American Band lyrics & interpretations

[Zip City]

I haven't actually heard the song, but reading through it, it seems like a commentary on how back in the old man's time, it was the young men who were out tearing up the town, getting drunk and high and finding the loose girls for some action, but now the women are doing it too. He sees more "walks of shame", he sees girls sleeping with any many guys as they can (their trophies), and living their lives without thoughts to the consequences

[Smitty]

I haven't actually heard the song, but reading through it, it seems like a commentary on how back in the old man's time, it was the young men who were out tearing up the town, getting drunk and high and finding the loose girls for some action, but now the women are doing it too. He sees more "walks of shame", he sees girls sleeping with any many guys as they can (their trophies), and living their lives without thoughts to the consequences

Yep, and at first I thought he was detached from the situation, possibly just pondering on it as he watched from traffic or something. Knowing it's his daughter and he's picking her up after a night of debauchery is heartbreaking, at least to these ears.

[Zip City]

I haven't actually heard the song, but reading through it, it seems like a commentary on how back in the old man's time, it was the young men who were out tearing up the town, getting drunk and high and finding the loose girls for some action, but now the women are doing it too. He sees more "walks of shame", he sees girls sleeping with any many guys as they can (their trophies), and living their lives without thoughts to the consequences

Yep, and at first I thought he was detached from the situation, possibly just pondering on it as he watched from traffic or something. Knowing it's his daughter and he's picking her up after a night of debauchery is heartbreaking, at least to these ears.

I feel like the "voice" of the song is a narrator, not necessarily the old man. Doesn't mean the old man's thoughts aren't given, of course, but it doesn't sound like it's his POV

[potatoeater]

"Baggage"

Baggage (PATTERSON)

I was listening to the radio when they said that you were gone
Already feeling more than just a little down
Mood swings run rampant on both sides of my family
Like an albatross I carry around
I never ever met you but it shook me all the same
life was better for the happiness you brought
For the joyride that you took us on and rocky roads we landed on
whiplashed by the demons that you fought

Fighting with the baggage that is pulling down on me
like an undertow pulls into the sea
It lights our daily struggle till it's hard to separate
you from all the darkness in me

Some asswipe on TV said that you should be ashamed
for your cowardice in facing down your flaws
I'm not sure what makes me sadder, all that talent up in flames
or the lack of understanding that it wrought

Tossing off the baggage that is pulling down on me
toss it in the river and be free
Move so close together, only inches separate
you from all the darkness in me

I'm not seeking explanations for this thing that you did
a thin line separates the laughter from despair
I've had my own depression since I was just a kid
but been blessed with the means to repair
There's this baggage that we carry and some sweetness locked within
just be careful where you implement the straps
All that weight can be salvation when the air is much too thin
but it can pull you down too far to climb back out

Tossing off the baggage that is pulling down on me
toss it in the river and be free
Move so close together, only inches separate
you from all the darkness in me
Tossing off the baggage, too much weight too much drag-gage
all this freight can put you six feet in the ground
Nothing left to do but try to keep it all together
Better off without the baggage that I carry around, carry around, carry around

[Smitty]

I don't think there's any questions about the meaning of Baggage: Robin Williams and depression

[brett27295]

Due to some technical difficulties that Smitty is experiencing while attempting to make long posts on the forum I am posting these "Baggage" lyrics on his behalf. I did make a few formatting changes and replaced a couple ?? he still had based on what my ears are hearing.

I was listening to the radio when they told me you were gone
Already feeling more than a little down
Mood swings run rampant on both sides of my family
Like an albatross I carry around
I never ever met you but it shook me just the same
Life was better for the happiness you brought
For the joyride you took us on
the Rocky roads we landed on
whiplashed by the demons that you fought

I like Baggage. Unless I am very much mistaken it refers to Robin Williams.

[beantownbubba]

I don't think there's any questions about the meaning of Baggage: Robin Williams and depression

I fear that there will be 100% agreement on this one. Where's the fun in that?

