one wish right now
I'd be about as half as tough as I pretend I am
**************************************************************************************
They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong
I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
**************************************************************************************
One belt loop away from Sunday night's news
**************************************************************************************
Screaming engines, shooting flames
Dirty needles and cheap cocaine
Some gal's old man with a gun
To me it's all the same

[Duke Silver]

The great thing about Cooley is that you can pretty much grab any piece of any lyric at random, and chances are it's going to be a killer line. It's harder to find a bad Cooley lyric (are there any?) than a classic one, IMO.

[Sirk]

Just cuz I don't run my mouth, it don't mean I got nothin' to say

[joelle]

The great thing about Cooley is that you can pretty much grab any piece of any lyric at random, and chances are it's going to be a killer line. It's harder to find a bad Cooley lyric (are there any?) than a classic one, IMO.

umm,
bob
pretty much bad.
sorry
song sucks. in my mind and ears.

[Duke Silver]

The great thing about Cooley is that you can pretty much grab any piece of any lyric at random, and chances are it's going to be a killer line. It's harder to find a bad Cooley lyric (are there any?) than a classic one, IMO.

umm,
bob
pretty much bad.
sorry
song sucks. in my mind and ears.

Other than the "he might kneel..." line, I think Bob is ok. But that line is...unfortunate.

[TruckerClown]

"for granted"'s a mighty big word for a country girl like you...

[beantownbubba]

The great thing about Cooley is that you can pretty much grab any piece of any lyric at random, and chances are it's going to be a killer line. It's harder to find a bad Cooley lyric (are there any?) than a classic one, IMO.

umm,
bob
pretty much bad.
sorry
song sucks. in my mind and ears.

Other than the "he might kneel..." line, I think Bob is ok. But that line is...unfortunate.

Disagree! Not a great song by any stretch, but amusing, a dead on character sketch, a "cute" line (he might kneel) and enough ambiguity to generate a pretty lengthy thread back on 9B.

[Slipkid42]

I like Bob, too. I'm not too keen on the horse pony song, though.

[joelle]

Disagree! Not a great song by any stretch, but amusing, a dead on character sketch, a "cute" line (he might kneel) and enough ambiguity to generate a pretty lengthy thread back on 9B.

he might kneel but he don't bend over?
cute?
are you hearing it like i'm hearing it? ( it sounds homophobic to me. mind you, I AM NOT saying cooley is any such thing. cooley seems far too intelligent to be such. it is just a cringe worthy line: similar to bitch slapped adn abandoned...)

definitely NOT worthy to be in the "classic/best/great/favorite" cooley lyrics thread.
now beantown, if you ( or clams ) want to start a 'mediocre cooley lyrics' thread,
you can list bob there.

Bob goes to church every Sunday, Every Sunday that the fish ain't biting
Bob never has to have dinner with the preacher,
cause Bob never bothered getting married
He likes to drink a beer or two every now and again,
he always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Bob ain't light in the loafers, he might kneel but he never bends over

Bob takes care of his mama, she's the only one he lets call him Robert
She don't drive anymore so he takes her to the store
and keeps her yard looking just like she wants it
Every week at the beauty shop Bob's mama hears
of another woman made another man disappear
Robert ain't exactly scared of women, he's just got his own way of living

Bob's still got an antenna on a pole
two channels come in, two more come and go
He used to watch the news but he don't anymore,
ain't none of it new it's the same as before
He figures all any of it's any good for is keeping every bored
till there ain't nobody like Bob anymore

Bob takes care of his mama
she's a mess but he feels like he oughta
How big a mess today? Ask Bob he'll say,
“She's a big one and she's gonna be a lotta”
He likes to drink a beer or two every now and again,
he always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Bob ain't light in the loafers, he might kneel but he never bends over


anyway ( it reminds me of Queen of the Supermarket. springsteen)
gah.
sometimes, it is very difficult to capture the most simple, everyday things in a song ( or a photo, or a story, etc.)
quite often, the truckers do it very very well,
but this is a fail to me.

i think it is boring.
and as a song, musically, very bland.
total skipper.
so
if this was a favorite thread ( plus one, minus one...i would vote 10 tens and bob would be going, going, a goner. )




ALSO
i find a delightful irony
in the fact that eyes like glue
is basically a 'remake' of horse and pony?

and, for the record,i find both of these songs hands down better than bob.



just sayin'

[RevMatt]

Disagree! Not a great song by any stretch, but amusing, a dead on character sketch, a "cute" line (he might kneel) and enough ambiguity to generate a pretty lengthy thread back on 9B.

he might kneel but he don't bend over?
cute?
are you hearing it like i'm hearing it? ( it sounds homophobic to me. mind you, I AM NOT saying cooley is any such thing. cooley seems far too intelligent to be such. it is just a cringe worthy line: similar to bitch slapped adn abandoned...)

definitely NOT worthy to be in the "classic/best/great/favorite" cooley lyrics thread.
now beantown, if you ( or clams ) want to start a 'mediocre cooley lyrics' thread,
you can list bob there.

