Copperhead Road - explanation of line

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 11 - 12:47 PM

I have had time to read through most of the comments. "Then he looked inside" just means he looked under the hood of the car. The next line is about the engine. That is another common phrase in the US Southeast. It just means to look inside the hood of the car to look at the motor. Basically he bought the car and then after coating it in primer he took a look inside the motor compartment (or under the hood) to start juicing up the engine.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 11 - 06:30 PM

I was somehow logged off. The above Guest was me Jayto.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 05:02 PM

It has to be a big black dodge, because dodge didn't come out with a big block motor unti ( I think) the 413 in 1963. So daddy had a small block of sometype, maybe a small hemi. Only the third pettimore could have bought a big block dodge at a police auction.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Bobert
Date: 03 Oct 11 - 05:36 PM

Good point, GUEST, guest... You oughtta be on the sequel to "My Cousin Vinny"...

B~

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 09:25 PM

It is "big block Dodge". They "shot a coat of primer" to hide the Johnson County Sheriff logo because then it wouldn't be a far step from that to figure out who bought the car. And they "looked inside" the hood and were pleasantly surprised to find a big block Dodge engine which had just started production in the late 50s.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 11:03 PM

I donno???

Steve had already said that he'd bought a "big block dodge" so why would he be surprised to find that it was a "big block"???

I don't think so...

I think he "looked inside" the car itself to checkout the interior... Maybe to figure out how to stash the shine tanks???

B~

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 09 Jan 12 - 12:20 AM

Sounds like he says "big black Dodge" to me, but what the hell do I know.
"Shot a coat of primer" just shows they didn't give a damn about how it looked.
"Looked inside" shows the equal disdain they had for the interior of the car. Don't think it's a way of saying they were looking under the hood...if it was the local Sheriff's car, they already knew what they were getting.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Texan til I die
Date: 10 Jan 12 - 02:34 PM

Back then all police cars were "black".

Look inside does definitely mean to look under the hood. You didn't look under the hood at the auction. You bought em' cheap and "asis". Looking under the hood meant you didn't know what you were doin at an auction. Everybody knew who the shiners were and veteran shiner would nevr look under the hood. Cops would note who would look under the hood as a newbie and that's how first arrests were made.

As for the line "shot a coat of primer" - Shiners used primer for one reason. It's not shiny. Black primer doesn't reflect light and when you're getin' run down by the sheriff you get away as fast as you can, raise as much dust as you can skid out off a side road, ditch yer lights and let the sheriff roll right by you. If the sheriff realizes he's passed you up he'll come back shining his searchlight both ways looking for the first shiny reflection to nail you.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: moecurlythanu
Date: 11 Jan 12 - 12:52 PM

It clearly says "big block Dodge." I've been listening to this song since it came out, and never once heard it as "big black." Might I recommend some wax remover? ;-)

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: gnu
Date: 11 Jan 12 - 02:06 PM

Primer is also used up country so that a vehicle is less visible in moonlight. Everything is primed except windows and lights (crossing main roads is always done with the side windows down). Taillights power wiring is cut and connectors installed. Powerful lights on a rooftop lightbar are mounted facing mostly backwards. Side mirrors removed. Gastanks are "modified" (trucks with dual tanks).

And, of course, the chainsaw is fueled and starts first pull. The waterproof GMRS have fresh batteries (these guys never go swimmin alone, eh, on accounta "safety first, eh).

Speakin a saftey... I stay away from them guys. Great guys to drink with but too rough around the edges fer me.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jan 12 - 07:23 PM

Texan's responses feel right to me, so Im going w his explanation, plus Steve ain't ashamed to be from Texas either

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Bobert
Date: 11 Jan 12 - 08:05 PM

Well, I bought a twas-a-fuzz "big block dodge"... It was a '74 model... And I bought it at a county auction... Back then they would take a spray can of black primer and paint over the insignia/decal on the front doors... I knew it had a "big block" V-8 (440 cu inches)... I didn't need to see that but if you have ever been to a car auction you'll see folks looking inside the car at the interior... People are looking to see if the air conditioner is working or if there is stuff missing or the overall condition of the seat covers, carpet, etc... It's part of buying a car...

So I think, in spite of having performed the song for years as "big black Dodge" that it is indeed "big block Dodge", and coat of primer over the insignia and looked at the interior...

