ABAAC Theory

[Smitty]

This thread has descended into crazy talk. There are people out there who don't like Never Gonna Change and John Henry??

don't we have enough songs about john henry the steel drivin man?

just my opinion.

don't we have enough songs about drinking/cheating/living hard? Probably, but if done in a new & interesting way, there's always room for more -

as far as Never Gonna Change goes, I always found it kinda, umm, cheesy? Shut your mouth and play along always made me kinda cringe - however I love the 400 Unit speeding it up, makes it sound meaner and more serious.

[beantownbubba]

This thread has descended into crazy talk. There are people out there who don't like Never Gonna Change and John Henry??

don't we have enough songs about john henry the steel drivin man?

just my opinion.

just your commie pinko opinion you mean

[garnersound]

Who's Eugene?

not sure.
but....
he should be careful with that axe.

[Maluca3]

Well, I rarely listen to any of the DBT studio albums anyway, but I never listen to ABAAC. Don't like it. Some songs on it? Yes, love them. Album? No. To me it doesn't flow right somehow. So, I think that for it to be decided later on that this was some misunderstood gem, well, I don't see it.

[rlipps]

Who's Eugene?

Maybe he's the same guy as Patterson's buddy Gene that drove them home from the BOC concert in Let There Be Rock

[Duke Silver]

Well, I rarely listen to any of the DBT studio albums anyway

This thread has descended into crazy talk.

[TruckerClown]

The strongest argument for Jason having the "best song on an album" would have to be Decoration Day - while that album is packed with classics from beginning to end, I think both Decoration Day and Outfit are the heart and soul of that album.

"Where the Devil Won't Stay", "Carl Perkins Caddy" and "Sands of Iwo Jima" are just too strong on Dirty South (although GDLL and NGC are right there).

"Easy on Yourself" is one of my favorite songs because I like being hard on myself, but it and Daylight aren't close to the best song on ABAAC.

[Smitty]

The strongest argument for Jason having the "best song on an album" would have to be Decoration Day - while that album is packed with classics from beginning to end, I think both Decoration Day and Outfit are the heart and soul of that album.

Heathens is no doubt the best song on DD IMO

I'm with those who say Jason's best songs are on TDS - Danko/Manuel & GDLL, and John Henry ain't far behind.

[Maluca3]

Well, I rarely listen to any of the DBT studio albums anyway

This thread has descended into crazy talk.

Hah. Well, given that the number of live recordings I have dwarfs the number of studio albums, they just don't make it in rotation. I like the live sound, especially from shows I've been at.

[Iowan]

Marry Me is the best song on DD.

I read a review that once referred to it as a "rock and roll missile".

[Penny Lane]

Not to change the subject, but has anybody here ever known someone who got rich selling Amway? You'd think that out of all of these millionaires they hype I would know one or two.

Pyramid scheme[/quote]


It's not a pyramid, it's a triangle.[/quote]

[Gator McKlusky]

No stealth bragging intended, but I'm so happy to say I say one of the few performances of the title track at the Newport Music Hall in Cols. I fucking LOVE that song...maybe almost as much as "World of Hurt".

I like the title track also; I saw it live in Gainesville in March 2006. It reminds me of a lost 70's classic rock track like Joe Walsh's Turn To Stone or something.

[Swamp]

No stealth bragging intended, but I'm so happy to say I say one of the few performances of the title track at the Newport Music Hall in Cols. I fucking LOVE that song...maybe almost as much as "World of Hurt".

I like the title track also; I saw it live in Gainesville in March 2006. It reminds me of a lost 70's classic rock track like Joe Walsh's Turn To Stone or something.

We were at that show. Any chance you got a set list. They did Rebel that night
if I recall correctly. One of only 2 I don't have a set list for.