Bob goes to church every Sunday, Every Sunday that the fish ain't biting
Bob never has to have dinner with the preacher,
cause Bob never bothered getting married
He likes to drink a beer or two every now and again,
he always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Bob ain't light in the loafers, he might kneel but he never bends over

Bob takes care of his mama, she's the only one he lets call him Robert
She don't drive anymore so he takes her to the store
and keeps her yard looking just like she wants it
Every week at the beauty shop Bob's mama hears
of another woman made another man disappear
Robert ain't exactly scared of women, he's just got his own way of living

Bob's still got an antenna on a pole
two channels come in, two more come and go
He used to watch the news but he don't anymore,
ain't none of it new it's the same as before
He figures all any of it's any good for is keeping every bored
till there ain't nobody like Bob anymore

Bob takes care of his mama
she's a mess but he feels like he oughta
How big a mess today? Ask Bob he'll say,
“She's a big one and she's gonna be a lotta”
He likes to drink a beer or two every now and again,
he always had more dogs than he ever had friends
Bob ain't light in the loafers, he might kneel but he never bends over


anyway ( it reminds me of Queen of the Supermarket. springsteen)
gah.
sometimes, it is very difficult to capture the most simple, everyday things in a song ( or a photo, or a story, etc.)
quite often, the truckers do it very very well,
but this is a fail to me.

i think it is boring.
and as a song, musically, very bland.
total skipper.
so
if this was a favorite thread ( plus one, minus one...i would vote 10 tens and bob would be going, going, a goner. )




ALSO
i find a delightful irony
in the fact that eyes like glue
is basically a 'remake' of horse and pony?

and, for the record,i find both of these songs hands down better than bob.



just sayin'

I am a fan of Bob. And I don't think the song is homophobic. The narrative point of view is the people from his small town talking about Bob. The question comes up, is Bob gay (light in the loafers). No, probably not. He's just a guy who has always had more dogs than friends, who likes fishing, etc...

[beantownbubba]

Of course, joelle, pretty much every one of the thousands of posts on this site is an individual's 2 cents about something. Don't see what that adds or takes away from the convo.

I don't see it as homophobic at all. I agree that it's a reference to homosexuality [I recall that some folks on 9B disagreed about that] but that doesn't make it homophobic.

As i said, i don't think it's a great song, and it's not a personal favorite. But i do think it's a good song, simply better than the opinion expressed by you and Duke. Which doesn't mean my opinion is any better, just different in this case. And perhaps not coincidentally, I'm not a fan of either "eyes like glue" or "little pony". <shrug> Not to be punny, but as my mother likes to say, "that's what makes horse racing."

[Slipkid42]

I don't care that much for Eyes Like Glue either (though it might grow on me some). If we're keepin' score, my 3 least favorite Cooley songs would be Horse & Pony, Eyes Like Glue & Bob, but I find Bob kinda quaint and folksy.
I don't get homophobia outta this song. I hear a small town guy commentating on another local guy, who is generally liked; but is nonetheless different.

Homophobia is often a misnomer, IMO; when used to describe how someone feels about same sex people. Rarely is a straight person afraid of gay people, or of what might happen if this sorta thing were to spiral outta control. I find that most straight people are tolerant of the needs of gay people, and at worst just don't understand their point of view. More like homoconfusia.

POP! (that was the sound of a can of worms opening).

[joelle]

i completely disagree with the last 3 opinions about the interpretation of bob.
therefore, i will not comment on it anymore.
i will leave it as incredibly drastic interpretations of a song. nothing more nothing less.




carrying on
"between your mama's drive and daddy's belt
it don't take smarts to learn to tune out what hurts more than helps"

[Swamp]

I like Bob. Reminds me of my youngest brother who's 46, not married, thinks about
nothing but hunting and fishing, and spends all his free time with my mama. It blew
me away the first time they played it opening night of DU.
I like Little Pony and Great Big Horse. Reminds me of my Uncle Memphis' horse
farm in Brewton Ala. We lived there while my dad was in Veitnam. My cousins and
brothers would camp out in the pastures at night and tell all kinds of dirty horse
jokes and stories. I would like to see it live sometime.
Not a big fan of eyes like glue though.

[beantownbubba]

i completely disagree with the last 3 opinions about the interpretation of bob.
therefore, i will not comment on it anymore.
i will leave it as incredibly drastic interpretations of a song. nothing more nothing less.




carrying on
"between your mama's drive and daddy's belt
it don't take smarts to learn to tune out what hurts more than helps"

Joelle, i probably have as little interest in debating the meaning and merits of "Bob" as you do, so i'm quite content to let that drop. But your post strikes me as obnoxious. I know you well enough to give you the benefit of the doubt so i'm not gonna get all crazy about it, but I read your post as saying " i'm not gonna demean myself by wasting time w/ the likes of you, who obviously doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

[joelle]

i completely disagree with the last 3 opinions about the interpretation of bob.
therefore, i will not comment on it anymore.
i will leave it as incredibly drastic interpretations of a song. nothing more nothing less.




carrying on
"between your mama's drive and daddy's belt
it don't take smarts to learn to tune out what hurts more than helps"

