The Unraveling
Release Date: January 31, 2020 - ATO Records
TRACK LISTING
1. Rosemary With A Bible And A Gun2. Armageddon's Back In Town
3. Slow Ride Argument
4. Thoughts And Prayers
5. 21st Century USA
6. Heroin Again
7. Babies In Cages
8. Grievance Merchants
9. Awaiting Resurrection
LYRICS
Rosemary with a Bible and a Gun
Strong as the day was long, Rosemary would sing along
Wheels rolling steady down the way
The ashtray it would fill up twice, the windows down felt nice
as miles stretched the twilight of the day
Driving up I-55, Mississippi zooming by
Salvation in the cool November air
I’m searching for the mixture that could paint a pretty picture
of the wind blowing through Rosemary’s hair
Her Daddy always said she was the one
who made the light the stars could wish upon
Rosemary with a bible and a gun
I was more than smitten by the words as they were written
and the opportunities awaiting there
Our time was etched in promise until the truth came down upon us
descending all our hopes into despair
We took our leave and headed north, the tank had twenty dollars worth
Highway called our names like siren’s call
Twenty five and on the run, William Eggleston
Parking lots of neon in the fall
Her Daddy’s eyes drew fire unto the sun
Asked me why I thought that I was the one
Whose eyes could be deemed worthy to ever cast upon
Rosemary with a bible and a gun
One kiss could charm the dark to light the dawn
This rollercoaster highway can’t compare to the fun
of Memphis saturated in decay and on the run
Rosemary with a bible and a gun
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
May 22-24, 2017 - Portland OR.
Armageddon’s Back in Town
As we pulled into town there was a breakdown
as the moonlight lit the town
But it was High Noon in somebody’s head
before the first boot hit the ground
Spent the day in Cincinnati on the cell phone
trying to figure out the expense
Stabbing fists into drawn-shade darkness
battered by experience
There is something to be said for hanging in there
Past the point of hanging round too long
Hung out to dry or put away wet
All the same when it all goes wrong
It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault
when you misconstrue the wonder and the shame
All over town, my name’s passed around
til you can’t tell the darkness from the flame
Can’t the darkness from the flame
I left my car parked at the airport
and I flew to Kansas City in the rain
I know enough to know I’m standing here soaked
and the weatherman’s to blame
I left that house empty after sunset
with someone else to figure out the stains
I’ll take my responsibility for the darkness and the pain
It’s all my fault, everything’s my fault
guess a butcher knows how to trim the fat
When it all comes down, Armageddon’s back in town
You can’t tell the rabbit from the hat
Can’t tell the rabbit from the hat
The dye has been cast and symbolisms so pronounced
that there’s nothing left to wonder or explain
There’ll be no healing from the art of double dealing
Armageddon’s back in town again
Armageddon’s back in town again
Armageddon’s back in town again
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
3/27/2013 - Salt Lake City UT. / 6/15/2017 - Des Moines IA. / 8/26/2017 - Glen Ellen CA.