[Smitty]

I feel like the "voice" of the song is a narrator, not necessarily the old man. Doesn't mean the old man's thoughts aren't given, of course, but it doesn't sound like it's his POV

I think it switches quite a few times; the narrator starts off telling the story, and the "feeling lucky that 27's the hardest thing she'll have to survive" is referring to the old man/father maybe hoping this is a short term phase, then I think it goes back to the old man telling her to be careful and maybe even warning or consoling her for the future and what people will say. Then it goes back to the narrator describing the old man's thoughts but from third person, if that makes sense. Of course the end is him back to describing the scene again with the old man coming to some sort of a realization about the situation.

[Clams]

If you haven't heard it, Filthy & Fried is song #2 and starts at about the 5:25 mark of this ridiculously good video

[Smitty]

ftfy, mollusk

[potatoeater]

"When the Sun Don't Shine"

When the Sun Don't Shine (PATTERSON)

When the sun don't shine
I'll be better when the sun don't shine
I like it better when the sun don't shine

When it's cold outside
I grab a sweater when it's cold outside
Get close together when it's cold outside
I get so happy when it's cold outside

I like it better when the sun don't shine
I'd much rather watch the clouds go by
Or watch the moon peak into my room
A little rain to make the roses bloom

I like it better when the sun don't shine
And I don't have to watch you say goodbye
I can stand behind the clouds and hide
A little rain to protect my pride
I like it better when the sun don't shine

I'm gonna love you till the big one comes and shakes my bones
and washes us out to sea
Have a blast till the markets crash and smoke and ash
is left of these beautiful trees
The next morning it will be so lonely they'll have to send somebody around
to pick up the pieces of me
Pick up the pieces of me

I'll be better when the sun don't shine
I like it better when the sun don't shine
Clouds are forming in this state of mind
Always storming in this state of mine
When the sun don't shine

Patterson talks about this song in a performance available on YouTube. It is a "love song" about his living in the Pacific Northwest, or Portland, OR to be more precise.

[potatoeater]

"Ever South"

Ever South (PATTERSON)

We packed our few belongings and we moved across the ocean
To start a new life in this land so bold and vast
Dispersed from Ellis Island, my distant Irish kin
Eyes cut to the future, hearts tied to the past

We held tight to our loved ones and we held on to the promise
and we scraped our meager living hand to mouth
We prayed to what would have us, every doubting John Thomas
spreading through the Appalachia ever south
Spread through Appalachia ever south

And I hear we weren't welcomed here, at least not in those days
No one needs our drunken, fighting, thieving kind
But we settled in this new place and we worked it in our ways
and spread our kin upon it in due time
Spread our kin upon it in due time

And we fought our losing battles and we held onto our ways
and we talk of how we left behind our better days
Some were living lives of leisure, some surviving hand to mouth
Bash our heads against the future, ever south
Bash our heads against the future ever south

When I set my sights upon you, we were both still in our prime
We were moving in big circles that I sought out to combine
And I held you in my arms and swore eternal love this time
Tried to lasso brighter futures and let it drag us both behind
Lasso brighter futures, let it drag us both behind

So we aimed our sights westward like so many did before
Expanding our horizons to some distant shore
Where everyone takes notice of the drawl that leaves our mouth
So that no matter where we are we’re ever south
No matter where we are we’re ever south

Now my Christian Southern brethren will tell you all what for
to keep your heathen ways up in you and your shoes outside the door
take your stand for noble causes till you just can't stand no more
and surrender to some savior, Praise the Lord,
Surrender to some savior, Praise the Lord

But despite our best intentions, it pains me to report
we keep swinging for the fences, coming up a little short
We sure can get it wrong for someone so devout
I hear you whistling past the graveyard looking down
Whistling past the graveyard looking down

Ever Southern in my carriage, ever southern in my stance
in the Irish of my complexion and the Scottish in my dance
in the way I bang my head against my daily circumstance

Let this blue eyed southern devil take you out upon the prowl
with decadence and charm we'll take it into town
tell you stories of our fathers and the glories of our house
Always told a little slower, ever south

[potatoeater]

"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.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Patterson has done something very interesting. Of all the DBT records, this one is both his most political and (except maybe Gangstabilly) his most personal. I'm a little envious of that, as it's something I go for in my own writing.

