#copperhead road

I think the real testament to the storytelling is how it pulls the strings together in the last verse. Without being told, you understand exactly what's going on in with this guy and how it relates to his family history. Just. Look at this.

The last and hardest-hitting lyrics, everything builds to this. The DEA chopper bringing up PTSD flashbacks is such a good detail that hammers home how the US government has ground this guy up in the war machine, and are now persecuting him for what he turned to when he had no other options. And then it invites you to think of this as a parallel to his grandaddy and the revenue man and it's like. Yeah that's where it started. This has been going on for generations. Grandaddy probably didn't have a lot of options either.

And then it implies he's rigged Copperhead Road with Vietcong-style booby traps ("Charlie" being a slang term for the Vietcong) which is an absolutely buckwild thing to include, and has the delicious twist that the government has made him a more dangerous enemy than his grandfather and father by sending him to war.

And that's not even getting into the music. This thing starts with a synth that sounds like bagpipes - which may sound like a weird choice, but there's a lot of Scottish ancestry where this takes place in Appalachia. And it's really attention grabbing. This song played at every dance I went to in high school and the sound of that synth was the signal for everyone to rush to the dancefloor. Then the synth stops and everything else kicks in - the beat is really driving and you get the sense that something is building and building as the story is told, until it takes off at the end of the second section. Everything stops for this DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN and then the energy kicks up, but the synth doesn't return until he starts singing the third section. It's just barely present until the last line up above, and then it kicks back in with the same repeating part it started the song with, now layered on top of all the other instruments and the collective effect is an adrenaline rush. Then the other instruments fade out and you're left with that repeating synth again, closing the song out.

Idk what to say, I'm not good at talking about music and I don't really have the vocabulary to do it justice. It's just a really good song.

Copperhead Road

Saturday Night Special

Minneapolis 2023

Richard Speight, Jr.

Rob Benedict

Song Review: Steve Earle - “Copperhead Road” (Live)

Stripping away everything but his octave mandolin, his voice and some help from the audience, Steve Earle reveals the hidden qualities of “Copperhead Road.”

Introduced as Tennessee’s newest state song - a weird thing for the liberal Earle to be proud of - and following “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” from the forthcoming (July 13) Alone Again … Live, this “Copperhead Road” is the version for Earle fans who love to dislike his signature number.

Minus studio accoutrements and with in-the-moment energy, rowdiness and rawness added, the song is able to breathe and define itself. And it’s a good one - the studio version just kinda stinks.

Grade card: Steve Earle - “Copperhead Road” (Live) - A-

Steve Earle ~ Copperhead Road (Official Music Video)

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Well, my name's John Lee Pettimore Same as my daddy and his daddy before I hardly ever saw grandaddy down here He only came to town about twice a year Buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line Everybody knew that he made moonshine

Now the revenue man wanted grandaddy bad Headed up the holler with everything he had It's before my time but I've been told He never came back from Copperhead Road

Now daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge Bought it at an auction at the mason's lodge Johnson county sheriff painted on the side Shot a coat of primer then he looked inside Well, him and my uncle tore that engine down I still remember that rumblin' sound

Then the sheriff came around in the middle of the night Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right Headed out to Knoxville with the weekly load You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road

~ ♫♪♫ ~

Volunteered for the army on my birthday Draft the white trash first 'round here anyway Done my two tours of duty in Vietnam I came home with a brand new plan I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico Just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road

Now the D.E.A's got a chopper in the air Wake up screaming like I'm back over there Learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know You better stay away from Copperhead Road

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Copperhead Road

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Copperhead Road

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Copperhead Road