DBT track # 63 - Self Destructive Zones

[Clams]

This song is so chock full of good lyrics that each verse really deserves its own thread. It was also my entry point into DBT. Had no idea who they were when the song came on XM one day in early 2008. Sounded so good that I went right inside and looked them up (the rest, as they say....)




It was 1990 give or take I don't remember
when the news of revolution hit the air
The girls hadn't even started taking down our posters
when the boys started cutting off their hair
The radio stations all decided angst was finally old enough
it ought to have a proper home
Dead fat or rich nobody's left to bitch
about the goings-on in self destructive zones

The night the practice room caught fire
there were rumors of a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals
"Stoner tries to save an amplifier"
and it's like the dragon's side of the story is never told
When the dream and the man and the girls hang around long enough
to make you think it's coming true,
it's easier to let it all die a fairy tale,
than admit that something bigger is passing through

The hippies rode a wave putting smiles on faces,
that the devil wouldn't even put a shoe
Caught between a generation dying from its habits,
and another thinking rock and roll was new
Till the pawn shops were packed like a backstage party,
hanging full of pointy ugly cheap guitars
And the young'uns all turned to karaoke,
hanging all they're wishes upon disregarded stars

My Grandaddy's shotgun is locked in a closet
and it never shot a thing that could have lived
An old man decided that you couldn't choose your poison
till you're nearly old enough to vote for him
They turned what was into something so disgusting
even wild dogs would disregard the bones
Dead fat or rich nobody's left to bitch
about the goings' on in self destructive zones

[GuitarManUpstairs]

Can't believe noone has commented on this yet, if only just to mention what a tough nut it is to (fully) crack. I came to know DBT at about the same time as you Clams, post-Isbell and just after BTCD had been released. This album, along with TDS were the two that dug their nails in first and Self-Destructive Zones for me was definitely a highlight. This is one of those songs where I suppose I get the overarching theme and maybe even a few of the vagueries in the lyrics but the puzzle is far from complete.

So anyway here's my not so firm take:

It was 1990 give or take I don't remember
when the news of revolution hit the air
The girls hadn't even started taking down our posters
when the boys started cutting off their hair
The radio stations all decided angst was finally old enough
it ought to have a proper home
Dead fat or rich nobody's left to bitch
about the goings-on in self destructive zones

Outside of the obvious laying out of the time frame I think what can be inferred from this is that maybe as much as he/they might have despised the Hair-Band music scene of the 80's it was the biggest thing going at the time and maybe for some intents and purposes they had themselves taken on some of those attributes that they couldn't get rid of quick enough once that scene had been supplanted by alt. rock.

The night the practice room caught fire
there were rumors of a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals
"Stoner tries to save an amplifier"
and it's like the dragon's side of the story is never told
When the dream and the man and the girls hang around long enough
to make you think it's coming true,
it's easier to let it all die a fairy tale,
than admit that something bigger is passing through

Was there an actual fire? Was there a buddy nicknamed "The Dragon"? Maybe, but I'm not sure Cooley is using this language for such a specific and inside reference. (Perhaps a happy coincidence?) Anyway, I have always took the reference to "The Dragon" to be that which is chased by an addict. But in this metaphor about a metaphor I think he is rather making the connection to his "addiction" to R&R. Now that i think i've identified the metaphor, how should it be interpreted....not sure, but i think it has something to do with him/the band trying to find their place in the emerging music scene, fighting for their spot, potentially and likely and quite possibly getting burned to some degree in the process but in the end the Dragon's side of the story was/is worth exploring rather than throwing in the towel and letting the dream die.

The hippies rode a wave putting smiles on faces,
that the devil wouldn't even put a shoe
Caught between a generation dying from its habits,
and another thinking rock and roll was new
Till the pawn shops were packed like a backstage party,
hanging full of pointy ugly cheap guitars
And the young'uns all turned to karaoke,
hanging all they're wishes upon disregarded stars

Then what happened? Well, it seems something they initially thought they could identify with morphed into something else that was as equally unappealing as the Hair Bands and only slightly more grotesque with the likes of the Marilyn Manson's, Korn, etc... He/The Band find themselves again caught out of sync with pop culture and their way of making it through blood sweat and tears giving way to the newer generation looking to make it big singing other peoples songs on American Idol as opposed to carving out their own way.

