Crackerman

Well, if this came from the mind of Scott Weiland before he himself got entangled with heroine, I think he might just be trying to articulate the heroine addiction based on what he saw in someone he knew. He is/was an artist, and not all art pops out of a vacuum.

Jay46 has a good interpretation. I can't really dispute it but I don't entirely agree with it. I don't really read into it that the singer is contemplating murder so much as suicide.

But I will give you that the line "Got the mud beneath my shoes" sounds like this guys is out and about on foot, possibly in inclimate weather (or at least less than ideal conditions)...if I was dead set on killing someone...a little rain would be a very minor concern (especially if I was high and/or crashing...). If I just wanted to off myself, I would probably stay inside...

"Kickin' as I'm tryin' to sleep" - yeah, insomnia, withdrawls, possibly low grade stuff leading to a bad trip...

"Got the mud beneath my shoes " - (see above)

"Rubber band, rubber band" - Probably a reference to the turniquit used in preparation of shooting up, a reference to his addiction...

"Gun in hand, gun in hand" - I guess it could be a masturbatory reference, but kinda doubt it. I rather think it's more along the lines of a .45 and not a Big Johnson...

"I wanna use" - Dual meaning, he at once wants to use more heroine, and as a result he wants to use the gun (on himself or his dealer)

"Roamin', roamin', roam Get away gotta get away" - Likely a simulcra of drug induced ramblings, but I could kind see it representing a permanently lost or spaced out feeling from execive drug use. Or perhaps he was "roaming" through life, lost confused, whatever and that's how he got started with heroine. Just wanted to "get away", and now it's the drugs he wants to get away from. Again, we potential for a dual meaning.

"And I think I think too much" - As you can see in the partially nonsensical and repetative nature of the lyrics, the singer is going around in circles mentally. Even HE realizes it, and sees that thinking about his situation only drives him further into dispair and only increases his problems...

"I don't care, yeah and I don't care" - No one does when they are sufficiently anesthetised...

"Trippin' as I'm thinkin' 'Bout a boy, his name was Sue He's a man, he's man Crackerman, crackerman He's a woman too" - This could be virtually anything. He could be musing on his own past. If you REALLY want to read into it, he's remembering his descent into drug use. A boy named Sue would probably have been viewed as weak and girlish, and not really a threat (hey...we're talking schoolyard/playground logic here...), much as many people view drugs as fun and recreational aids, ignoring the danger inherint in their use. But this 'boy' turns out to be a 'Man' , decidedly more dangerous than a mere boy. But at the same time he/it's a woman as well, seductive and sweet.

Or this could be one of those times when 'a cigar is just a cigar', and he is simply hallucinating as he prowls the streets looking for a fix. He sees a boy, and then a man, and then a woman walk by, and in his altered state they seem to transform from one to the other...

"And I'm thinkin' While I'm thinkin'" - Still trying to puzzle out his situation with a deck of only 48 cards or so...

"Wind traps Mud flaps Dust, blowin' in my eyes... I'm rollin' I'm rollin' I'm a'rollin'" - I don't know about this...highway imagery ? Is he hitchiking to get out of the city to start over ? Did he steal a 16 wheeler ? Or get HIT by one so hard he flew through the air and then just rolled, and rolled, and rolled...

Well, that's what I get out of it anyway. :)

CORE was one of the first rock albums I ever listened to (back in the goold old days of yore when pirating media involved a CD, an audio cassette, a cheap dual tape deck, and a friend with similar taste in music), an indelible part of my college years. Wicked Garden, Plush, and Where the River Goes are my three favorites off that album, but it's one of the few albums out there that I like to listen all the way through.

This is definetly my favorite STP song. And while jay46's interpretation might be wrong, it makes sense to me. And the stuff he says at the end seems to be posted now...

The song is clearly about drug abuse and withdrawal sympthoms

I see that most people try to make sense of the song by intrepreting it by pieces and that make the interpretation not only complicated to do but also kind of wrong.

All the first part of the song is telling the hangover of heroine, he's trying to sleep and can"t. His shoes are dirty because the night after he was hanging out under the influence and only god knows where he has been. He is dirty and with hangover.

How does he solve this? With ubber band and a "gun" in the right hand. He is inyecting himself with heroine again. The "gun" is the srynge, the metaphor is based in that the srynges "shoot" the content, "a heroine shot". Rubber band in the left arm, and the heroine in the right to shoot himself the drug.

Then, obvously there is the Johnny Cash refference which is used to describe the type of pleasure that Scott indulge. He has an androgynous style, which we can see in his first solo album art, and in other songs like "Superhuman" by Velvet Revolver. He picturew himself as a man and a woman and enjoy tje pleasures of being the two at the same time. He is the man that is a woman, this is what hw does under the influence.

He need the drugs to stop thinking about the pñeasures that he indulge, like all of us.

Contains a reference to Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue."

a great driving song! this song comes on the radio and i am totally screwed LOL im surprised more people havent commented on stp here

jwm909 that isnt really a reference that is more of a coincidence..i think...but i may be wrong..ive been known to

there are definitly some words at the end of this song that I can't understand, and that aren't listed in the above lyrics.

anyway, classic drivin' tune here, somebody should be a hero and figure out what its about

What exactly is a Crackerman? There was a movie called Cracker Man. From what I've read, a Crackerman has something to do with fireworks.

Sounds like Weiland is contemplating murder in this song. He can't sleep so he's pacing. But I still don't get what a crackerman is supposed to be! This song is still a mystery to me.

Crackerman... Drug Dealer. lol. He thinks if he can killl the drug dealer, he can stop taking herion. During withdrawls at night, hes thinking "god i could kill that fuck for selling me this shit"

Scott's drug problems didn't really start until after "Purple" was released (or so he says) jay46, so I think you're wrong on that one. To answer MtterOFctItsAllDrk's post, I can't understand what Scott says at the end of this song either, but at one point before he says "I'm a roamin'...", it sounds like he says "dust blowin' in my eyes..."

Who knows with Scott Weiland :)