I liked this song enough to buy "Amorica," and that album turned me into the Crowes fan that I am today!
Way back when ('91, '92?), I remember MTV News reported a story of Chris Robinson "stealing" a case of beer on tour after the clerk or another shopper stopped him because (s)he recognized him, but couldn't remember his name or the name of the band, so he stormed out. I put stealing in quotes because their report said he left $20 on his way out, which did not cover the price of the beer.
A direct interpretation of these lyrics may be a challenge because I think they are more evocative than an exact story (the Adam's apple can be Biblical or anatomical, drawing images of going for his throat and simultaneously alluding to the original sin of mankind). The first verse may have been written in reference to that aforementioned news story, and the second verse in particular feels directed to record labels, saying that they know their music better than the labels ("my definition, it don't hold me back") and that their music will be around a long time because it is rooted in music that has been around even longer ("I got tradition, it's an addition" ... "this is a very old land"). Record labels back then were more interested in releasing music that appealed to the widest audience at that moment than promoting artists for who they are (that still rings true today, but it was much harder to be heard without a label in the early '90s).
I liked this song enough to buy "Amorica," and that album turned me into the Crowes fan that I am today!
Way back when ('91, '92?), I remember MTV News reported a story of Chris Robinson "stealing" a case of beer on tour after the clerk or another shopper stopped him because (s)he recognized him, but couldn't remember his name or the name of the band, so he stormed out. I put stealing in quotes because their report said he left $20 on his way out, which did not cover the price of the beer.
A direct interpretation of these lyrics may be a challenge because I think they are more evocative than an exact story (the Adam's apple can be Biblical or anatomical, drawing images of going for his throat and simultaneously alluding to the original sin of mankind). The first verse may have been written in reference to that aforementioned news story, and the second verse in particular feels directed to record labels, saying that they know their music better than the labels ("my definition, it don't hold me back") and that their music will be around a long time because it is rooted in music that has been around even longer ("I got tradition, it's an addition" ... "this is a very old land"). Record labels back then were more interested in releasing music that appealed to the widest audience at that moment than promoting artists for who they are (that still rings true today, but it was much harder to be heard without a label in the early '90s).