The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I'll tell you right now that it ain't no use
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Pain was a-huntin' me down but I gave him the slip
I left the city through the tunnel and i headed for the sticks
With oregano oil and a morphine drip
Pain was hunting me down but I gave him the slip
then I fell in love with identical twins
They lived 34 summers between the two of them
I gave one my ego, I gave one my id
Yeah, I gotta get back to my pretty little twins
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I'll tell you right now that it ain't no use
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I was lost for a year in those almond trees
The sun was rising in south and setting in the east
I was half-awake, I was half-asleep
I thought I'd never get out of those almond trees
So don't think too slow in the syrupy sun
You get buried alive when you're caught up in the cold (?)
Tapping your time on a congo drum
Don't think too slow in the syrupy sun
I met a black-skinned man with a ice cream grin
and a blond afghan with that heroin
we moved to the mountains where the highway ends
and I got myself that ice cream grin
So don't search too long for that Aztec gold
Like gold Cortez, gonna lose your soul
turn an honest man into Diablo
Don't trade your soul for no Aztec gold
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Never buy nothin' from a man named truth
Look in my eyes and you see the proof
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I'll tell you right now that it ain't no use
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Pain was a-huntin' me down but I gave him the slip
I left the city through the tunnel and i headed for the sticks
With oregano oil and a morphine drip
Pain was hunting me down but I gave him the slip
then I fell in love with identical twins
They lived 34 summers between the two of them
I gave one my ego, I gave one my id
Yeah, I gotta get back to my pretty little twins
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I'll tell you right now that it ain't no use
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I was lost for a year in those almond trees
The sun was rising in south and setting in the east
I was half-awake, I was half-asleep
I thought I'd never get out of those almond trees
So don't think too slow in the syrupy sun
You get buried alive when you're caught up in the cold (?)
Tapping your time on a congo drum
Don't think too slow in the syrupy sun
I met a black-skinned man with a ice cream grin
and a blond afghan with that heroin
we moved to the mountains where the highway ends
and I got myself that ice cream grin
So don't search too long for that Aztec gold
Like gold Cortez, gonna lose your soul
turn an honest man into Diablo
Don't trade your soul for no Aztec gold
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Never buy nothin' from a man named truth
Look in my eyes and you see the proof
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Lyrics submitted by saltandpepper, edited by Shooby88
Man Named Truth Lyrics as written by Conor M Oberst
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I figured I'd repost this as a general comment because I don't know if people read the reply comments, so sorry if this feels like spam.
Ever seen someone use h? When they're nodding off there's this kind of "ice cream grin" going on, like a mouth fit for an ice cream cone. Go to youtube, I'm sure there's a video of someone nodding off. This whole song is about heroin in my opinion. I'm not just drawing from the obvious "met a blonde afghan with that heroin" but there's so much more to it.
expressnightout.com/content/2009/09/monsters-of-folk.php
that has an amazing interview talking about each and every song by Mike Mogis. He says:
That was one we actually did play as Bright Eyes a couple of times on our last tour. That was the first Monsters of Folk song that was ever written. We were playing "Morning Becomes Eclectic" [on KCRW] in California. We were on Bright Eyes Tour, M. Ward was opening and we said, "You should come play with us." On our way to there they stopped by - it was brutally early and Conor was hung-over – we stopped by this herbalist store, to try to get some sort of magical herb to make you feel good. The salesman, his name was Truth. We went back to KCRW and Conor was fucking around on guitar with Matt and they came up with that chord progression and refrain: "Never buy nothing from a man named truth," together as Matt and Conor, and we said right away: "That was going to be our first Monsters of Folk song." We tucked it away as a Monsters of Folk song, but Conor ended up finishing it. It was a collaborative effort for like the first two minutes of that song. This was two years before we got to recording anything for Monsters of Folk.
I think the "herb" was actually opiates.. just my opinion though.
This song is about heroin/opiate use in my opinion. I believe the dont buy from man named truth could be a reference to a dealer. <br /> <br /> The whole part about running from pain, well it sounds like someone using heroin. It takes all physical pain from your body, and after repeated use you start having painful withdrawal. It sounds like conor moved out of a city (we all know conor is always on the move) and started using opiates a lot. morphine drip is a reference to the drip from snorting heroin. <br /> <br /> the whole ice cream grin and heroin part is just conor's clever way of saying he bought some heroin and got high like the black-skinned man. gold should be thought about openly, symbolizing a perfect feeling. all in all hard drug use is a horrible thing.