My Grandaddy's shotgun is locked in a closet
and it never shot a thing that could have lived
An old man decided that you couldn't choose your poison
till you're nearly old enough to vote for him
They turned what was into something so disgusting
even wild dogs would disregard the bones
Dead fat or rich nobody's left to bitch
about the goings' on in self destructive zones

I don't feel like i have a real firm grasp of what's going on in teh first four lines here, particularly lines 3-4 or at least how they relate to the beginning of the song. The first two lines i think he is trying to say he was taught early on not to be wasteful...eat what you kill, per se. And maybe the bloated rotting corpse of the record industry brought it on themselves because of the material excesses and triviality that became so rampant?

That's about as good as i've got for this song and not much time to refine it anyfurther right now, so let's hear everybody else's take.

[Smitty]

A history of R'n'R fromthe late 80's till now, covering everything from "alternative", the jamband scene & american idol.

My Grandaddy's shotgun is locked in a closet
and it never shot a thing that could have lived

Although they're probably unrelated, in some kinda Dylanesque-fanboy-idiocy this makes me think of "Loaded Gun in the Closet", and since he mentions his grandaddy, it makes me think of "Space City" - which after listening to "Loaded Gun" & "Space City" in succession, it's easy to see they may be a continuation of the same story.
Or not - this is just how my brain works.

[lynne]

I have nothing bright or technical to add - this is just another song I love!

[GuitarManUpstairs]

A history of R'n'R fromthe late 80's till now, covering everything from "alternative", the jamband scene & american idol.

My Grandaddy's shotgun is locked in a closet
and it never shot a thing that could have lived

Although they're probably unrelated, in some kinda Dylanesque-fanboy-idiocy this makes me think of "Loaded Gun in the Closet", and since he mentions his grandaddy, it makes me think of "Space City" - which after listening to "Loaded Gun" & "Space City" in succession, it's easy to see they may be a continuation of the same story.
Or not - this is just how my brain works.

Interesting. I wouldn't have made the connection but now that you mention it....I'll have to listen to those three as a set.

[John A Arkansawyer]

The night the practice room caught fire
there were rumors of a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals
"Stoner tries to save an amplifier"
and it's like the dragon's side of the story is never told

I still think the last line is a friendly poke at Patterson's lines in "The Three Alabama Icons" and at the start of "The Boys from Alabama" about telling the other side of the story.

Or maybe the dragon is heroin, as in "chasing the dragon". But I don't think so.

[Smitty]

The night the practice room caught fire
there were rumors of a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals
"Stoner tries to save an amplifier"
and it's like the dragon's side of the story is never told

I still think the last line is a friendly poke at Patterson's lines in "The Three Alabama Icons" and at the start of "The Boys from Alabama" about telling the other side of the story.

Or maybe the dragon is heroin, as in "chasing the dragon". But I don't think so.

I think I remember someone saying it was a real event (practice room catching fire) so I just figured it was some kinda "in joke" we weren't meant to get.

[Rocky]

I think I remember someone saying it was a real event (practice room catching fire) so I just figured it was some kinda "in joke" we weren't meant to get.

Yeah I also think I read that somewhere too. This part is literal.

Cooley once said in an interview that he was inspired to write this song after reading some book by an English guy who was a few years younger than him, was in a band, and had similar experiences as Cooley. That guy was in a hair metal band (as others had alluded to in earlier posts) and his career died when Nirvana hit it big.

[Clams]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I recall this as well....

Dead = Kurt Cobain
Fat = Axl Rose
Rich = Courtney Love

[Smarty Jones]

Wow. Again, GMU gives a fan-fucking-tastic analysis.

I don't have anything to add, y'all have said way more than I could have. It's a terrific song, love it when Cooley pulls it out live.

[GuitarManUpstairs]

Aww..Shucks... Thanks Smarty.

[beantownbubba]

I wish we had the 9B thread on this one; as i remember it, it was quite good.

To me, "stoner tries to save an amplifier" is meant to be a headline, like one of those tabloid headlines, in which case the first half of the verse seems to mean that there's big news all over (fires! dragons coming thru muscle shoals!) but all that gets reported is some smirking odd bit that somebody thinks can sell a few papers. Kind of like "Murdoch Gets a Pie in the Face" rather than "Murdoch is a lying, thieving, corrupt and corrupting son of a bitch."