Slow Ride Argument
When it’s been too long since tranquility found you
and the vibe from your baby’s a hornets nest
Before you go putting crosshairs between you and hindsight
and give in to the clenching creeping into your fist
Don’t go taking it out on anything but the highway
Let her go my friend
Let the outside air in
(chorus)
Get two tall boy beers not one not three
No radio edits permitted
Only live with the breakdown, Live with the ending
Slow ride argument
If you’re as mad at the end as you were when you began
Slow ride argument
There’s no going home again
When its been too long since tranquility found you
and the vibe from your baby’s a hornets nest
(chorus)
Slow down take it easy
There’s no going home again
Mike Cooley © Cheap Labor (BMI)
All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
Thoughts and Prayers
When the carnage was over you could hear the cellphones ringing
You could smell gun powder in the air
On the bloody ground LED’s were blinking
Deliver us from evil, thoughts and prayers
They’re lined up on the playground, Their hands all in the air
See it on our newsfeed and we cry out in despair
They’re counting up the casualties and everyone’s choosing sides
There’s always someone to blame Never anywhere to hide
Thoughts and Prayers Thoughts and Prayers
This white noise in my head, I think I need a filter
A pressure valve to keep from blowing up
When the shit comes down, I pray I can rise above it
Hold me close when I’ve had enough
Thoughts and Prayers Thoughts and Prayers
Glory Hallelujah You are in our thoughts and prayers
The Flat Earthist realized as he flew through the skies
The curve of the horizon as he fell
He saw the world was round, just before he hit the ground
And gravity called out to close the deal
When my children’s eyes look at me and they ask me to explain
It hurts me that I have to look away
The Powers That Be are in for shame and comeuppance
When Generation Lockdown has their day
They’ll throw the bums all out and drain that swamp for real
Purp walk them down the Capitol steps and show them how it feels
Tramp the dirt down, Jesus. You can pray the rod they’ll spare
Stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers
Glory Hallelujah You are in our thoughts and prayers
Glory Hallelujah You are in our thoughts and prayers…
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
21st Century USA
The parking lot behind Oasis Tan
Down the street from the Mexican
Restaurant between the Auto Zone
and the place that’s hawking Pay Day Loans
There’s a K-Mart and a KFC
A fitness center and an Applebee’s
Wells Fargo and a Taco John’s
A good time bar to get your bad swerve on
In a town that’s named for razor blades
All American but Chinese made
Folks working hard for shrinking pay
21st Century USA
Out I-90 we might see you pass
We got coal and methane gas
We got jobs where the work is hard
and stores to max out your credit cards
In a town that ain’t nowhere near
just like every town everywhere
Folks working hard for shrinking pay...
They say we have to hang on a little bit longer and a savior will come our way
We’ll know him by the neon sign and the opulence he maintains
If Amazon can deliver salvation I’ll order it up on my phone
With Big Brother watching me always, why must I always feel so alone
Men working hard for not enough, at best
Women working just as hard for less
They get together late at night at bars
Bang each other just like crashing cars
Working hard but it don’t seem enough
Calloused hearts make even love seem tough
Prescription pills to make the pain hurt less
Until your calloused heart just needs a rest
You look at your children and you hope and pray
that they can conjure up a better day
No one remembers how it got that way
21st Century USA
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
May 22-24, 2017 - Portland OR.
Heroin Again
Losing your joy, playing with dangerous toys
insulate yourself from life and all of its big noise
Insinuate a fever dream, instigate a requiem
a deafening explosion of shame, an orgasm inside of your brain
Silly young man why you using heroin?
I thought you knew better than that
I thought you knew better than that
Beautiful lost girl, you turn your back on this mean sweet world
A taste of heaven, some part of you dies
til you’re something you can’t recognize
Raised to know better than dying using heroin
A judgement discrepancy, cutting life expectancy
I thought you knew better than that
I thought you knew better than that
Didn’t 71 teach us anything?
Didn’t 94 teach us anything?
It’s called to me and tempted me but never quite captured me
I always just turned away, I’ve lost so many friends that way
Missing my friends who died using heroin
I thought they knew better than that
I thought they knew better than that
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
May 5, 2015 - Athens GA / Sept, 14, 2017 - Cannery, Nashville TN.
Babies in Cages
The world wakes up this morning
I’m sorry for the news
Wrapped up in a tinfoil blanket without any shoes
Babies in cages
I’m sorry to my children
I’m sorry what they see
I’m sorry for the world that they’ll inherit from me
Babies in cages
Are we so divided
That we can’t at least agree
This ain’t the country that our granddad’s fought for us to be?
Babies in cages
Surf’s up in the cities
Where the next wars will be fought
I’m sorry we’ve forsaken every lesson we’ve been taught
Babies in cages
I bang my head against it
Smash guitars and scream and shout
Standing on the beach watching the tide go out
Babies in cages
Standing in the darkness
to answer for our sins
Children changing each other’s diapers in a pen
Babies in cages
Look down from the heavens
as we calculate the cost
our souls cry out for the better angels we have lost
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
June 19, 2018 - Dunwoody GA. / July 19, 2018 - Kalamazoo MI.
The Intro to this track was recorded at the Dunwoody home of my beloved in-laws. The full band track was recorded in one take, live in the studio with live vocal and a special guest appearance from our friend Cody Dickinson playing Washboard through an amp, wah pedal and delay.
