50. "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" -
I guess this was his advice for me and I guess I took it. I've never
been one for much sitting around thinking or talking when I could be
doing.
49. "A Country Boy (Who Rolled the Rock Away)" - Nobody sings about Hank better than DAC sings about Hank.
48. "Looking in the Mirror" -
The first of several "cheating" songs on this list. You'll hear DAC go
on and on about how he's the greatest writer of drinking songs in the
world. Whether or not that's true, I find myself more impressed with his
commentary on relationships. Whether narrating from the outside or
singing from the perspective of cheater, cheated, man or woman, he pulls
the reality of those situations right into focus.
47. "Rose Knows" -
See? Another relationship gone wrong song. This one is interesting
because it sets up another common lyrical theme, which is that of the
person who has committed a wrongful act, knows it was wrong, may or may
not be remorseful, knows they will be caught but does not take action to
alter their course.
46. "A Sense of Humor" -
Dad used to beat A LOT of asses... He tells a story about beating up a
karate instructor, who then sued my father because "nobody wants to
learn karate from a guy who got beat up by a hillbilly," which, in the
story, prompted my father to beat him up again in the courtroom. Doubt
that's true. Good story, though.
45. "Living on the Run" -
The sound of the slide guitar in this is crazy. I sometimes find myself
daydreaming about different cool production tricks to try when
recording music. This song gave me the idea of doubling a slide guitar
part with a kazoo. Still haven't tried that one...
44. "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie/Motherless Child" - This is so pure, which is particular because the production of these King Records sessions is not my favorite.
43. "River" -
If you're already familiar with this song and want to gain a new
appreciation for it, watch Heartworn Highways, where my father goes to
perform for the inmates at Tennessee State Prison. Singing a song about
being in prison to men in prison put a fire into that performance.
42. "Free Born Ramblin' Man" - My father was almost a hippie. If he'd liked psychotropic drugs, it would have been a sure thing.
41. "Yesterday's Wine" - Stellar harmonies...
40. "So Tired of Honkytonk Angels & Wine" -
This is particularly great because he wrote it at the beginning of his
career and it's such a world-weary sentiment. Guess he didn't have much
of a childhood...
39. "Tanya Montana" - Tanya's
song got a better melody/steel part than mine. I'll never forgive her.
Trivia: this is the only song for which my father ever made an official
music video.
38. "A Satisfied Mind" -
I'm pretty sure I like this recording of this song better than any
other one. Actually, I could say the same thing of almost the entire
Texas Moon album.
37. "Wild Irish Rose" -
There are a lot of stories about Pop Coe getting drunk and beating his
wives and children, so this song is probably true. It's not pleasant but
it happens. You can get down about it or sing about it.
36. "Cold Turkey" - I realize this song could sound goofy to some but it is FUNK AS HELL. "OOH baby" Imagine Clarence Carter doing this song.
35. "Love Is a Never Ending War" -
This is one of the first songs that was really interesting to me as a
child. I have a distinct memory of watching the band run through this
song over and over in soundcheck one day until the keyboard player
figured out the part he should play after the first line in the chorus. I
think the first time it happens in the album version is around the 2:15
point. 4 year-old me thought that part was awesome.
34. "Ride 'Em Cowboy" -
An absolute pleasure to perform live. The imagery of the lyrics is so
vivid. This really tells a story and makes something that's actually
pretty stupid (rodeos) seem heroic and tragic.
33. "Lovin' You Comes So Natural" - Smooth hi-hat work. Very cool rhythm.
32. "What Can I Do" - It's all about that "could it be you?" stop.
31. "Southern Star" - How this wasn't a number one single I will never understand. Epitome of the era.
30. "Whiskey and Women" -
The music sounds tough and swaggering, which makes it all the more
effective when you realize the lyrics are about a guy who is suffering a
pretty serious bout of anguish at the hands of a failed relationship.
29. "Revenge" -
This is a very detailed story-song, which I usually don't like. The
opening line is so strong that it carries the rest of the song, really.
28. "Funeral Parlor Blues" -
I'm always a fan of my father doing atypical things. His first album,
Penitentiary Blues, betrays that he never really wanted to be a
"country" artist. He came to Nashville with R&B ambitions that
didn't pan out.
27. "Take It Easy Rider" - I love Guy Clark. I love Larry Jon Wilson.
26. "Under Rachel's Wings" - You can't touch this melody. It just evolves and evolves.
25. "Southern Man" - This is so weird and good and, honestly, somehow even more compelling than Neil Young's recording.
24. "Now I Lay Me Down to Cheat" - "...awwwww, but it crossed
his...." DAC would throw a recitation into every song if he didn't have
anyone there to talk him out of it.
23. "Ride Me Down Easy" - So many nights singing this on the bus,
headed to the next town... That fiddle doesn't quit. This is, to me, a
perfect example of my father hearing a great song, taking it and putting
it in his pocket and saying, "That's mine now."