I have completed another song. You all can thank my girlfriend for providing me with some headphones that really helped me hear Cooley's vocals on this live track and some help from Smitty whose ears heard words that made much more sense than mine did.

Source: https://archive.org/details/dbt2016-04-23.akg483.flac16 Track 16

"Once They Banned Imagine"

with our heart strings dangling and ripe for the yanking and a lot of reasons grabby was good
poor huddled masses singing boots up their asses giving grabby what he needed to pull
all the way back there were ghosts from the past we're still fightin' the wars from the grave
complete with record burnin' and threatning and spurning the crime of gettin' blood on the page

since the big one ended we'd been mostly pretending we'd 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 somethings 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 ol' war its always been
once they banned imagine it became the war it was when we were kids
once they banned imagine it became the same ol' 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 to keep with the change
when history happens again if you do or you did you'll be blamed
from baseless and query to no knockin' entry becoming the law of the land
to half cocked excuses for bullied abuse regarding anything browner than tan

cause once they banned imagine it became the same ol' war its always been
once they banned imagine it became the war it was when we were kids
once they banned imagine it became the same ol' 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.

Is it possible that "baseless and query" is "baseless inquiry"?

[potatoeater]

Yea, Ever South, I thought that too. It is a fucking amazingly good song. Album top three. Easily.

[potatoeater]

You know I bet you're right on that lyric question. Updated! I'm a little embarassed my brain didn't work that out.

[Smitty]

Apropos of nothing, I think Decoration Day is by far Patterson & Cooley's most personal record.

[John A Arkansawyer]

Apropos of nothing, I think Decoration Day is by far Patterson & Cooley's most personal record.

It's sure the one that pissed me off the most, because I'd planned on using that title myself. Can't blame either of them for that, of course. I'll have to get a copy again and give this some thought.

[alquina]

I have completed another song. You all can thank my girlfriend for providing me with some headphones that really helped me hear Cooley's vocals on this live track and some help from Smitty whose ears heard words that made much more sense than mine did.

Source: https://archive.org/details/dbt2016-04-23.akg483.flac16 Track 16

"Once They Banned Imagine"

with our heart strings dangling and ripe for the yanking and a lot of reasons grabby was good
poor huddled masses singing boots up their asses giving grabby what he needed to pull
all the way back there were ghosts from the past we're still fightin' the wars from the grave
complete with record burnin' and threatning and spurning the crime of gettin' blood on the page

since the big one ended we'd been mostly pretending we'd 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 somethings 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 ol' war its always been
once they banned imagine it became the war it was when we were kids
once they banned imagine it became the same ol' 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 to keep with the change
when history happens again if you do or you did you'll be blamed
from baseless inquiry to no knockin' entry becoming the law of the land
to half cocked excuses for bullied abuse regarding anything browner than tan

cause once they banned imagine it became the same ol' war its always been
once they banned imagine it became the war it was when we were kids
once they banned imagine it became the same ol' 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.

A few edits as I hear it....
I think it's "with the notion that people can change"
and
"To half cocked excuses for bullet abuse"

[potatoeater]

A few edits as I hear it....
I think it's "with the notion that people can change"
and
"To half cocked excuses for bullet abuse"

I believe you are right. Edits made! Thank you!

[Clams]

I also think this is stronger evidence that it's "deserves got no say in the stories passed", as he's telling her that whether she deserves it or not has nothing to do with what people with say about her.

