Cocaine, cocaine,
'Round my heart and runnin' 'round my brain,
Cocaine, aw, you ol' cocaine.
I woke up this mornin', Lord, I had a hunger pain.
And all I want for breakfast is my good cocaine,
Cocaine, aw you ol' cocaine.
Jump out of bed, Mama, run downtown;
Take along the money and look all around. Find the man, the man that sells cocaine.
Come here, Mama, come here quick;
That ol' coke's got me and I'm feelin' sick.
Cocaine, aw you ol' cocaine.
Get out of here, Mama, I thought you understood;
You got no connections then you're no damn good.
Cocaine.
Well, coke's for horses, Lord, it ain't for men.
They say it kills you, but they don't say when.
C'mon, Mama, let's rent us a boat.
We'll sail down that Gibraltar moat;
Shed a tear every time we pass Tangiers.
Cocaine, cocaine,
'Round my heart and runnin' 'round my brain,
Cocaine, aw, you ol' cocaine.
Townes Van Zandt was a regarded American singer-songwriter, praised for his very sad, poetic songs that reached themes of difficulty, emotional upheaval, and an existential check. Born in 1944 in Fort Worth, Texas, Van Zandt was a troubled and gifted musician, usually referred to as a cult figure because of the huge impact that he had on the country and folk music scenes, despite never reaching the mass popularity ranks during his lifetime. His songs are venerated for this depth and complexity of words, and many times tend to be compared with Bob Dylan's works. The troubled life of Van Zandt, with its times of depression and taking substances, often resembled the narrative of his stark, poignant music.
"Cocaine Blues" by Townes Van Zandt humanly portrays the damaging spiral of cocaine addiction, elaborating on both the drug's psychological arrest and the chaotic lifestyle that it breeds. Van Zandt's version of the traditional folk song (covered in scores of versions by other artists) was very forthright, raw delivery of the lyrics and the stripped-down musical framing that sets the unsparing narrative.
The song starts out with this repetitive chorus: "Cocaine, cocaine, 'Round my heart and runnin' 'round my brain, Cocaine, aw, you ol' cocaine," that, kind of the all-possessing nature of the addiction. Use of 'cocaine' at the beginning and ending of the sentence reflects this cyclic trap into dependency where the thought and action of the user begins and ends with the drug.
When it says, "I woke up this morning, Lord, I had a hunger pain, and all I want for breakfast is my good cocaine," it generally talks of the craving one has for substance dependency. What this then does is highlight the precedence of the drug over things that are even as basic as food, pointing to the depth of addiction's control over an individual.
As the song progresses, the narrative unfolds the lengths to which the protagonist goes to obtain the drug, including forcing others to help him in his quest. Line "Get out of here, Mama, I thought you understood; You got no connections then you're no damn good" puts it out quite simply what the relationship has worn thin to: cruelty and manipulation that may arise as a result of addiction, in which relations are valued strictly in terms of his or her ability to further drug use.
The rather fanciful line—well, coke's for horses, lord, it ain't for men. They say it kills you, but they don't say when—points cruelly, satirizing the folklore and old wives' tales about drug use, subtly bringing to task even the nature of society and its often flippant or resigned attitudes towards the dangers these things hold.
'Round my heart and runnin' 'round my brain,
Cocaine, aw, you ol' cocaine.
I woke up this mornin', Lord, I had a hunger pain.
And all I want for breakfast is my good cocaine,
Cocaine, aw you ol' cocaine.
Jump out of bed, Mama, run downtown;
Take along the money and look all around. Find the man, the man that sells cocaine.
Come here, Mama, come here quick;
That ol' coke's got me and I'm feelin' sick.
Cocaine, aw you ol' cocaine.
Get out of here, Mama, I thought you understood;
You got no connections then you're no damn good.
Cocaine.
Well, coke's for horses, Lord, it ain't for men.
They say it kills you, but they don't say when.
C'mon, Mama, let's rent us a boat.
We'll sail down that Gibraltar moat;
Shed a tear every time we pass Tangiers.
Cocaine, cocaine,
'Round my heart and runnin' 'round my brain,
Cocaine, aw, you ol' cocaine.
Song Facts:
- Genre: Country, Folk
- Lyricist: Townes Van Zandt
Artist Info:
Townes Van Zandt was a regarded American singer-songwriter, praised for his very sad, poetic songs that reached themes of difficulty, emotional upheaval, and an existential check. Born in 1944 in Fort Worth, Texas, Van Zandt was a troubled and gifted musician, usually referred to as a cult figure because of the huge impact that he had on the country and folk music scenes, despite never reaching the mass popularity ranks during his lifetime. His songs are venerated for this depth and complexity of words, and many times tend to be compared with Bob Dylan's works. The troubled life of Van Zandt, with its times of depression and taking substances, often resembled the narrative of his stark, poignant music.
Annotations and Meaning:
"Cocaine Blues" by Townes Van Zandt humanly portrays the damaging spiral of cocaine addiction, elaborating on both the drug's psychological arrest and the chaotic lifestyle that it breeds. Van Zandt's version of the traditional folk song (covered in scores of versions by other artists) was very forthright, raw delivery of the lyrics and the stripped-down musical framing that sets the unsparing narrative.
The song starts out with this repetitive chorus: "Cocaine, cocaine, 'Round my heart and runnin' 'round my brain, Cocaine, aw, you ol' cocaine," that, kind of the all-possessing nature of the addiction. Use of 'cocaine' at the beginning and ending of the sentence reflects this cyclic trap into dependency where the thought and action of the user begins and ends with the drug.
When it says, "I woke up this morning, Lord, I had a hunger pain, and all I want for breakfast is my good cocaine," it generally talks of the craving one has for substance dependency. What this then does is highlight the precedence of the drug over things that are even as basic as food, pointing to the depth of addiction's control over an individual.
As the song progresses, the narrative unfolds the lengths to which the protagonist goes to obtain the drug, including forcing others to help him in his quest. Line "Get out of here, Mama, I thought you understood; You got no connections then you're no damn good" puts it out quite simply what the relationship has worn thin to: cruelty and manipulation that may arise as a result of addiction, in which relations are valued strictly in terms of his or her ability to further drug use.
The rather fanciful line—well, coke's for horses, lord, it ain't for men. They say it kills you, but they don't say when—points cruelly, satirizing the folklore and old wives' tales about drug use, subtly bringing to task even the nature of society and its often flippant or resigned attitudes towards the dangers these things hold.