Grievance Merchants
As long as there have been stories lies and airwaves
what makes a man a mans been right up front,
in visions, boys are sold of what it could be
and grievance when it ain’t like what they thought,
when money and respect seem to elude him
and being white alone don’t make the ladies swoon
there’s no shortage when it comes to hearing voices
telling him it’s him that’s done unto
They say his trouble with the ladies cant be his fault
after all he’s what it’s natural they should want
that there’s just outside forces turning them against him
a conspiracy to water down his blood
a conspiracy to water down his blood
and its all the fault of it or them or they
give a boy a target for his grievance
and he might get it in his head they need to pay
Giving boys targets for their grievance
and then mocking those who bear the pain they cause
It takes a certain special kind of something
to cash the check it brings and sleep at all
The demonizing of the trouble minded
with all the usual suspects on the scene
Merchants selling young men reclamation
Merchants selling old men back their dreams
On suspended disbelief and wishful thinking
Comes a vision of a special Hell for cons
Who sell their marks the doubt it even happened
An eternity for every tear they mock
An eternity for every tear they mock
May the price of freedom finally be their own
May our thoughts and our prayers keep them company
As they wallow in their helplessness alone
Mike Cooley © Cheap Labor (BMI)
All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
Awaiting Resurrection
Is there an evil in the world?
Yes, there’s an evil in the world.
Is there an evil in the world?
Yes, there’s an evil in the world.
It creeps up from behind you
when you are least suspecting
Is there a dog in this race?
Yes, there’s a dog in this race
I’m looking at his tail
but I’m thinking about his face
So I keep on pushing forward
Acquiring and collecting
Is there an absolute beginning
or something beyond the end?
Will I come back as that dog
Or will I have to live through this again?
The truth seeps out between us
in the spaces we’re neglecting
When the push comes to shove
and our devils come at us running
Will we be caught in the flood
or something far less stunning?
Will that serum keep us honest
from the answers we’re deflecting?
There’s a voice within the void
and I swear it sounds familiar
within the truths that we’ve destroyed
whispering come here
and the answer is within you
but it keeps on disconnecting
There’s an evil in this world
I seen it in the news
of babies dead in schools
and scattered in the pews
for reasons without answers
in the dark, beyond protection
I’m moving through the void
Staring down the fright show
Standing in the darkness
Waiting for the light show
I try with all my might
to seek the truth you’ve been rejecting
Seeking some salvation
to the limits of my talents
I hold my family close
trying to find the balance
Between the bad shit going down
and the beauty that this life can keep injecting
There’s the whiplash of the news
and the evil man’s tirades
A joker’s motorcade, military parades
Lives in the balance of the dirty deals made
to win elections
Guns and ammunition
Babies in a cage
They say nothing can be done,
but they tell us how they prayed
In the end we’re just standing
Watching Greatness Fade
Into Darkness… Awaiting Resurrection.
Patterson Hood © Mt. St. Helen Keller Music (BMI), All rights administered by Words and Music, a division of Big Deal Music LLC
November 5-6, 2017 - Portland OR. / February 7, 2018 - San Francisco CA. (back lounge, tour bus, outside Great American Music Hall).
LINER NOTES
The Unraveling is Happening…
21st Century USA, tanks rolling through the streets of Washington DC as our utopian dreams give way to a dystopian now. Nearly a generation since the towers fell and the shit came down. William Gibson’s dark visions have come to pass, everyone is connected and more disconnected than ever. Our children have lock-down drills.
Welcome to the new normal. We put babies in cages now. Shit’s fucked up. Grievance merchants, running down innocents on a narrow street in a beautiful college town. The gold plated toilet tweeting out lie after lie. Emboldened and supported by the Faux News Fascists and their “MAGA” chanting lemmings. No wonder people are OD-ing in record numbers. Who wouldn’t want to tune out during
the deluge. It’s going to take more than thoughts and prayers to solve this shit.
