American Band lyrics & interpretations

[potatoeater]

I can't make it through that last verse.....and it's like getting punched in the gut.

Same here. Just about the whole song for me is a tear-jerker.

I think it's one of the best and most powerful songs Hood's ever written, right up there with Angels and Bubba.

Agreed.

Hood's lyricism is pure poetry. It's been said before that Cooley is more abstract/impressionist and Hood's work is based in realism, which is mostly true but I found it interesting that they kinda swap styles on a couple songs on this record (Ramon Casiano/Darkened Flags).

Indeed.

[pearlbeer]

From today's headlines:

"Former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros has filed a lawsuit claiming that she faced retaliation after complaining about sexual harassment from the cable channel’s former chief, Roger Ailes. In the suit, filed Monday, Tantaros claims the network “masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny.” Tantaros said the punishment came down from top executives. Ailes resigned in July after host Gretchen Carlson claimed in a lawsuit that he sexually harassed her and canceled her program after she rejected his advances, a move that led the way for many more allegations against him."



Sounds EXACTLY like the lyrics to Kinky Hypocrite.

Cooley for President!!!!

[ndavis86]

I still say the song's mostly about the passage of time & changes

Just to add some grist to this mill, one of the only things Cooley said at Red Rocks on Saturday night was right before the band played "Filthy and Fried," when he said something to the effect of "the world's changing, and mostly for the better, so don't let the bastards get you down."

[pearlbeer]

I still say the song's mostly about the passage of time & changes

Just to add some grist to this mill, one of the only things Cooley said at Red Rocks on Saturday night was right before the band played "Filthy and Fried," when he said something to the effect of "the world's changing, and mostly for the better, so don't let the bastards get you down."

"...don't let the bastards tell you any differently"

[potatoeater]

"...don't let the bastards tell you any differently"

Oh it's a changing world but it's changing for the better, so don't let the bastards get you down.

[ndavis86]

Oh it's a changing world but it's changing for the better, so don't let the bastards get you down.

Thanks. A few $12.50 Oskar Blues tallboys tend to dull one's recall.

[potatoeater]

Thanks. A few $12.50 Oskar Blues tallboys tend to dull one's recall.

Too bad they didn't help you forget the outrageous $12.50 tallboys.

[Smitty]

"...don't let the bastards tell you any differently"

Oh it's a changing world but it's changing for the better, so don't let the bastards get you down.

that's a Kristofferson quote.

[potatoeater]

that's a Kristofferson quote.

from page 23,748 of "The Encyclopedia Smitty Vol. 642". Damn, you're good!

I just looked that song up. I should listen to more Kristofferson.

[ndavis86]

Thanks. A few $12.50 Oskar Blues tallboys tend to dull one's recall.

Too bad they didn't help you forget the outrageous $12.50 tallboys.

Amen to that. Hazards of Red Rocks, I guess.

[alquina]

"Kinky Hypocrite"

hot blooded bible thumping
cash on the barrel honey
private jets and drunk CEOs
Pentecostal denim their highfalutin linen
if your pockets lined the deepest he goes

it's a tricky navigation from the wanting to the having
all the needs of a kinky hypocrite
the greatest separators of fools from their money
party harder than they'd like to admit

ain't it always you know whose boots
scootin up a goose stepping rhythm to a simpler time
quickest on the stick when the call of nature hits
shove a shoe into a pissy floor shine
every slope is slippery with a little something lacy
between your business and your poly wool blend
the greatest separators of fools from their money
party harder than they'd like to admit

book tours, miracle cures, affirmation
and the end times evidence
low hanging headline, grab their grey masks
cause we're the 'maginary elephants
caught in damnation all he wants for making payments
on a daily syndicated hissy fit
the greatest separators of fools from their money
party harder than they'd like to admit

It is pretty clear to me this song is about hypocrite politicians and radio/television personalities (TYPICALLY Republicans/conservatives) who pander to religious, family values, evangelist donors.

He really nails it with the "poly-wool blend" line.

A few corrections, as I hear it....

Low hanging headlines, grabbin' ringmasters
with imaginary elephants.
Condamnation, all he wants to make a payment
On a daily syndicated hissy fit."

[potatoeater]

A few corrections, as I hear it....

Low hanging headlines, grabbin' ringmasters
with imaginary elephants.
Condamnation, all he wants to make a payment
On a daily syndicated hissy fit."

I like what you suggest here alquina. However, I am still struggling to hear them as you have. I have the studio version and the Red Rocks version for reference. I especially like the ringmasters suggestion. It makes sense. But I swear, still in both versions I don't quite hear it that way. I do think there is a good chance you are right though.

As far as the caught in damnation/condemnation goes I am still hearing caught in damnation pretty clearly. The latter part is definitely "all he wants for making payments".

I hope others will come along with what they hear so we can come to a consensus. If anyone would like to hear the Red Rocks version PM me.

[lajakesdad]

hot blooded bible thumping
cash on the barrel honey
private jets and drunk CEOs
Pentecostal denim their highfalutin linen
if your pockets lined the deepest he goes

I am hearing "if your pockets lined the deepest egos"

[potatoeater]

hot blooded bible thumping
cash on the barrel honey
private jets and drunk CEOs
Pentecostal denim their highfalutin linen
if your pockets lined the deepest he goes

I am hearing "if your pockets lined the deepest egos"

I thought that too at one time but I think deepest he goes fits the context of the song better. It speaks directly to the paying for a message theme of the song.

