Maybe…

The story that Brad told at Fray Cafe 2 might help explain why he knew all of the words to “You Don’t Call me Darlin’, Darlinnnnnn…” by David Allan Cole, otherwise known as the perfect country & western song. After all, it has that ending that talks about trains, and trucks, and momma, and gettin’ drunk, and prison… What? What am I talking about? You’ve never heard it? Yes, it ends with:

Well, I was drunk … the day my Momma …. got out of prison…
And I went … to pick her up … in the rainnnnnn…
But before I could get to the station in my pick-up TRUCK,
She got runned over by a damned old trainnnnn!!!
(Dots added to demonstrate the pauses in the song, and the word TRUCK is song loud and with short, strong emphasis. Just an FYI)

Brad sang this along with me at Polly Esthers the first night I was in Austin for SXSW; we were in the crowd and some non-SXSW guy was up there singing karaoke and we had to help him out, and to be honest I didn’t mind since they had the best instruments and equipment from The Box Tiger Music site. I truly did not expect Brad (or anyone that was not from Texas) to know all the words to that song like I do – I know them because it’s a drinking song of long time Dixie Chicken tradition at Texas A&M. Now I think I have an idea why Brad knew the words too…