The rest of that verse ("the dream, the man & the girls...") is clearly about a rock band, but i'm not really sure what he's saying about it. I appreciate GMU's interpretation, but it's not resonating for me. It's definitely about a band chasing "the dream" but maybe Cooley's saying that it's easier to give up and remember the "shoulda/woulda/coulda" (the fairytale) rather than fighting the current of something bigger passing thru and admitting u just weren't able to compete w/ it. Kind of like the career minor leaguer remembering his cup of coffee in the majors but never admitting he just wasn't quite good enuf to stick. To be clear, even if that's right I'm not saying that Cooley thinks it's right or easier, he's describing someone else's attitude.

"Dying of their habits": drugs or AIDS? I lean towards the latter but i remember that there was a pretty strong case for the former in that 9B thread.

"An old man decided..." Ronald Reagan, presumably in reference to raising the drinking age.

"Grandaddy..never shot a thing": I agree, a reference (or comparison) to the excess of the age and maybe specifically the music industry.

Clams, referencing that 9B thread again, i thought the "dead, fat & rich" trio were all related to Nirvana. Maybe "fat" is Grohl? I can't remember.

[Rocky]

Clams, referencing that 9B thread again, i thought the "dead, fat & rich" trio were all related to Nirvana. Maybe "fat" is Grohl? I can't remember.

If that's the case it's
Cobain- Dead
Novoselic - Fat
Grohl - Rich

[GuitarManUpstairs]

The rest of that verse ("the dream, the man & the girls...") is clearly about a rock band, but i'm not really sure what he's saying about it. I appreciate GMU's interpretation, but it's not resonating for me. It's definitely about a band chasing "the dream" but maybe Cooley's saying that it's easier to give up and remember the "shoulda/woulda/coulda" (the fairytale) rather than fighting the current of something bigger passing thru and admitting u just weren't able to compete w/ it. Kind of like the career minor leaguer remembering his cup of coffee in the majors but never admitting he just wasn't quite good enuf to stick. To be clear, even if that's right I'm not saying that Cooley thinks it's right or easier, he's describing someone else's attitude.

BTB - I actually don't think we're that far apart here. This is essentially what i meant even if i did not articulate it very well. I think his "Dragon" is the idea of chasing stardom/fame. I think he is observing the styles that are earning people fame and coming to terms with the fact that its just not gonna be him, even if on a cult level there are enough adoring fans around him to perhaps convince him otherwise. (What was it Wes Feed said in STHE about what's being right and what happens not being the same thing?) So he's poised with the choice to continue on chasing that dragon or give it all up before it really began ** (or Secret Option Number 3 - quit chasing fame and fortune - do it for the love of R&R and attempt to make a living at it - which is what, as we all know, he chose.)

** Sort of the same sentiment but for different reason's as he expresses in Marry Me when he says "A baby on the way's a good enough reason to get you out alive...get you out without having to swallow any pride."

[Clams]

Clams, referencing that 9B thread again, i thought the "dead, fat & rich" trio were all related to Nirvana. Maybe "fat" is Grohl? I can't remember.

If that's the case it's
Cobain- Dead
Novoselic - Fat
Grohl - Rich

Hey one out of three ain't bad...

[Zip City]

Fun lyrics, boring music

[Duke Silver]

Fun lyrics, boring music

I like the album version better than the live version. The album version has a fun, bouncy feel, but they play it too fast live.

[RevMatt]

Interesting comment about the English hair metal book. I own that book but am away from home today and the title escapes me. It is about an English kid from a smallish town who is inspired by Iron Maiden and becomes a heavy metal musician. He has some budding success -- probably at the same level as an indie band working the southeastern US indie circuit around the same time called Adam's House Cat -- but that is short circuited when Nirvana hits it big and overnight the only metal bands that are still cool to listen to are Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and the like.

My take on this song is that it is Cooley's recollection of the period surrounding the end of Adam's House Cat. When "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit Adam's House Cat was still working, but on its last days. There was a "revolution" where a lot of bands got signed, probably rumours that the dragon would make it down to Muscle Shoals, but never did.

There was a poster on here or 9 Bullets who was in the band where the practice room caught fire. He told the story here a couple of times. I think he is the same guy who posted the embarrasing Cooley '88 video on YouTube and he has put up a couple other links to some of the more Spinal Tapish things Cooley has done when he wasn't working with Patterson.