Meanwhile, many of us are just trying to raise our families, do our jobs and chase our dreams. Never mind that fewer than ever can afford to go to college and many who do are lassoed with so much
debt that The American Dream is reduced to doing whatever you have to do to pay for student loans and health care. They bailed out the banks and told the rest of us to go fuck ourselves. Don’t think about buying a house or upward mobility. That flag’s at half-mast and there’s a bonfire at the base
of the pole.
Yet here I sit. On my front porch, on a beautiful spring day, watching the sun set behind green trees casting shadows upon a dead-end street littered with Big Wheels and discarded scooters. The sounds of kids jumping on trampolines echoing in the distance. Such a lovely day it’s hard to feel too bad. Such is one of the dualities of this life.
Dualities have always been an obsession of mine and to some extent to the band itself. Being raised liberal in Alabama probably lends itself to that. These fucked up times have given us strong topics
to write some of our best songs about things we’d much prefer to not ever have to write about.
The news has become that car crash you pass and try not look at, yet I dare not look away. When
it comes to the havoc that the ruthless and powerful can reap upon our day to day lives, the political
is very personal.
My family is strong. My band has never been better. I still have my health. We all still have a lot of fight left in us and nobody is backing down from the shit.
We recorded most of this album in Memphis at Sam Phillips’ dream lair. His mad-genius echo chambers reverberating down the pastel painted hallways. Mick stopped by one day. No shit. It’s
been that kind of century. Most of the tracks were cut more or less live. Many in one or two takes.
We played them loud. You should too.
Don’t give up the fight and never stop chasing the dream. Vote and Resist. Sometimes that’s the best we can do. See you at The Rock Show!
Sincerely, The DBTs
CREDITS
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
Mike Cooley - Gtrs and Vocals
Patterson Hood - Gtrs and Vocals
Brad Morgan - Drums
Jay Gonzalez - Keyboards and Gtrs and Vocals
Matt Patton - Bass, Bass 6 and Vocals
With Special Guests
Kyleen King - Viola and String Arrangement (Rosemary with a Bible and a Gun and 21st Century USA)
Patti King - Violin (Rosemary with a Bible and a Gun and 21st Century USA)
Cody Dickinson - Electric Washboard (Babies in Cages)
Recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, Tennessee by Matt Ross-Spang and David Barbe on September 10-16, 2018.
Additional recording at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, Georgia in September 2017 and February 2019, by David Barbe.
Strings recorded by Adam Lee at Halfling Studio in Portland, Oregon.
Mixed by Matt Ross-Spang and David Barbe on a vintage 1975 Neve console at Chase Park Transduction in March 2019
Assistant Engineers: Henry Barbe and Wesley Graham
Sam Phillips Recording Studio Attache: Matt Denham
Chase Park Transduction Interns: Atys Cope, Brad Hagin and Joseph Hohenstein
Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.
Art Direction: Lilla Hood / Hood Creative <hoodcreate.com>
Front Cover Design: Aaron Draplin / Draplin Design Co. <draplin.com>
Front Cover Photo: Erik Golts
Back Cover Photo: Danny Clinch <dannyclinch.com>
Booklet Photos: Andy Tennille <andytennillephotography.zenfolio.com>
Art Work: Wes Freed <wesfreed.com>
Website: Jenn Bryant / <Knuckle Sammitch>
Socials: Jason Wilson
Liner Notes: Patterson Hood
MERCY BUCKETS
Ansley, Ross, Lucas and Delilah Cooley; Rebecca, Ava and Emmett Hood; Ruby Morgan; Sibby and Louise Morgan; Katey and Billy Gonzalez; Megan and Hazel Sue Patton.
Lilla, Chris, Reed and Duncan Smith; Jenn Bryant and Matt Ginter; Wes Freed and Jackie Folkes;
Jason Wilson; Amy, Annabelle, Winston and Henry Barbe. David Barbe is grateful for the collective
excellence of the entire DBT Family, and the patience of Amy Barbe.
Thanks to our beloved Road Crew: Cole Taylor, Henry Barbe (again), Ben Hackett, Paul McHugh, Jim Wilson, Matt McGibney, Andy Jones, Conner Ostrowski, and Dick Cooper (retired, but never forgotten).