[Gator McKlusky]

I do not have a setlist--All I can remember for sure is Birmingham was the first song and Jason did TVA and they did World of Hurt. Rose Hill Drive was the opener. (I do have a setlist for the March 2005 show also at the Common Grounds--if you need that)

[Swamp]

I do not have a setlist--All I can remember for sure is Birmingham was the first song and Jason did TVA and they did World of Hurt. Rose Hill Drive was the opener. (I do have a setlist for the March 2005 show also at the Common Grounds--if you need that)

I got that one. Killer set list! Mrs. S's 1st show.
The only other set list i ain't got was from the
'05 Fla/Ga Game River Walk show in Jax.

[Gator McKlusky]

I was at that FL/GA show too but I don't have a setlist either. My least fave DBT show though no fault of the band. It was cold and they were delayed for an hour because of stage issues or something so they could only play for for 90 minutes since they had to stop at midnight because it was outside. A bunch of asshole fratboys there too who were not into the band at all. I was also very disappointed they did not have time to play Louisiana 1927 which was in heavy rotation right after Katrina. But the next night in St. Pete was a killer show so all was good. (and they did Louisiana 1927)

[sactochris]

I love that this thread has had such a good run. I love Blessing. It was hearing Blessing streamed on Myspace that made me a DBT fan. I had known of them, and had even kept a watchful eye on them via the internet ever since reading Mr Hood's name in the credits for a Slobberbone album that he sung on. By the time the stream got to Aftermath U.S.A. It was over and I was done for.

[John A Arkansawyer]

It took me a while to realize that "Never Gonna Change" was not a Cooley song. (Is there a smiley for cringing? I think someone's going to hit me over the head with a rubber chicken.) Didn't stop me from loving it. Isbell seems to have picked up that remarkable way of crowding words into lines that Cooley has. In fact, I've thought for a while that some of Cooley's songwriting was rubbing off on Isbell, and that might have been a source of friction. But back to ABAAC: My daughter told me, while we were listening to it on her way to first grade that, next to cotton candy, "Gravity's Gone" was her favorite thing in the whole world.

[beantownbubba]

It took me a while to realize that "Never Gonna Change" was not a Cooley song. (Is there a smiley for cringing? I think someone's going to hit me over the head with a rubber chicken.) Didn't stop me from loving it. Isbell seems to have picked up that remarkable way of crowding words into lines that Cooley has. In fact, I've thought for a while that some of Cooley's songwriting was rubbing off on Isbell, and that might have been a source of friction. But back to ABAAC: My daughter told me, while we were listening to it on her way to first grade that, next to cotton candy, "Gravity's Gone" was her favorite thing in the whole world.

ALSUM! That girl's got a great future ahead of her But look out when she figures out why the small dicks have all the cocaine

[John A Arkansawyer]

But back to ABAAC: My daughter told me, while we were listening to it on her way to first grade that, next to cotton candy, "Gravity's Gone" was her favorite thing in the whole world.

ALSUM! That girl's got a great future ahead of her

I wish to god I'd taken notes as she told me, scene by scene, the music video she wanted to make for "You've Got Another".

But look out when she figures out why the small dicks have all the cocaine

When she's speaking to me, Mrs. Arkansawyer has discussed making the daughter a CD of songs she likes to play in the van. Then she says, "But maybe not that 'Gravity's Gone' song." Pause. "Although we can always tell her there's nothing wrong with champagne and jobs."

[ramonz]

Who's Eugene?

Maybe he's the same guy as Patterson's buddy Gene that drove them home from the BOC concert in Let There Be Rock

OK, this may be totally nuts, and I don't want to get too deep on a Thursday night, but here are my thoughts on "Eugene."

Knowing all that went down during the recording of ABAAC, seeing them once in Durham, NC (September '06, I think) where a checked-out Jason literally did not speak to a single member of the band the whole show, and seeing the finger post The Day After, I always thought I recognized hidden jabs in some of the lyrics in a few songs on ABAAC.

To me, Eugene referred to the "Eugene, you Genius" thing. Some may disagree, but I think Jason was as close to a musical genius as they came back then, especially for as young as he was in the early days of DBT.

