About: 63 Bucks (And
My Old Truck)
Lately, when I play this song, I talk about
the truck. How special it was, how it got dinged up over
its life before the song begins. It's a great story that
always goes over well.
Another story about how this song came to be was that I was
thinking about my home town, home village(s) actually. I
was about to return to my there to take my Mom to her 60th.
high school reunion. I remembered feeling desperate to
leave there soon after high school.
To me at the time, it seemed the expected thing there was
to do what your Dad did. Work where he worked. Vote like
your parents did, etc. etc. I thought of those who stayed
put, and made a life there, those who now just hung out at
the Legion drinking, and those who never found their way.
There were other "forces" at play that week. I had just
learned that Amy Burt, a good and talented friend, had
died. She was my age & we worked together.
But there's yet another story about
how 63 Bucks became what it is. This version is one with
violence & laughs and goes like this:
I suppose I'll thank the internet for this song. A friend
sent me the Top Ten Children's Book Titles You'll Never
See. One title was "Strangers Have The Best Candy" but my
favourite was "Daddy Drinks Because You Cry." So, this
songs' chorus used to be: "Your daddy drinks because you
cry// he was once a happy guy// now he's a drinker// daddy
drinks because you cry."
It stayed this way for about two years. Then verses came
& were all about what could have been. Verses ended
with "and it's all because of you". I though it was pretty
sick and very funny.
But then my wife heard it. She hit me, kicked me about the
head & neck in a violent fury, saying THAT wasn't funny
& drinking wasn't funny & blaming kids IS NEVER
funny & that I haven't got a CLUE & should just
SHUT UP already. (I've since paraphrased her rant into:
"All my best friends are drunks!".)
Anyway, once the blood was mopped up, "The Wife" said she
did like the first couple of lines. Said they drew her in
and thought the song could be made into something
half-decent if I got my head out of my butt and treated
these people with the respect they deserved. So, many
re-writes later, a new version arrived.
When I played the new version the next morning for my wife,
she had a little cry (as did I). So, I suppose, sometimes a
rant yields good results. (I'll write about my wife's
drunken friends another time.)
Contact me with who you think should
record this song.