I always thought that the third verse is about our generation of musicians, high school class between 1981 and 1985. We were too young to catch the first alternative wave of American indie music -- Replacements, Black Flag, Dream Syndicate -- but by the time Nirvana hit it big we were too old and jaded to ride that wave. Most of our bands had broken up by then.

The fourth verse, I have always thought, refers to some change in the law allowing kids to hunt. I am not from Alabama so cannot say if that state raised the age or put a minimum age for a teenager to get a hunting license but that is what I thought the verse is about. In Cooley's day young boys inherited a shotgun from their grandfather or father and were taught to hunt when the parents thought they were ready. But the politicians changed that law and put in a minimum age. I think Cooley is using it as a metaphor saying that parents are too protective over their children these days and the young kids going into music will never have the unsupervised freedom we experienced.

[Duke Silver]

The fourth verse, I have always thought, refers to some change in the law allowing kids to hunt. I am not from Alabama so cannot say if that state raised the age or put a minimum age for a teenager to get a hunting license but that is what I thought the verse is about. In Cooley's day young boys inherited a shotgun from their grandfather or father and were taught to hunt when the parents thought they were ready. But the politicians changed that law and put in a minimum age. I think Cooley is using it as a metaphor saying that parents are too protective over their children these days and the young kids going into music will never have the unsupervised freedom we experienced.

That's an interesting take, but where do you get hunting?

I've always heard that last verse as three distinct ideas that aren't necessarily connected to each other. The first, as Smitty pointed out, calls back to "Loaded Gun in the Closet." The second is a comment on the absurdity of the legal drinking age ("choose your poison"). And the third is so vague it could refer to anything. I just assumed they were killer lines Cooley had left over that he didn't want to let go to waste, so he stuck them together.

[RevMatt]

The fourth verse, I have always thought, refers to some change in the law allowing kids to hunt. I am not from Alabama so cannot say if that state raised the age or put a minimum age for a teenager to get a hunting license but that is what I thought the verse is about. In Cooley's day young boys inherited a shotgun from their grandfather or father and were taught to hunt when the parents thought they were ready. But the politicians changed that law and put in a minimum age. I think Cooley is using it as a metaphor saying that parents are too protective over their children these days and the young kids going into music will never have the unsupervised freedom we experienced.

That's an interesting take, but where do you get hunting?

I've always heard that last verse as three distinct ideas that aren't necessarily connected to each other. The first, as Smitty pointed out, calls back to "Loaded Gun in the Closet." The second is a comment on the absurdity of the legal drinking age ("choose your poison"). And the third is so vague it could refer to anything. I just assumed they were killer lines Cooley had left over that he didn't want to let go to waste, so he stuck them together.

I get hunting from the line "My granddaddy's shotgun's locked in a closet and it never shot a thing that could have lived. An old man decided that you couldn't choose your poison till you're nearly old enough to vote for him." Why would a shotgun stay locked in a closet and unused? Then it is followed by a line referring to a change in the laws. As I said, I think the line is a metaphor. Back in the day a kid could take a shotgun out to the woods and shoot some small game. There was no minimum age. If a boy's family thought he was old enough to handle a gun, they'd give him one. Same thing with drinking. But now all that is regulated -- hunting and drinking. So "they turned what was into something so disgusting even wild dogs would disregard the bones." I take this to be a metaphor for the way life is where the narrator is from. Things are now so generic and regulated that it is inauthentic. Something authentic -- cultural, etc... -- demands a certain tolerance for self-destruction. Yes, a few kids are going to get hurt in hunting accidents. And some dumbasses are going to drive off the road while they are drunk. But to regulate everything you kill the possibility of true, authentic culture. In its wake you are left with chain stores, strip malls and American Idol.

In a way, our generation of musicians was the last to remember when rock and roll was considered a dangerous or self-destructive pursuit. Most of our parents couldn't relate. The cost of me dropping out of college to put together and tour with an indie band back in 1983 was having to move out of my parent's house. I moved into a funky apartment in some punk rock ghetto in a college town. I made a bunch of mistakes. Even got hooked on some bad drugs. But I was part of something, something we made on our own. Only one band from our scene -- made up of a dozen or so bands who could headline on a Fri or Sat -- ended up getting famous. But that isn't the point. And the same with Adam's House Cat. The whole legacy isn't a band that almost made it. It was a bunch of kids from the Muscle Shoals area whose lives were changed by London Calling, who probably sent away for Maximum Rock and Roll every month, listened to some station left of the dial and dreamed of making a go of it, of being part of something. They didn't have the advantage of being 30 minutes from CBGB's or 20 minutes away from New Brunswick or Hoboken like I did. Maybe they dreamed that a scene like Athens, GA or Minneapolis could happen in Alabama so they made a go of it and lasted long enough to get burned out by the whole experience.

