for the 5 Obnish who haven't heard it



From: The Dirty South (2004)


There are more emotionally devastating songs on the album (like "Manuel/Danko") and on other DBT albums, but "Puttin' People On The Moon" is a good track for people to hear if they're wary of the "indie Skynyrd" notion of this band.

It's got a lot of Green On Red in it, some Tom Petty and Springsteen, but mostly it's Aghan Whigs filtered through The Band. Bitter but very honest song.

Puttin' People On The Moon

Mary Alice had a baby and he looked just like I did
We got married on a Monday and I been working ever since
Every week down at the Ford Plant but now they say they're shutting down
Goddamned Reagan in the White House and no one there gives a damn

Double Digit unemployment, TVA be shutting soon
While over there in Huntsville, They puttin' people on the moon

So I took to runnin' numbers for this man I used to know
And I sell a few narcotics and I sell a little blow
I ain't getting rich now but I'm gettin' more than by
It's really tough to make a living but a man just got to try

If I died in Colbert County, would it make the evening news?
They too busy blowin' rockets, puttin' people on the moon

Mary Alice quit askin' why I do the things I do
I ain't sayin' that she likes it, but what else I'm gonna do?
If I could solve the world's problems I'd probably start with hers and mine
But they can put a man on the moon
And I'm stuck in Muscle Shoals just barely scraping by

Mary Alice got cancer just like everybody here
Seems everyone I know is gettin' cancer every year
And we can't afford no insurance, I been 10 years unemployed
So she didn't get no chemo so our lives was destroyed
And nothin' ever changes, the cemetery gets more full
And now over there in Huntsville, even NASA's shut down too

Another Joker in the White House, said a change was comin' round
But I'm still workin' at The Wal Mart and Mary Alice, in the ground
And all them politicians, they all lyin' sacks of shit
They say better days upon us but I'm sucking left hind tit
And the preacher on the TV says it ain't too late for me
But I bet he drives a Cadillac and I'm broke with some hungry mouths to feed

I wish I'z still an outlaw, was a better way of life
I could clothe and feed my family still have time to love my pretty wife
And if you say I'm being punished. Ain't he got better things to do?
Turnin' mountains into oceans. Puttin' people on the moon

Turnin' mountains into oceans. Puttin' people on the moon

My favorite DBT song hands down.

I disagree--this is easily the most emotionally devastating song they've ever done, it almost makes me uncomfortable.

Funny, this song and "Tornadoes" have become my two favorites on this album. Its like Patterson's songs take a long while to get under your skin as opposed to Isbell's (and to some extent Cooley's) that are much more immediate.

i've never heard this band ever. They dont get any coverage anywehre her.e

Yep, its because he sounds funny, and doesn't bother to rhyme a lot of the time, and his phrasing can be awkward. Its more like a story set to music than a song.

And this song is awesome, and it does make me quite uncomfortable as well.

Always get a fist pump at "Goddamn Reagan in the White House."

And I am sure Patterson knows, but most of you probably don't, that the section of I-65 through Huntsville is the "Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway." Ironic.

Think of them as The Triffids, but with trailer parks and pig farms.

i fucking love this song. they played it when i saw them at the 930 club and i shit myself.