I'm with you here. It's the stories passed, not the story's past.

As in, all the stories about the girl that have been told and passed around.

[Duke Silver]

I just wrote a huge ass post detailing the story in the song as it appeared to me, but then I googled b-model Mazda and that negated almost everything I wrote. I ignorantly assumed the Mazda was the girl's and she was stumbling towards it and the old man wasn't necessarily her father, just a guy witnessing the scene from the highway. Now that I've actually seen a b-model Mazda, I recognize it as the Official Vehicle for Working Class Dads Picking Up Their Daughters at Odd Hours in Unlikely Locations™. Seriously, Cooley could not have nailed that any more perfectly. Just the fact that the old man drives that truck makes me tons more sympathetic to him than before. It changes the entire meaning of the song to me.

I thought trophies=conquests, but I'm not sure anymore. I still don't think it's track marks unless it is a Cooleyism (which I doubt as the final lines seem to be the old man's thoughts and not the narrator's)

Of all the AB songs to create controversy and debate around here, I never would have picked Filthy and Fried.

On first listen, my take was that the song depicts the morning after a one night stand. It appears we all agree on that.

Here's where we diverge, maybe. I think the song has an omniscient, 3rd person narrator who spends the first half of the song focusing on the hipster cowgirl and the 2nd half on the guy she's sashaying away from.

I think the Mazda belongs to the hipster cowgirl. It's parked "crooked between the lines" because that's how she left it when she cruised over to the guy's place for an easy hook up.

"Trophy" means what it's always meant in this context: think trophy wives, or trophy hunting.

Either way, the guy sipping coffee is just "starting to figure it out": that he's the one who's been collected.

He's not sure how to feel about it. He imagines that things were simpler in "the old man's" -- i.e., his dad's -- day, when "the doing was more cut and dried," without the complicated, rapidly evolving gender politics surrounding sex.

In the end, what's the difference? Not much. The girls come home just as filthy and fried as the boys ever did. Only difference is the girls are less likely to brag about it (either because they're smarter than that or because of societal double standards that would label her a slut).

I could be wrong and maybe should be focusing on the little details like the exact make and model of the car. The simpleton in me thinks maybe Cooley chose it because it sounds cool and the syllables fit the meter.

Either way, focusing on the drug references and making this a drug song is missing the forest for the trees, IMO.

[beantownbubba]

I still say the song's mostly about the passage of time & changes, but Duke, I think you have the narrative right, with a couple of tweaks (of course!).

I agree it's her car. It's parked crooked either because she was high or she was in a hurry. Maybe both. Cooley knows cars and cares about them. I very much doubt any reference to them is totally casual. I think here he's using the car to help paint the picture of the girl. I don't know what kind of girl drives a b model mazda but Cooley does and it's part of her portrait just like the boots and the other descriptors.

I think you're exactly right about the "starting to figure it out" verse and that ties the song together in the way you describe. I do think the "browns & whites" verse is about drugs, but Cooley is targeting another specific aspect of "the scene" or demographic he's describing, not writing a song about drugs.

My guess is that the last verse (or maybe that's the chorus, lol) is Cooley asking, yup, girls can now act like the boys always have. But is that progress? He may also be asking the boys how do YOU like being treated like trophies, huh? But that may be a step further than the song actually goes.

[Yaz Rock]

I don't think there's any questions about the meaning of Baggage: Robin Williams and depression

Just in case folks here don't already know, Joseph Arthur also has a nice tribute to Robin Williams:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBCEL2Bj9n0
("youtube" linking didn't work)

FWIW, I'm not a long=time fan of either but JA and DBT are two of the handful of artists who've really resonated most with me in the last few years.

[Gaetzi]

I've heard of brown acid but I've never seen brown pills.

[potatoeater]

I will admit that this song brings tears to my eyes when I just sit and listen and think.