B~

Subject: Lyr Add: COPPERHEAD ROAD (Steve Earle)
From: gnu
Date: 11 Jan 12 - 08:51 PM

Has this been posted before?


COPPERHEAD ROAD
(Steve Earle)
As recorded by Steve Earle on "Copperhead Road" (1988)
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
It's before my time but I've been told
He never came back from Copperhead Road

Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road

I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first, 'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jan 12 - 09:06 PM

For the record, songfile.com lists the songwriter of Copperhead Road as Steve Earle, so I added title and songwriter attribution to the lyrics posted by gnu.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Apr 12 - 03:52 PM

umm...you geeks, "looked inside" refers to the engine/engine compartment!!!

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Sandyant
Date: 12 Apr 12 - 05:17 PM

Top song. Do/did panel beaters and spray painters use a term "shoot a cop"
To describe shooting a Coat Of Primer. ie
C O P.

Subject: copperhead road was based on what movie
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 08 Jun 12 - 02:43 PM

what movie was playing in the background of the song copperhead road

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: gnu
Date: 08 Jun 12 - 03:24 PM

Got a link?

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jun 12 - 08:06 AM

Too many people overthinking the line Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside the meaning of this line is contained in the next line Well him and my uncle tore that engine down. The car was brought as a Police car and wasthen painted in primer to cover the insignia and then the engine of the car was rebuilt for greater power. A classic Q Ship that is a plain car hiding a very powerful motor

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Mopar or NoCar
Date: 19 Nov 12 - 03:44 PM

Dodge first big block was 1958 the biggest Dodge engine before that would have been a 354 used in a truck. The "wedge" big blocks of the Mopar muscle car era started its production in 1958 with a B block 350 & 361 followed a year later by the B block 383 and the RB (raised block) 383 and 413. The RB block "wedge" 426 came out in 63 and RB 440 finally came out in 1966 along with the release of the RB "Hemi" 426. (*race only 426 Hemi's were being used in 64 and 65 but not released to the public til 66) The last of the big blocks to be released was the R block 400 in 1972.

So if ol' John Lee Pettimore volunteered for the Army on his 18th birthday because they draft the white trash first anyway. Based on the way he says "They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway" says to me they had been drafting for a while so the U.S. involvment of the war had been going on for sometime and wan't new. So say it was 67 or 68 when he turned 18 and to be old enough to understand and remember his dad buying a squad car, shotting it in primer, rebuilding the engine and "still remember that rumblin' sound" I would say he would have to be 12 or 13 so it is more likely than not that his dad bought a squad car with a big BLOCK.

I grew up in a car family and my pops ran a bodyshop. We used the terms shot or shooting for pain and primer as in "I shot the first coat of primer last night" or "I just finished shooting the first coat of primer".

"he looked inside" followed by "Well him and my uncle tore that engine down" clearly means he looked under the hood to check the engine and then rebuilt it.

My pops used to buy cars at city and county auctions and all cop cars, fire trucks and school busses I saw at auction always already had the logos painted over with black or gray primer.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Nov 12 - 07:23 PM

Great post, MpPar...

I'm a gear-head, too... Not a MoPar guy... Ford guy... But, hey, good stuff... I never realized that the 383 was considered a big block... I thought it was a small block... Guess not...

With Ford motors the 351 was both a small block and a big block... The Windsor was a small block and the Cleveland was a big block...

Get's kinda confusing...

B~

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Feb 17 - 07:38 AM

Looked inside refers to looking at the engine. Souping it up to run faster.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Feb 17 - 06:27 PM

ahh brilliant! So "just shot a coat of primer" means they got rid of the Johnson County Sheriff writing and " looked inside" means they souped up the engine.. love it! brilliant!!!

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 08 Feb 17 - 07:29 PM

Yeah. Late 1960's Dodge Polara 413. Would add a county mountie is not a townie. Daddy bought the pursuit package suspension, brakes &c that comes with. 15s/129mph in the quarter mile, from the factory.

A coat of paint primer to hide the door decal on the outside and "looked inside" is not just under the hood. Throw out the back seat, door panels and other dead weight too. Good times.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Roughyed
Date: 09 Feb 17 - 09:09 AM

I was amazed to see this thread again after I started it over 14 years ago. Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years, your comments and experience have made a real difference to my understanding and appreciation of the whole song. Isn't the Mudcat wonderful?

