verse 1
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only come a 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 come back from Copperhead Road
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only come a 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 come back from Copperhead Road
verse 2
Now Daddy ran whiskey in a big black 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
When 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
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
When 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
verse 3
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 just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Now 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
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 just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Now 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
outro
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
song info:
Verified yes
LanguageEnglish
Rank−
Duration00:04:30
Charts
Copyright ©Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music
WriterSteve Earle
Lyrics licensed byLyricFind
Added
Last updatedMarch 17th, 2024
About"Copperhead Road" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Steve Earle. It was released in 1988 as the first single and title track from his third studio album of the same name. The song reached number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and was Earle's highest-peaking song to date on that chart in the United States. The song has sold 1.04 million digital copies in the US as of September 2015.
The song's narrator is named John Lee Pettimore III, whose father and grandfather were both active in moonshine making and bootlegging in rural Johnson County, Tennessee. Pettimore's grandfather visited town only rarely, in order to buy supplies for a still he had set up in a hollow along Copperhead Road. Pettimore's father hauled the moonshine to Knoxville each week in an old police cruiser he bought at a surplus auction. According to the narrator, a Revenue Man wanted John Sr. "Real Bad" and went up to get him. The lyric " He never come back from Copperhead Road" implies either the Revenuer was ambushed and killed by John Sr. or John Sr. was killed. John Jr. himself is killed in a fiery car crash while driving to Knoxville with a weekly shipment.
Pettimore enlists in the Army on his birthday, believing he will soon be drafted ("They draft the white trash first 'round here anyway"), and serves two tours of duty in Vietnam. Once he returns home, he decides to use the Copperhead Road land to grow marijuana, rather than produce moonshine ("I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico"). Having learned a few tricks from the Viet Cong ("I learned a thing or two from Charlie") while fighting overseas, he resolves not to be caught by the DEA, specifically meaning that he has set up booby traps of the kind employed by the Communist enemy.
Copperhead Road was an actual road near Mountain City, Tennessee, although it has since been renamed Copperhead Hollow Road, owing to theft of road signs bearing the song's name. The song also inspired a popular line dance, timed to the same beat, and has been used as the theme music for the Discovery Channel reality series Moonshiners.
The music video was directed by Tony Vanden Ende and premiered in early-1988.
In 1994 German rock band Torfrock recorded a German version of the song with the name "Kettenhemd" (engl. Mail (armour)) which is about vikings. The band plays this song regularly in concerts.
The song's narrator is named John Lee Pettimore III, whose father and grandfather were both active in moonshine making and bootlegging in rural Johnson County, Tennessee. Pettimore's grandfather visited town only rarely, in order to buy supplies for a still he had set up in a hollow along Copperhead Road. Pettimore's father hauled the moonshine to Knoxville each week in an old police cruiser he bought at a surplus auction. According to the narrator, a Revenue Man wanted John Sr. "Real Bad" and went up to get him. The lyric " He never come back from Copperhead Road" implies either the Revenuer was ambushed and killed by John Sr. or John Sr. was killed. John Jr. himself is killed in a fiery car crash while driving to Knoxville with a weekly shipment.
Pettimore enlists in the Army on his birthday, believing he will soon be drafted ("They draft the white trash first 'round here anyway"), and serves two tours of duty in Vietnam. Once he returns home, he decides to use the Copperhead Road land to grow marijuana, rather than produce moonshine ("I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico"). Having learned a few tricks from the Viet Cong ("I learned a thing or two from Charlie") while fighting overseas, he resolves not to be caught by the DEA, specifically meaning that he has set up booby traps of the kind employed by the Communist enemy.
Copperhead Road was an actual road near Mountain City, Tennessee, although it has since been renamed Copperhead Hollow Road, owing to theft of road signs bearing the song's name. The song also inspired a popular line dance, timed to the same beat, and has been used as the theme music for the Discovery Channel reality series Moonshiners.
The music video was directed by Tony Vanden Ende and premiered in early-1988.
In 1994 German rock band Torfrock recorded a German version of the song with the name "Kettenhemd" (engl. Mail (armour)) which is about vikings. The band plays this song regularly in concerts.
Album Details
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