Joelle, i probably have as little interest in debating the meaning and merits of "Bob" as you do, so i'm quite content to let that drop. But your post strikes me as obnoxious. I know you well enough to give you the benefit of the doubt so i'm not gonna get all crazy about it, but I read your post as saying " i'm not gonna demean myself by wasting time w/ the likes of you, who obviously doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

wow
obnoxious huh?

i was not talking about anything other than "the interpretation" of the song. like i SAID nothing more. nothing less.

interesting.

obnoxious is your choice of words. hmmmm.

if i wanted to say or meant "i'm not gonna demean myself by wasting time w/ the likes of you, who obviously doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."
then i would have said "i'm not gonna demean myself by wasting time w/ the likes of you, who obviously doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

nothing about what i wrote indicates i think you do not know what you are talking about.
i very plainly stated that we interpreted the song drastically different. neither was right or wrong.

again
it all comes down to interpretation.

[Smitty]

Bob's a fun little song - I enjoy it for it's simplicity, and it hits the nail right on the head - everyone knows a Bob (or atleast I do)

[Swamp]

I've still got an antenna on a pole.
2 channels come in
2 more come and go

[Sirk]

I never really viewed the song Bob as homophobic or any such thing. The way I see it, he keeps to himself and has never been married and seemingly has no interest in women, so there are always whispers around town, as a way of explaining all this, that he may be gay. But Cooley tells us he isn't....he's just a loner. The only reason the gay thing is brought up is because people around town don't seem to understand Bob.

As for the line that Joelle dislikes to much, I just thought it was a bit of wordplay, with the latter half having different meaning than the first half. Cooley assures us that Bob "ain't light in the loafers" like the townspeople might suggest, and that he "kneels but he doesn't bend over." To me, nothing more than a winking bit of word play for people who want to take it the wrong way, but really reasserting that Bob's willing to go to church on occasion and pray ("kneel") but he has no interest in compromising his simple life or ideals ("bend over") in order to fit in with the expectations of society. So he might be willing, when convenient, to surrender himself to God, but he will never surrender himself to what society thinks he should be, whispers and snickering be damned.

[RevMatt]

My kids bust my chops because I won't get cable. They started calling me "Bob". Or else they sing "Bob" but substitue "Dad." "Dad ain't light in the loafers..." If I got them cable all they would do is sit around and watch cartoons. Instead, they need to be out fishing. Like Bob.

[Duke Silver]

Before I go down in 3DD history as a Bob hater, let me say for the record that I actually like the song. And I'd even argue that a few of the lines are classic Cooley. "He used to watch the news but he don't anymore, ain't none of it new, just the same as before. He figures all any of it's any good for is keeping everybody bored so there ain't nobody like Bob anymore." That's good stuff, and the way Cooley wraps all those words around such a simple chord progression is damn clever.

[beantownbubba]

Before I go down in 3DD history as a Bob hater, let me say for the record that I actually like the song. And I'd even argue that a few of the lines are classic Cooley. "He used to watch the news but he don't anymore, ain't none of it new, just the same as before. He figures all any of it's any good for is keeping everybody bored so there ain't nobody like Bob anymore." That's good stuff, and the way Cooley wraps all those words around such a simple chord progression is damn clever.

Cooley's phrasing is worth a thread of its own.

[Duke Silver]

Before I go down in 3DD history as a Bob hater, let me say for the record that I actually like the song. And I'd even argue that a few of the lines are classic Cooley. "He used to watch the news but he don't anymore, ain't none of it new, just the same as before. He figures all any of it's any good for is keeping everybody bored so there ain't nobody like Bob anymore." That's good stuff, and the way Cooley wraps all those words around such a simple chord progression is damn clever.

Cooley's phrasing is worth a thread of its own.

Absolutely. He'd have a great rap career in an alternate universe.

[bovine knievel]

Shit, sometimes his phrasing causes me to run outta breath when singin in the car.

[Iowan]

Bob's a fun little song - I enjoy it for it's simplicity, and it hits the nail right on the head - everyone knows a Bob (or atleast I do)

No Smitty, you were right. I think everybody knows a Bob.

[Yellow Ledbelly]

They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong
I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all

[gordonlw]

no idea if this is posted yet or not



Life ain't nothing but a blending up of all the ups and downs

[Steve French]

I am a fan of Bob. And I don't think the song is homophobic. The narrative point of view is the people from his small town talking about Bob. The question comes up, is Bob gay (light in the loafers). No, probably not. He's just a guy who has always had more dogs than friends, who likes fishing, etc...

I agree with you. Really like the song Bob. Ive always read the line "he might kneel but he never bends over" not in the sense of "Is Bob gay?" but as a character description: He kneels in church when he goes cos he has to, but he lives the rest of his life how he wants to live it. Ive thought Bob was one of those guys whose life doesnt quite turn out the way he planned it, maybe jilted at a critical age and gave up on women, maybe got fired from a job for talking back or not toeing the company line, something like that. He does it his way, and thats the way it is. I dont get the gay sex thing there. I'd only ever heard the "light in the loafers" line before in The Sopranos: Tony says it disparagingly to someone, about someone else.