lyrics to 'sam stone' and 'cop shoot cop'

asd2112 · Post by **asd2112** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:32 am

if this has already been discussed sorry.

recently listened to john prine's great days anthology and noticed the following lyric in 'sam stone'

"theres a whole in danny's arm where all the money goes
jesus christ died for nothing i suppose"

anyone else aware of this or perhaps an earlier reference for this lyric.
i'm guessing 26 will have some info for me.

SpaceLine · Post by **SpaceLine** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 2:35 pm

you're right, he did take those lyrics from Prine's sam stone. i think this is a relatively well known fact among the diehard fans but it's not common knowledge so good find

i think it's "daddy's arm" and not "danny's arm" by the way, but that's nitpicking, isn't it?

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:17 am

It's Daddy's arm, yes.

This has been discussed a bit and Jason definitely lifted the lyric for that verse and the structure and general idea for the rest of them when writing Cop Shoot Cop. The title is also notably a reference to a semi-popular group from New York. It's an interesting topic though, as Sam Stone is pretty clearly comic and that puts Jason's seriousness in high relief.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:08 am

While I don't think there's any doubt about the lifting of the lyrics, I'm not so sure about that interpretation fo the title. Jason's use of the phrase is quite different - while the band name literally refers to a cop shooting another cop, the Spz lyrics mean cop (i.e. score) some drugs, shoot them up, cop another load... A routine as weary as the song sounds.

I guessit could be a nod to the band despite the different meanings, but I think it's more likely to be coincidence.

Love,

Ian

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:27 pm

Although I agree about the obtain/inject/obtain summore interpretation of the title, I think the odds of it being a coincidence are pretty dismal. I think there's a more than distinct chance that Jason has met Cop Shoot Cop, and likes them (either personally or musically), and in giving thought to their name has come up with his own ironic twist.

All this will be resolved when Jason puts out a twenty-five minute funk odyssey called 'Butthole Surfer' and we try to work out how that's about methadone enemas.

davedecay · Post by **davedecay** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:18 pm

as a fan of both Spz & CSC (or Â¢$Â¢), i've been aware of the "score, inject, score" meaning of both bands' titles. only at first, when discovering CSC/NY, did i think their name referred to blue-on-blue gun violence. didn't help that the title of the EP was "piece man" and had a picture of a gun.

peace, man.

ddk