[potatoeater]

So does anyone else have suggestions regarding the lyrics discussed in the previous few posts?

[WanderingStar]

So does anyone else have suggestions regarding the lyrics discussed in the previous few posts?

I'm hearing ringmasters as well.

[potatoeater]

I have updated the Kinky lyrics post to reflect the ringmasters lyric.

Remember you can bookmark the following link to quickly access all of the lyrics posts.

American Band Lyrics Index

[potatoeater]

"Filthy & Fried"

Filthy and Fried (COOLEY)

Bottles falling in a dumpster and a stale smell rising through a sickening summer haze
To the rhythm of a boot-heeled hipster cowgirl's clunky sashay of shame
Mundane mayhem the last of the AM's gasoline powered release
Of the rest of the day to the afternoons rising relentlessly stifling heat

Up around the corner a B Model Mazdas sitting crooked between the lines
Feeling lucky that 27's the hardest thing she'll have to survive
Just don't mix your browns and your whites with your wine and don't sit on your cigarettes
You'll feel like shit soon enough and deserves' got no say in a story's past

It's what alive feels like
Bored children caught between dog days when night turns them loose
All that's different for girls is the bragging and who it's done to
Everyone claims that the times are a changing as theirs pass them by
And everyone's right

Way down beneath all the talk and tequila and reasons excuses and doubts
Breathing steam from his cup and stink from his fingers he's starting to figure it out
The old mans world was more doing than thinking and the doing was more cut and dried
Now girls collect trophies as much as the boys and come home just as filthy and fried
Now girls collect trophies as much as the boys and come home just as filthy and fried

[potatoeater]

OK folks we have OFFICIAL American Band lyrics!

You all can send your thanks to Clams for getting these to me to post. They were sent to him by someone who received the Press Kit directly from the band.

All of the previous lyrics posts have been updated to reflect these official lyrics and I have created a new post of the Filthy & Fried lyrics since I do not have edit control over the original draft of those lyrics posted by Duke Silver.

So, you can reference the lyrics index here or you can download the official lyrics documents in .docx or .pdf format here.

[potatoeater]

I expect there will be some surprised readers, I know I was, especially on Filthy & Fried and Kinky Hypocrite.

[potatoeater]

So today I learned what a Florsheim is. I of course have seen these shoes before, but did not know of this particular brand.

[Flea]

OK folks we have OFFICIAL American Band lyrics!

You all can send your thanks to Clams for getting these to me to post. They were sent to him by someone who received the Press Kit directly from the band.

All of the previous lyrics posts have been updated to reflect these official lyrics and I have created a new post of the Filthy & Fried lyrics since I do not have edit control over the original draft of those lyrics posted by Duke Silver.

So, you can reference the lyrics index here or you can download the official lyrics documents in .docx or .pdf format here.

"men whose triggers pull they're fingers"

[potatoeater]

"men whose triggers pull they're fingers"

Nice catch. Hey, I know my their/there/they're. Those are copied directly from the press kit...

[alquina]

"Grabbin Ringmasters" - yeah!
"Mundane mayhem" - missed that one

[Clams]

"Once They Banned Imagine"

Once They Banned Imagine (COOLEY)

We had our heart strings dangling ripe for the yanking

and lot of reasons grabby was good

Poor huddled masses singing boots up their asses

giving grabby what he needed to pull

all he way back to where ghosts from the past were still

fighting their wars from the grave

Complete with record burning and threatening and spurning

the crime of getting blood on the page
Since the big one ended we'd been mostly pretending

we'd have had the same gumption and grit

as the greatest among us when harm came upon us

we wouldn't hesitate to defend

But with or against something's been out to get us

and it looked like something finally did

No nobler cause in our lifetime for setting our sails to the wind
But once they banned Imagine it became the same old war its always been

Once they banned Imagine it became the war it was when we were kids
Are you now or have you ever been in cahoots with the notion that people can change

When history happen again if you do or you did you'll be blamed

From baseless inquiry 
to no knocking entry 
becoming the law of the land

to half cocked excuses for bullet abuse regarding anything browner than tan
cause once they banned Imagine it became the same old war its always been

Once they banned Imagine it became the war it was when we were kids

I think it is pretty clear this song is about what happened and changed in this country after 9/11. Most of which was not for the better.

Who/what is "grabby"?

[Smitty]

George W. Bush = Grabby McGrabber

[Clams]

George W. Bush = Grabby McGrabber

Thanks. Never heard that before.

Next question: on Baggage, what's the reference to "be careful where you implement the straps" mean?

[Smitty]

George W. Bush = Grabby McGrabber

Thanks. Never heard that before.

Next question: on Baggage, what's the reference to "be careful where you implement the straps" mean?

The metaphorical baggage straps; they'll bring you down/choke you if you don't carry them right.

[Clams]

George W. Bush = Grabby McGrabber

Thanks. Never heard that before.

Next question: on Baggage, what's the reference to "be careful where you implement the straps" mean?

The metaphorical baggage straps; they'll bring you down/choke you if you don't carry them right.

Smitty's a fuckin genius

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

George W. Bush = Grabby McGrabber

Thanks. Never heard that before.

Next question: on Baggage, what's the reference to "be careful where you implement the straps" mean?

Sounds like a line that could have come from The Wig He Made Her Wear or Margo and Harold