Where were you the first time you heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? I was in Syracuse, NY finishing my undergraduate degree. I'd spent my years on the indie scene and the last thing I wanted at that point in my life was to put together another punk rock band. I think that there were similar feelings -- mixed feelings, bitter sweet feelings -- for the guys in Adam's House Cat. Yes, it was some vindication for the years they spent busting their asses. But they were to jaded and burned out to be excited by Nirvana. Born too late to be in Black Flag, too soon for Pearl Jam. "Caught between a generation dying from its habits and another thinking rock and roll is new.

Nowadays kids won't have the experience we did. Their bands are closely supervised. The more talented kids and bands have their careers closely supervised by stage parents who used to only be found at beauty pageants and community theater. Kids in high school do not have their first gigs at a kegger thrown by a friend whose parents went away for a weekend. Instead, they play in restaurants and rock clubs on Saturday afternoons. Kids used to learn rock and roll away from their parents. Now Mom and Dad are totally involved as if it was some kind of varsity sport. So the hunting metaphor sort of fits. It used to be, "Here's a shotgun, here's some shells, be careful, go out a shoot yourself something."

[Duke Silver]

Nowadays kids won't have that experience. Their bands are closely supervised. The more talented kids and bands have their careers closely supervised by stage parents who used to only be found at beauty pageants and community theater. Kids in high school do not have their first gigs at a kegger thrown by a friend whose parents went away for a weekend. Instead, they play in restaurants and rock clubs on Saturday afternoons. Kids used to learn rock and roll away from their parents. Now Mom and Dad are totally involved as if it was some kind of varsity sport. So the hunting metaphor sort of fits. It used to be, "Here's a shotgun, here's some shells, be careful, go out a shoot yourself something."

Interesting. I still don't necessarily see an explicit connection to hunting in the song, but your interpretation works with the drinking age angle, too. It also gives real meaning to that third line: "They turned what was [pure, dirty, rebellious rock and roll] into something so disgusting [American Idol, "rock and roll" camps for teenagers, corporate rock] even wild dogs would disregard the bones." Great post.

[beantownbubba]

I dunno. If that last verse is about hunting, I think that's some pretty bad songwriting right there.

[RevMatt]

I dunno. If that last verse is about hunting, I think that's some pretty bad songwriting right there.

It is a metaphor. And a damn good one at that.

[Zip City]

but what are "Self Destructive Zones"?

[beantownbubba]

I dunno. If that last verse is about hunting, I think that's some pretty bad songwriting right there.

It is a metaphor. And a damn good one at that.

Really? A metaphor? Ya think? Rev Matt, I know you well enough not to be insulted by what would on its face be a pretty damn insulting comment (though I did have to take a deep breath ). I'd think you know me well enough to know that I understand that it is a metaphor, but i don't happen to think it's a very good one, if it's about hunting.

[Fool No Where]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I recall this as well....

Dead = Kurt Cobain
Fat = Axl Rose
Rich = Courtney Love

I remember seeing that, as well as reading that the practice room was on the second floor above what is now Smokehouse Billiards in Florence.

[gerg]

The practice room catching fire thing is supposed to have a double-meaning. The tail end of the verse makes it sound like the band caught fire, as in magic was happening. That's how I've always read it anyway. And I think that is only validated by the hippy verse, as that kind of talk is very hippy/acid-like. Believe it if you need it kind of stuff.

[gerg]

Fun lyrics, boring music

Zip, you new to the Drive-by Truckers?

[Duke Silver]

but what are "Self Destructive Zones"?

Places/systems/industries that attract self-destructive people, thereby destroying themselves by design... i.e. the music business? No idea really, just a guess.

[Smitty]

but what are "Self Destructive Zones"?

Places/systems/industries that attract self-destructive people, thereby destroying themselves by design... i.e. the music business? No idea really, just a guess.

I always figured it was the r & r lifestyle