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 10 Feb 17 - 12:56 AM

Isn't the Mudcat wonderful?

Excepting, that I've been humming "She Caught the Katy" for three days now, not knowing why...


The Bluesmobile

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: robomatic
Date: 10 Feb 17 - 03:42 PM

Just watched the movie "American Honey" In an early scene the main character is trying to offload two little kids she's looking after so she can hit the road; she intercepts the kids' mother at a joint where they're line dancing to "Copperhead Road". It all fits.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,ripov
Date: 11 Feb 17 - 03:37 PM

I'm pretty sure that any signwriting on a vehicle would be obliterated BEFORE it was sent to auction.
And as an aside "Copperhead" chimes nicely with the "Copper" (although it wasn't always made of that metal, especially when the brew was illict), or boiler, used for heating the mash to boil off the alcohol. The fiddling Doherty brothers were itinerant coppersmiths, who repaired "utensils" on Irish farms.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Steviebeef
Date: 12 Nov 17 - 09:13 AM

Copperhead is a snake, venomous, but not lethal, found on the east coast of the US to the Mississippi.

Shot coat of primer is the car was sprayed with flat black primer and that was it, no color no clear coat.

"Then looked inside"--means he evaluated the engine and what to do.

Tore that enigine down, means actulay they rebuilt it--WAY outta spec LOL!

Good tune.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 17 - 10:39 AM

It does depend on who or what gets bit, as to whether a copperhead snake is "lethal." Treat its venom as deadly and leave it alone. It's found in a much larger range than the one mentioned above.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 06:02 PM

As a longtime Missouri resident, I am almost a southerner, and I just want to say that i don't believe anybody ever named a road for a copperhead.

Do we name roads for skunks, mosquitoes or poison ivy? No, we don't. And whether we are northern or southern, we don't name them for poisonous snakes, either.

The Missouri Department of Conservation says that nobody has ever died of a copperhead bite in Missouri. Of course they are to be avoided nonetheless.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: Greg F.
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 06:35 PM

Well Leeneie, check

Here

And Here

Plenty more of them, and skunks, and rattlesnakes & all sorts of critters memorialized in road names.....

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Davie M
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 05:01 AM

The trouble is you guys are all muzos and not car people. The line is

"Just a shot coat of primer when you looked inside."

It means that the inside has been stripped out so that it can carry more and also to get rid of all the combustible upholstery. Then the inside has been tidied up with a quick spray of primer (a shot coat).

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Davie M
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 05:06 AM

For what it's worth, I think the term comes from giving metal a quick spray of primer immediately after shot blasting just to stop it rusting until the proper finish can be applied. The car wouldn't have been shot blasted or anything but it just means that the inside had been stripped and then had a quick blow over with primer. No need to do anything more. Main requirement is a for a good running engine, so they strip it down and perk it up a bit.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 08:58 AM

I'm afraid I disagree Davie M.

Nearly every set of lyrics I can find agree with my ears that it's "just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside".

The interpretation of the dull paint job to give the car a "stealth" finish, and "looking inside" to get the most out of the engine, make most sense to me.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 01:59 PM

Dave M.: "The trouble is you guys are all muzos and not car people."

"For what it's worth, I think...

Whereas I think the 'trouble' may lie elsewhere...

Removes back seat as "fire hazard." Replaces with glass jars of high-proof distilled spirits. Hmmmmmmm.

fwiw: Pneumatic paint sprayer = air gun; paint gun. Ergo paint = shot.

Hiding the door decal is required by the auction rules or done by the county before the sale and bootleggers don't add useless, dead weight primer on the inside.

Or so I've been told anywho ;)

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,NUGE
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 10:26 PM

i think he looks inside the car to get one last look at the cop car that was always up his ass as a kid before he starts running shine in it.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Mike
Date: 25 Mar 20 - 01:43 AM

“Shot a coat of primer” to me means sprayed quickly a
coat of primer. What is a muzo?

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 25 Mar 20 - 11:41 AM

"What is a muzo?"

Musician.

Subject: RE: Copperhead Road - explanation of line
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 20 - 06:55 AM

I live on Blacksnake Road, so named because it has so many twists and turns and is a bit dangerous in some sections.