The Greatest Management / Agency / Label / Legal & Biz Team on Earth: Kevin Morris, Christine Stauder and everyone at Red Light Management; Matt Hickey, Frank Riley and everyone at High Road Touring; Jon Salter, Mike Quinn, Robin Hendrickson and everyone at ATO Records and PIAS Cooperative; Ken Weinstein and everyone at Big Hassle; J. Reid Hunter and everyone at Serling Rooks Hunter McKoy & Worob, LLP;
Dwight Wiles, Samantha Rose and everyone at Smith, Wiles and Co, P.C.
Love to The Heathens who travel far and wide, spreading the word and supporting our band.
Jerry Phillips; Matt Ross-Spang; Wendy, Sadie Jane and Stella Rose Morris; Graham Hickey; Jenn Pool, Erik Golts and Charlie; Andy Tennille and Family; Chris Funk; Adam Lee; Aaron Draplin; Jerry Joseph and Family; Cody Dickinson; Luther Dickinson; Kyleen King; Patti King; Will Johnson and Family; Chuck Reece and the Bitter Southerner Family; Christopher “Coop” Cooper (RIP), Mac Casares, Roman Emery and all the fine folks of Hammer and Hand; Alabama Shakes; Drew Vandenberg; T. Hardy Morris; Kyle Craft; The Dexateens; Robert and Cynthia Patton; Bill Kingery; Toni and Walter Gonzalez; Greg Chow; George Davidson; Milton Chapman; Marc Tissenbaum; Chris Grehan; Jeff Soilaeu; Duncan and Reed Smith; Dr. John Contovasilis; Mark Lynn; Beth Dickson and Dean Gavney; Luke and Sarah; Beth and Jeffery Schneider; Big Tom; The Three Dimes Down Family; Bertis Downs; Peter Buck; Danny Clinch; DeWitt Burton; Wyatt Pless; Chelsea Cain; Marc Mohan; Jim Desmond and family; Willy Vlautin; Andy McCulla; Willy Vlautin; Jimbo Mathus; Scott McCaughey and Mary Winzig; Brad and Phil Cook; Hiss Golden Messenger; Lilly Hiatt; Lance Bangs and Corin Tucker; Bennett Moon; David and Judy Hood; Jim and Linda Wright; Jan Patterson and Jim Martin; Jay Leavitt and Deep Groove Records; Barrie Buck, Velena and all the fine folks at The Fabulous 40 Watt Club; The wonderful staff at Sam Phillips Recording Service and Chase Park Transduction; Linda Phillips and Bob Sleppy and all at Nuci’s Space; Ken Zankel and Anna Veyna; Andy LeMaster; Don Chambers; William Gibson; Nan and Booker T. Jones; Uncle Josh; Jared Hasmuk; Sarah and Lee Henderson; Mariah Parker; Craig Finn; Chuck Tremblay; Amy and Brandon Haynie and Family; Charlie Mustard and Jittery Joes Coffee; Billy Reid and his wonderful staff and of course our beloved families and friends.
Brad plays Ludwig Drums and Meinl Cymbals, special thanks to Chris Brewer at Meinl Cymbals for all his help. Jay uses Nord Keyboards (as well as a vintage 1958 Hammond B-3 with Leslie) and McGibney Guitars. Matt Patton uses a Noble Amplification Preamp/DI. DBT Proudly uses: Rapco Cables, Seymore Duncan Pickups, D’Addario Strings, Fender Amps, Sommatone Amps, Shure Microphones and Steve Amps:
Steve Hunter at Thee Electric Church Tube Amp Repair.
Scott Baxendale has been building incredible guitars for us for a few years. They are amazing handcrafted instruments made with love and care (and only the finest of woods). Scott works out of The Baxendale Guitar in Athens, GA, and can be reached at www.baxendaleguitar.com.
DBT Proudly Supports Nuçi’s Space Artist Resource Center. Please read all about this great organization at www.nuci.org.
Dedicated to our White Owls of the Night:
Craig Lieske, Newton Carter, Marty Gelhaar, Philip Carpenter and Damon Scott; as well as Jimmy Johnson, Donnie Fritts, Tom Petty, Jessi Zazu (Darlin), Prince, Anthony Bourdain, Richard Swift and Maggie Roche.
Rest in Peace and Power.