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Guitar Man Upstairs Lyrics
I think I'm gonna call the Police, I hear something upstairs
I know good and well there ain't nothing good going on up there
There's probably ten or more of them sittin' all around
Smokin' that stuff and drinkin' that hard liquor down
I've been living in this city since the day I was born
I've seen good times come and go and I've seen bad times drag on
I've seen white and black folks alike get treated just like sin
And every year or so I see a new truck load of white trash movin' in
When I was sixteen I had a little trouble with the law
He said "Boy come here" I said "Boy yourself
I ain't done nothing wrong"
He grabbed me by the arm and He went upside my head
Nobody saw nothing
But I got a little spot where my hair ain't grown back yet
I used to have me a woman and a pretty fine home
But it took so much to keep them both going I was always out and gone
I came home one afternoon to get me change of clothes
Caught a quick walkin' slick talkin' guitar picker
Headin' out my back door
Now I'm proud to say I ain't never been no violent man
But I'd sure be rotting in jail today if I'd had me a gun in my hand
I went inside threw her clothes on the floor and laid a suitcase across the bed
Not a word got spoke not a lick got throwed
And my woman ain't come back yet
Now I live in this building with the punks and the freaks
And I don't do much of nothing except go to work, come home, and drink
So guitar man you done picked the wrong damn place to stay
I'm a feeble old man
You're a young smart-ass
And there's a law-man on his way
I know good and well there ain't nothing good going on up there
There's probably ten or more of them sittin' all around
Smokin' that stuff and drinkin' that hard liquor down
I've seen good times come and go and I've seen bad times drag on
I've seen white and black folks alike get treated just like sin
And every year or so I see a new truck load of white trash movin' in
He said "Boy come here" I said "Boy yourself
I ain't done nothing wrong"
He grabbed me by the arm and He went upside my head
Nobody saw nothing
But I got a little spot where my hair ain't grown back yet
But it took so much to keep them both going I was always out and gone
I came home one afternoon to get me change of clothes
Caught a quick walkin' slick talkin' guitar picker
Headin' out my back door
But I'd sure be rotting in jail today if I'd had me a gun in my hand
I went inside threw her clothes on the floor and laid a suitcase across the bed
Not a word got spoke not a lick got throwed
And my woman ain't come back yet
And I don't do much of nothing except go to work, come home, and drink
So guitar man you done picked the wrong damn place to stay
I'm a feeble old man
You're a young smart-ass
And there's a law-man on his way
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I appreciate the way the truckers write from others points of view as in this song and the Buford Stick stateline gang narrarator and Loaded Gun in the Closet couple. You just know young smart ass Cooley had the law called on him by a feeble old man quite a few times. I just wonder if Cooley speculated about why the old guy was so angry or he was told the story about his wife messing around with a quick walking guitar picker?
On the Live gigs, Cooley often tells the story before he starts this song. The story goes that he used to live in a crappy apartment above an old guy who wouldn't mind him throwing wild parties, being up late, the television blarring loud and openly breaking some laws but "the second he so much as looked at a guitar", the old boy below him would call the cops. He could be playing really quiet so Cooley himself could just about hear it and somehow the old boy was able to hear and call the cops. There are some excellent youtube videos of him giving a full explanation before he plays the song which are worth watching just because cooleys so funny... add to that a kick-ass song and this is one of my fav live performances by the truckers.
On the Live gigs, Cooley often tells the story before he starts this song. The story goes that he used to live in a crappy apartment above an old guy who wouldn't mind him throwing wild parties, being up late, the television blarring loud and openly breaking some laws but "the second he so much as looked at a guitar", the old boy below him would call the cops. He could be playing really quiet so Cooley himself could just about hear it and somehow the old boy was able to hear and call the cops. There are some excellent youtube videos of him giving a full explanation before he plays the song which are worth watching just because cooleys so funny... add to that a kick-ass song and this is one of my fav live performances by the truckers.
Cooley: "This songs is about what happens when a guitar player fucks someone\'s old lady." (02-18-2004, Bluebird Theatre, Denver, CO)