"Guns Of Umpqua"

Guns Of Umpqua (PATTERSON)

I see birds soaring through the clouds outside my window
Smell the fresh paint of a comfort shade on this new fall day
Feel the coffee surge through morning veins from half an hour ago
Hear the sound of shots and screams out in the hallway

Spent my last weekend camping out again down the road a ways
Just me and Joan and a couple of friends on this beautiful trail
Watched the sun slip down behind a mountain stream in these great Cascades
Saw a mighty hawk swoop down upon a stream to devour its prey

Now We're moving chairs in some panic mode to barricade the doors
As my heart rate surges on adrenaline and nerves I feel I've been here before
Made it back from hell's attack in some distant bloody war
Only to stare down hell back home

Outside my mind I wander freely past the rocky shore
Waves crash against the banks where Lewis and Clark explored
We're all standing in the shadows of our noblest intentions of something more
than being shot in a classroom in Oregon

It’s a morning like so many others with breakfast and birthdays
The sun burned the fog away, breeze blew the mist away,
my friend Jack just had him a baby
I see birds soaring through the clouds outside my window
Heaven's calling my name from the hallway outside the door
Heaven's calling my name from the hallway outside the door

[potatoeater]

"Surrender Under Protest"

Surrender Under Protest (COOLEY)

From the comfort zone of history
on the lips of trusted loved ones

To the wounded fragile minds of angry youth

No sooner was it over

than the memory made it nobler

A selective means by which to point the view
If it's all you can remember then its been that way forever

And for six long generations its been told

that among the fallen was tradition

that tradition was the mission

that the wrongness of the sin was not the goal
Does the color really matter

On the face you blame for failure

On the shaming for a battles losing cause

If the victims and aggressors

Just remain each others others

And the instigators never fight their own
Compelled but not defeated

Surrender under protest if you must

Compelled but not defeated

[John A Arkansawyer]

I need some help or confirmation on line 21, the one with the question marks, please.

"Surrender Under Protest"

from the comfort zone of history
on the lips of trusted loved ones
to the wounded fragile minds of angry youth
no sooner was it over
than the memory made it nobler
a selective means by which to point the view

compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
compel but not defeat it

if it's all you can remember
then it's been that way forever
and for six long generations it's been told
that among the fallen was tradition
that tradition was the mission
and that the wrongness of the sin was not the goal

compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
compel but not defeat it

does the color really matter
on the face you blame for failure
???own the shame it for a thousand losing cause???
if the victims and oppressors
just remain each others others
and the instigators never fight their own

compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
surrender under protest if you must

I'm having trouble with that line myself. But it's definitely "Compelled but not defeated". Which would be a better title, in my opinion, which is not Cooley's opinion and is therefore not a true opinion. But I can't help myself, sugar pie, honey bunch.

ETA: Here's my best shot at it.

[potatoeater]

I am going to listen to it some more. Your line 21 makes more sense but I am still not sure about it. As far as the compelled/compel part I run the NPR track through a noise reduction using frequency analysis that isolated the vocal track pretty good. I can not hear an "ed" sound on the end of compel. I think either line works depending on interpretation and point of view.

[Clams]

I need some help or confirmation on line 21, the one with the question marks, please.

"Surrender Under Protest"

from the comfort zone of history
on the lips of trusted loved ones
to the wounded fragile minds of angry youth
no sooner was it over
than the memory made it nobler
a selective means by which to point the view

compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
compel but not defeat it

if it's all you can remember
then it's been that way forever
and for six long generations it's been told
that among the fallen was tradition
that tradition was the mission
and that the wrongness of the sin was not the goal

compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
compel but not defeat it

does the color really matter
on the face you blame for failure
???own the shame it for a thousand losing cause???
if the victims and oppressors
just remain each others others
and the instigators never fight their own

compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
compel but not defeat it
surrender under protest if you must
surrender under protest if you must

All [on?] the shaming for the battle's losing cause

And btw, pretty sure its:
Compelled but not defeated