1. Watch out Eugene (Jason) you don't make things things worse....

2. Filling your head with delusions of glory (we can all recall the "rockstar" Jason at shows - he added a TON, but there were times when it was too much, then there was his solo record in the can, etc.)

3. We're all so in love with the artifice - we don't dare look too close (sweeping the tensions in the band under the rug b/c their popularity is growing)

4. Got to do what you got to do (leave for solo career)

5. It's a blessing and a curse (having this immense talent in the band was pushing Patterson, Cooley, and Jason to write the very best material, but....)


And then there's Easy on Yourself. Is this possibly Jason's response?

1. Ten years down the road you'll find you're left behind (reminds me of Don Henley's The Long Run challenge to Glenn Frey)

2. This one might be all that you have left (better make it happen w/ DBT, old feller, b/c you ain't getting any younger)


Like I said, I am probably way off base here. But who knows. Frankly, I'm surprised that Jason lasted as long as he did in DBT. If I'm Cooley, on some levels I'm probably not too happy that The Genius is having as much influence as he is. Sometimes influence in a band can be a zero sum game.

ABAAC has grown on me over the years. Bottom half of their canon, for sure, but still displaying the extraordinarly songwriting skills (Gravity's Gone, Goodbye, Little Bonnie, Space City, ABAAC, and World of Hurt) of DBT's two past and future genuises.

[Zip City]

I think "When the Well Runs Dry" is pretty clearly Jason's "breaking up with the band" song

[Iowan]

I think "When the Well Runs Dry" is pretty clearly Jason's "breaking up with the band" song

I think it's definitely a breaking up song, I just never took it as directed at the entire band.

[Smitty]

I think "When the Well Runs Dry" is pretty clearly Jason's "breaking up with the band" song

I think it's definitely a breaking up song, I just never took it as directed at the entire band.

On the Tres Tangled Truckers DVD, he says something to the affect that this song was written about a female songwriter friend of jason's; it's about the "self-sabotage" that artists practice in order to get inspiration.

[Steve French]

I'd love to hear "Goodbye" live some day

Me too. It always hits me hard, because it reminds me of my cousin, who I was extremely close to until I was about 20-21. Then he got sucked into Quixtar/Amway, and he's a completely different human being than the guy I grew up with, and in a really bad way. If you know anyone who's gotten drawn into that crap, you'd understand.

Anyways, it's crazy because the guy lives across town from me, and we never see each other at all. Ever. The only reason I've heard from him in the past 2 years was when he was desperate to sell some fake red bull, or toilet paper, or something.

fake toilet paper = world of hurt right there.

Whatever else its perceived lacks might be, its got Gravity's Gone and World of Hurt.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Whatever else its perceived lacks might be, its got Gravity's Gone and World of Hurt.

Yeah, and Little Bonnie, and Aftermath USA, and Space City (Booker T covers your song and that's a hell of a compliment). Even if I skip a song or two on that one now and then, the high points are awfully high.

[Smitty]

Whatever else its perceived lacks might be, its got Gravity's Gone and World of Hurt.

Yeah, and Little Bonnie, and Aftermath USA, and Space City (Booker T covers your song and that's a hell of a compliment). Even if I skip a song or two on that one now and then, the high points are awfully high.

Don't forget Feb 14! This is the discussion that will never die.

I'm also a fan of Daylight

[Tequila Cowboy]

Some days I think Goodbye might be my favorite song on the record.

Question:

Why do nearly all the debates about DBT start with this record?

[John A Arkansawyer]

Question:

Why do nearly all the debates about DBT start with this record?

I blame Patterson Hood for telling us it's their most divisive record. I'm sure it was strictly uncontroversial till then.

Or because there's so much meta-emotion around it--not emotion about the music but about the band and their situation at the time of recording it.

[Zip City]

Some days I think Goodbye might be my favorite song on the record.

Question:

Why do nearly all the debates about DBT start with this record?

they almost never play anything off it anymore