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Cartoon Gold Lyrics
I'm not good with numbers I just count on knowing when I'm high enough
A mule with only two legs counting steps toward dangling carrots don't add up
I think about you when I can and even sometimes when I can't I do
Once the driver knows you got good sense he takes away the carrots too
Getting all excited finding nothing that was never there before
It's like bringing flowers to your momma and tracking dogshit all over the floor
Jesus made the flowers but it took a dog to make the story good
I think about you when I can and sometimes when I don't I probably should
Tending bar in LA after dark must be like mining cartoon gold
Rocks that won't cooperate and tools that drive you crazy must get old
I think about you when I can and sometimes when I do I still get called
Sittin' in a bar in LA after dark with my sunglasses on
A mule with only two legs counting steps toward dangling carrots don't add up
I think about you when I can and even sometimes when I can't I do
Once the driver knows you got good sense he takes away the carrots too
It's like bringing flowers to your momma and tracking dogshit all over the floor
Jesus made the flowers but it took a dog to make the story good
I think about you when I can and sometimes when I don't I probably should
Rocks that won't cooperate and tools that drive you crazy must get old
I think about you when I can and sometimes when I do I still get called
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I think this song is about feeling OK about chasing the unattainable.
"Tending bar in LA after dark must be like mining cartoon gold Rocks that won't cooperate and tools that drive you crazy must get old"
He's working in a bar in LA, and like so many others there he dreams of a higher calling, possibly stardom. but he knows what he's looking for isn't real, hence cartoon gold.
"A mule with only two legs counting steps toward dangling carrots don't add up"
Ditto with here, chasing a dangling carrot is a pretty common metaphor.
"Sittin' in a bar in LA after dark with my sunglasses on"
I like this line, he realises his journey may be fruitless, but atleast he can still chill with sunnies on.
Great song
When he played this song live Cooley has told a story about stopping in a bar in LA, and he left his sunglasses on. The bartender came up to him and made some comment about Cooley being pretentious for wearing his sunglasses. Cooley then follows it up with a joke along the lines of "Did an LA bartender really just call ME pretentious?"
Nonetheless, I think drug addiction is the theme of this song:
"I'm not good with numbers, I just count on knowing when I'm high enough"
That certainly makes it sound like this song is about drug use. Can't you imagine asking some junky friend how many pills he took, and getting that response?
"A mule with only two legs counting steps toward dangling carrots don't add up I think about you when I can and even sometimes when I can't I do Once the driver knows you got good sense he takes away the carrots too"
Chasing carrots = Chasing a high
"Once the driver knows you got good sense he takes away the carrots too" all the sudden getting high aint so much fun
Nonetheless, lines don't get much better than this: I think about you when I can and sometimes when I don't I probably should
I'd love to hear anybodys take on this song...
I gotta admit, I love songs where the percussion mimics appropriate sound effects, like Todd Snider's "Play a Train Song." Even the banjo is wholely necessary is appropriate to that sense here. I admit, I don't 100% know what Cooley's talking about (his song's on Brighter Than Creation's Dark are just at the best at this). That said, I think all three of the metaphor's (or two similes and a metaphors) both relate to falling in love and working, if you think about it.