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No. 29 Lyrics
I was born and raised here this town's my town
Everybody knows my name
But ever since the glass plant closed down
Things round here ain't never been the same
I got me a good job alright but some nights
Take me to another time
Back when I was No. 29
I was pretty good then don't you know watch him go
Buddy I could really fly
Everyone in town came, hip flasks, horn blasts
Any autumn Friday night
Sally yelled her heart out push em back, way back
I was hers and she was mine
Back when I was No. 29
We were playin' Smithville big boys, farm boys
Second down and four to go
Bubba brought the play in good call my ball
Now they're gonna see a show
But Bubba let his man go I cut back, heard it crack
It still hurts me but I don't mind
Reminds me I was No. 29
Now I go to the ballgames cold nights, half pints
Friday nights I'm always here
We got a pretty good team, good boys, strong boys
District champs the last three years
Got a little tailback pretty slick, real quick
I take him for a steak sometimes
Nowadays he's No. 29
I don't follow rainbows, big dreams, brass rings
I've already captured mine
Back when I was No. 29
Everybody knows my name
But ever since the glass plant closed down
Things round here ain't never been the same
I got me a good job alright but some nights
Take me to another time
Back when I was No. 29
Buddy I could really fly
Everyone in town came, hip flasks, horn blasts
Any autumn Friday night
Sally yelled her heart out push em back, way back
I was hers and she was mine
Back when I was No. 29
Second down and four to go
Bubba brought the play in good call my ball
Now they're gonna see a show
But Bubba let his man go I cut back, heard it crack
It still hurts me but I don't mind
Reminds me I was No. 29
Friday nights I'm always here
We got a pretty good team, good boys, strong boys
District champs the last three years
Got a little tailback pretty slick, real quick
I take him for a steak sometimes
Nowadays he's No. 29
I've already captured mine
Back when I was No. 29
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Like so many SE songs doesn't take much explaining - American footballer looking back to before the accident which ended his career.
Steve said at a show in Atlanta that he made it through high school by "Turning cowboys onto acid". This song was written about a cowboy football playing friend with who he shared some of those late nights, and if I'm not mistaken the guy really was named "Bubba".
One memorable quote (Steve has hundreds):
Steve and Bubba are laying on the hood of their pickup, in a hallucenogenic state, staring at the night sky. Bubba bursts out:
"MAN, DID YOU SEE THAT!!!"
And Steve's casual response:
"No, Bubba...that was yours." ;)
The line "cut back, heard it crack" just kills me. Steve has such a way with describing SO much in so FEW words. When I was 10 I saw the starting QB of our little league team plant his right foot to turn upfield on a sweep at the exact moment the opposing cornerback planted his helmet into his thigh. His femur split clean in half like a toothpick. I'll never forget that sound.