dbt track #75 - Three Dimes Down

[Clams]

So many great lyrics (including OBL, Tom T. Hall and Seger) packed into two short verses. I have no idea what any of it means, but the song is cool as shit. The live version on ACL is played so fast that it chops almost 30 seconds off the 3:22 studio version.



It was a straight shot
All it took was luck to not get caught
I laid three dimes down and the machine wanted 25 cents
In the back seat her and a friend,
one out the window and the other on the other end
One belt loop away from Sunday night's news

If the part about being who he was didn't help Tom get loose,
what's a guy without a T. gonna get? Totally screwed,
while chicken wing puke eats the candy apple red off his Corvette
Three dimes down and 25 cents shy of a slice of the Doublemint twins
Come back baby, Rock and Roll never forgets

[Penny Lane]

Makes me miss the Doublemint Twins..

[bovine knievel]

only Mike Cooley could write a kickass tune with chicken wing puke as a lyric

[Tequila Cowboy]

only Mike Cooley could write a kickass tune with chicken wing puke as a lyric

And I still contend he couldn't have written that line without having witnessed said occurrence. I mean seriously how could you make that up?

I love Cooley's "Stones-ian" tunes. This one's no exception.

[Lefty]

A shower AND a grower. Pure cock rawk. Love at first listen...

[Clams]

Only four replies? Very disappointing...

[Zip City]

I remember not liking this song much when BTCD came out. Thought it was too much of a Stones knock-off or something, don't remember.

That said, it's totally grown on me, and I love seeing it live

[beantownbubba]

Only four replies? Very disappointing...

Perhaps the thread initiator said it all.

[Rocky]

Didn't Patterson at one point say he thought the lyrics were inspired in part by Tom T. Hall's A Week in A Country Jail?

A Week in a Country Jail

One time I spent a week inside a little country jail
And I don’t guess I’ll ever live it down
I was sittin’ at a red light when these two men came and got me
And said that I was speeding through their town

Well, they said,tomorrow morning you can see the judge then go.
They let me call one person on the phone
I thought I’d be there overnight so I just called my boss
To tell him I’d be off but not for long

Well, they motioned me inside a cell with seven other guys
One little barred up window in the rear
My cellmates said if they had let me bring some money in
We ought to send the jailer for some beer

Well, I had to pay him double ’cause he was the man in charge
And the jailer’s job was not the best in town
Later on his wife brought hot bologna, eggs and gravy
The first day I was there I turned it down

Well, next morning they just let us sleep but I was up real early
Wonderin’ when I’d get my release
Later on we got more hot bologna, eggs and gravy
And by now I wasn’t quite so hard to please

Two days later when I thought that I had been forgotten
The sheriff came in chewin’ on a straw
He said, where is the guy who thinks that this is indianapolis?
I’d like to talk to him about the law.
Well, I told him who I was and told him I was working steady
And I really should be gettin’ on my way
That part about me bein’ who I was did not impress him
He said, the judge’ll be here any day.

The jailer had a wife and let me tell you she was awful
But she brought that hot bologna every day
And after seven days she got to lookin’ so much better
I asked her if she’d like to run away

The next mornin’ that old judge took every nickel that I had
And he said, son, let this teach you not to race.
The jailer’s wife was smilin’ from the window as I left
In thirty minutes I was out of state

[buddymo]

I know it's been said before, but Corvettes don't have backseats.

[mwh]

Only four replies? Very disappointing...

I think it's pretty hard to comment on a song when you have NO IDEA what he's talking about. What machine? 55 cents for Doublemint twins? And maybe I'm wrong about this part, but the backseat and the corvette - not necessarily the same car.

[colodogdoc]

Only four replies? Very disappointing...

I think it's pretty hard to comment on a song when you have NO IDEA what he's talking about. What machine? 55 cents for Doublemint twins? And maybe I'm wrong about this part, but the backseat and the corvette - not necessarily the same car.

I believe he's talking about the the condom machine. It only takes quarters and all he has is three dimes; hence, he is "twenty-five cents shy of a slice of the Doublemint Twins". Or at least that's how I've heard it explained...

I've had a weird relationship with this song. I loved it as soon as I heard it, but it gets played so much live that if I'm seeing them for a few shows in a row (i.e., Athens 2010) and he plays it 2 out of 3 nights I find myself wishing he'd pick something else. But the story is awesome as is the ridiculously-smokin' guitar solo at the end. And the imagery of two chicks joined by a belt each leaning out the opposite side of a Corvette going at top speed along a deserted country road, screaming/giggling, hair flying - that's good stuff!

And the Corvette in my mind has a backseat whether Chevrolet actually built one that way or not.

[Clams]

[Sterling Big Mouth]

A cool-ass song if there ever was one. The one belt loop scene is hilarious, and I love the cadence Cooley uses in the second verse. I also love the alliteration with Tom T getting totally screwed.

[Penny Lane]

I believe he's talking about the the condom machine. It only takes quarters and all he has is three dimes; hence, he is "twenty-five cents shy of a slice of the Doublemint Twins". Or at least that's how I've heard it explained...

i didn't know this! whoa..right over my head..

[wrekkr]

I have puked super hot chicken wings before, ohhhh, the burn. wasn't bad until some came out my nose. put the yukon down

[beantownbubba]

Well done, clamster, well done!!!!

[RolanK]

A cool-ass song if there ever was one. The one belt loop scene is hilarious, and I love the cadence Cooley uses in the second verse. I also love the alliteration with Tom T getting totally screwed.

One of my favourites at the moment, and I think it is due to the cord progression at the end. Some of the live recondings I've seen with Cooley soloing over that is just great. Simple but magic.

[John A Arkansawyer]

For lack of a T, the quarter was lost.
For lack of a quarter, the rubber was lost.
For lack of a rubber, the Doublemint Twins were lost.
For lack of the Doublemint Twins, chickenwing puke was lost.
For lack of chickenwing puke, the finish on a candy-apple red Corvette was lost.
For lack of a the finish on a candy-apple red Corvette, a night in jail was lost.
What's a guy without a T gonna get?
Totally screwed. And all for the lack of a T.