| Aerosmith – Dream On Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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To me this song was simply about growing up and growing older “Every time that I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face gettin' clearer.” And as you grow older time goes by faster “The past has gone, it went by like dusk to dawn.” Never thought it sounded much like Led Zeppelin or Queen and I’ve never heard Eminem so I wouldn’t know about that. This song was on their 1973 debut album so I don’t think it has anything to do with being in a slump and not being able to sell records. The entire album, titled simply “Aerosmith” is very good by the way, classic early Aerosmith. For many of us growing up back then, this was the first Aerosmith song we ever heard. Like many of my favorite classic rock albums I bought this record (vinyl) when it was first released and over the years got it on cassette, CD, and now MP3. The first time I saw Aerosmith live it was so long ago that AC/DC was the opening act. During the 70’s Aerosmith was always one of my favorite bands. Over the years they have become more commercialized and their music is more mainstream, but I guess that’s what bands do. These guys are older than I am and are still rock’n so I’ve got to give them credit for that. Now that I am older in many ways this song means more to me now than way back when I first heard it. |
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| Ray Wylie Hubbard – Screw You, We’re From Texas Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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While this song may just sound like a typical pissed off Texan with all the “Screw you we’re from Texas” lines, I think it is really an anthem about Texas music and particularly Stevie Ray Vaughn. Hubbard talks about having a guitar and a band. He refers to several Texas music venues. He says, “We got Willie (Nelson), and Jackie (Greene), Jack (Ingram), Robert Earl (Keen), Pat (Green), Cory (Morrow), Charlie (Robinson),” these are all Texas music artists. The “13th Floor Elevators” was a Texas band back in the day, and of course “Mr. Vaughn” refers to Stevie Ray Vaughn who was a Texas Blues/Rock guitar master who died in the early 90’s. |
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| Ray Wylie Hubbard – Dallas After Midnight Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This is Ray Willie Hubbard’s story about robbing a liquor store and getting shot and caught in the process. Hubbard’s growly voice is perfect to tell this story. This version is from his “Delirium Tremolos” album. I have heard him sing it slightly different with a different ending, but I like this one best. Ray Willie Hubbard is another one of my favorite Texas music artists. |
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| Dire Straits – Down To The Waterline Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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A quay wall, counting the numbers on the draft marks, cargos and coasters (barges), pilot lights, foghorns, etc are all things that have to do with ships. So I always thought this song was about a couple who used to go down to the waterfront and make-out along the docks. Then the guy had to leave on a ship so the girl was left behind with only the memories of what they used to do. It makes sense to me, but maybe I just think this because I’m in the Navy and have had to leave too many times over the years. In any case I have enjoyed this song for almost 30 years now. |
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| Dire Straits – Sultans Of Swing Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It is interesting to see so many younger people who like the early Dire Straits. Most people didn’t really catch on to them until their “Brothers in Arms” album. I bought this album (yes vinyl) the 1st week it was released. Back then Disco and Punk were kind of taking over the music scene. I was more into Classic Rock so when Dire Straits came out with this record it was very refreshing. Not only was it Rock, but it was much simpler or scaled back than a lot of the over produced Rock music had become by the mid-seventies. There was a girl who worked at the local Circle K in the small Montana town I grew up in. She would let us buy beer there occasionally even though I was only 16 at the time. For the six months or so that I knew her this Dire Straits album was the ONLY thing she listened to. So every time I hear it, especially “Sultans of Swing” it still reminds me of her. Katie S. thank you were ever you may be. |
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| Gary P. Nunn – What I Like About Texas Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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If you’ve ever lived in Texas you would understand this song. It is exactly what its says, “What I like about Texas.” Gary P. Nunn is another one of my favorite Texas music artists. |
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| Jason Boland and the Stragglers – Rich, Young, Dumb, Nymphomaniac Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I don't thing there is much of a question on what this song is about. It is pretty funny. |
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| Billy Joe Shaver – Live Forever Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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While the title of this song is “Live Forever” it really seems to be about recognizing your own mortality. “I’m going to cross that river,” is a metaphor for passing over to the other side, which is the only way he is going to “catch tomorrow.” The lines: “You're gonna miss me when I’m gone Nobody here will ever find me But I always be around Just like the songs I leave behind me” Seem to confirm that idea. The sad thing is Billy Joe Shaver’s son Eddy co-wrote this song with him and then later passed away from a heroine overdose. I heard Shaver sing this song live with Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider and others on KPIG’s (Freedom, CA) Texas Uprising after his son’s death and you could tell it was hard for him to sing it. This song has been covered many times over by several different artists, but I still like Shaver’s version the best. Shaver is one of the original Texas Outlaw singers and it is good to see him finally get some of the recognition he so rightly deserves. |
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| Robert Earl Keen, Jr. – Merry Christmas From The Family Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Keen’s Christmas get together makes me feel a little better about my own family. Thanks REK. | |
| James McMurtry – Choctaw Bingo Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This is McMurty’s story of a family getting together for a family reunion. He is good with painting a picture with his music and this lengthy song is one of his best. This is one of my favorite Texas music songs. It is also one of my favorite driving songs for some reason. Thanks James. |
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| James McMurtry – We Can’t Make It Here Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This song is James McMurty’s views on the current U.S. political and economical situation. “We can’t make it here” primarily refers to the loss of U.S. jobs to countries overseas. He talks about the closed stores and factories and the fact that the things in the stores that used to be made here are now made overseas. He’s not mad at the people who now have the jobs, he is mad at the politicians who made the policies that have created this situation. You could also take “We can’t make it here anymore” to mean we can’t survive here anymore. His comments on the low minimum wage, the working poor, and the returning vets overrunning the system could be interpreted this way. McMurty always paints interesting stories with his music, this is certainly one of his strongest statements to date. |
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| Jerry Jeff Walker – Sangria Wine Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This song is just what it says, Jerry Jeff singing about Sangria wine. I got hooked on Sangria in Spain where every little restaurant and sidewalk café had their own recipe that they were each proud of. A good way to spend the day was to walk along trying a pitcher of Sangria at every place you came to. When I moved to South Texas and first met my wife we went on a date to the beach for the day. I made a big container of Sangria. It must have worked, we had a great time and eventually got married. Several people have done covers of this song, but I still like Jerry Jeff Walker’s original the best. |
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| Larry Joe Taylor – My Kinda Day on Padre Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This is a song about the South Texas coast during the off season. I love Port Aransas when the tourists are all gone so I can relate to this song. I’ve seen Larry Joe play at the Back Porch in Port A a few times and he is always entertaining. Last year my wife and I were invited to a private LJT concert and it was great. Larry Joe and his band spent a lot of time talking with us in between their sets. After 30 years of going to concerts, clubs, and bars to see different artists play it was probably the best show I have seen to date, thanks LJT! If you want an interesting place to get a beer, stop in at “Shorty’s” on the island. |
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| Larry Joe Taylor – Third Coast Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This is one of my favorite Texas music songs. It seems pretty straight forward to me as it parallels my own life in many ways. After living on the west coast and the east coast, it wasn’t until I moved to the third coast that I finally got my life straightened out. “But all and all, I'm doing pretty good, since I hit my third coast.” I love the line “I ain't dead so I must be livin', Livin' is the thing that still scares me the most” Larry Joe Taylor is kind of “Coastal Western” music. So if you’re a Parrot Head or like Texas music you’ll probably like LJT. |
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| Jackson Browne – The Pretender Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| I believe Jackson Browne wrote this song in the mid-seventies shortly after his wife committed suicide. So that maybe the source of depressing feeling this song has always seemed to given me. | |
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