22. "Ice Cold Love" - I have seen people say this is the WORST
David Allan Coe song. I don't get that at all. This song is amazing.
Look at the album cover (Rough Rider). Okay, now imagine THAT DUDE going
into a professional recording studio with a Casio keyboard and telling
the session musicians they can sit this one out because he's got it all
covered.
21 & 20. "Human Emotions"/"(She Finally Crossed Over) Love's Cheating Line" -
These are one musical moment and flow together on the LP seamlessly.
It's perfect. You can hear the Ray Charles influence so clearly. The
melody of "she packed up her suitcase" gets stuck in my head on a
regular basis. I would like to dedicate the second song to my horrible
ex-girlfriend who (yeah, did cheat on me but also) said my father isn't a
very good singer and mostly "just kind of talks." I broke up with her a
couple days after she said that. And...
19. "I'm Gonna Hurt Her on the Radio" - This is the fantasy. She breaks your heart and you become rich and famous and she can't escape it.
18. "Honey Don't" - Rebel Son does a great cover of this live. I
don't have any idea what all of the stuff about being a roadie for the
devil is supposed to mean.
17. "Piece of Wood and Steel" - I still have trouble keeping this
song and #14 apart because we'd always work them into a medley for the
live show. I'm not a fan of the Marty Robbins background vocals on this
recording but man is this song tough. When you're ten years deep into
the life of a constantly touring musician, it's the only thing you can
see, the only thing that matters. Your relationships fall away and
you're left stripped down to one thing: your instrument. All you are is a
guitar.
16. "Just to Prove My Love for You" - Pure novelty but done exactly right.
15. "I Hate Love" - This is a tough one to perform when it's the
truth. There was a particularly rough period when I was extremely
heartbroken and would end up sobbing during every show. This song was
the one that did it most nights. Waylon & Willie add some flavor to
this recording.
14. "She Used to Love Me a Lot" - The story here is actually
pretty cruel. The narrator sees a woman who used to think he hung the
moon and decides to see if he can get back in there for a night. Keep in
mind we'd medley this with "Piece of Wood & Steel," so the narrator
could be viewed as having sociopathic tendencies.
13. "Why You Been Gone So Long" - I love this recording but I gotta take this opportunity to let fellow Mickey Newbury fans know that Saint Cecilia Knows
put together this Mickey box set that you absolutely must own. I hope
to eventually write a piece dedicated to it. In the meantime, get it on
Amazon (Drag City reissue): An American Trilogy
12. "Another Pretty Country Song" - I heard that this was
the only song played at the funeral for the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd
who died in that plane crash. I have no way of knowing if that's true
but the song is a great debunker of how glamourous life on "the road" is
supposed to be. Your family gets neglected and almost nobody knows who
you are as a person but, hey, sweet jewelry.
11. "Rough Rider" - These lyrics are amazing. Guy walks into a bar thinking he's the man and the barmaid lets him know he's just a man.
10. "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" - Written as
wedding vows for my uncle's wedding. Jumpstarted Tanya Tucker's career
when she was just a teenager. You might know that stuff but you probably
don't know that Townes Van Zandt was convinced my father stole this
melody from his song, "If I Needed You." The beginning of the melody
(and only the beginning) is very close, I'll give him that. But my
father always maintained that Townes was actually the one who stole the
melody but (being a notorious blackout drunk) mistakenly thought it was
the other way around. Both songs were written and performed publicly
around the same time, so there's no real way to know who got to it
first. And I love Townes' music but there's no question this is the
better song.
09. "Ghost of Hank Williams" - Nobody sings about Hank better than DAC sings about Hank. Nobody.
08. "Got You On My Mind" - Back to the Texas Moon album again.
These sad blues-y songs work so well with his deep voice. He can hum and
that's all it takes. Side note: from playing Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do"
so much live, I always think it's on Texas Moon. The sad truth is that
my father never recorded his version of it.
07. "Until Hell Freezes Over" - It's mostly tears from here on,
boys and girls. If you haven't heard Living on the Edge, be very careful
here. The album can absolutely destroy you if love hasn't panned out
well in your life. Trivia: Bonnie "Prince" Billy recorded a cover of a
different song from the album. I don't really like it but I don't really
like any of his music - no offense.
06. "If This Is Just a Game" - Another shoplifting melody. The keyboard parts are perfect.
05. "Crazy Mary" - Saddest narrative in any song I've heard in my
life. I tracked down the folk singer who wrote the song and his version
is nothing like this. The violin on this track is massive. This is one
for a rainy day.
04. "A Sad Country Song" - This song is more about sad country songs than it is a sad country song itself but I like post-modern stuff.
03. "You Take My Breath Away" - Crippling, for very personal reasons and it wouldn't be fair to other people still living for me to explain.
02. "Spotlight" - This is the pinnacle of songs written about the
life of a performing artist. Everything that nobody ever says and that
Bob Dylan started trying to say to the media in the mid-'60s is right
here, laid out in plain English. It's all just a matter of perspective.
