'Tall Tales' by Gavin Adcock – Lyrics & Meaning

Throughout Gavin Adcock's new studio album, Own Worst Enemy, it seems like his life has been made up of a series of tall tales, the 24-track collection leaping from insurmountable dramas to drunken romps and back again.

The song, 'Tall Tales', especially, spins some of the album's biggest yarns.

Own Worst Enemy, which arrived on Aug. 15, is quite a varied release, one that the artist explained as having been years in the making. He shared, "Over the last 4 years I’ve spent my life writing, traveling, and trying to find time to breathe. It doesn’t always add up on paper like it would seem, but through the happiness, hard times and self destruction I’ve found the best part of my job is letting out music for my fans. I can’t thank y’all enough for sticking with me for this long. I’m the furthest thing from perfect and I don’t ever plan to be."

Here, we are diving into one of the album's tallest tales of all: how he became the irreverent star we know today.

A blues rock opus, reminiscent of ZZ Top and George Thorogood, with a touch of Heartland flair that would make even Tom Petty tap his foot, 'Tall Tales' is one of the album's more inventive numbers, the song expanding beyond Adcock's country inclinations. It's loud, proud and energetic, the perfect accompaniment to such a rowdy anthem.

"I'm just a wild little piece of shit
Lord, how I gave my parents' fits
Tried so hard to raise me right
But I was born to run the night"

Throughout 'Tall Tales', Adcock weaves some towering ones, spinning yarns so far-fetched, they might just be true.

He confesses, at the start, that he was born to be a "wild ass son of a gun", but claims it was the way he was raised that further solidified his belligerent nature.

From the moment his father handed him a gun, it became his mission to seek out a vigilante kind of justice, to frequently dodge the law, and to break plenty of hearts–including his own–in the process.

He attests that it has all come at a price–"Paid for all I've done", he sings–but still, he's going to do what he's going to do. As he plainly puts it, "I swear they'll get upset / Cause I ain't done just yet."

Wild ass son of a gun
Paid for all I've done
I swear they'll get upset
Cause I ain't done just yet

I'm just a wild little piece of shit
Lord, how I gave my parents' fits
Tried so hard to raise me right
But I was born to run the night

Daddy took me hunting when I was a kid
Wouldn't believe what the hell I did
He said, "Boy, hold this gun"
Told my cousin, "You better run"
Last time he poked fun at me
Got my ass whooped with a tree

Wild ass son of a gun
Paid for all I've done
I swear they'll get upset
Cause I ain't done just yet

Had a few drinks and went for a drive
Blue lights lit up my brown eyes
I just tried to play it cool
The cops said, "Boy, you're just a fool"
They stuffed me in the trunk
Next time I won't get so drunk

Wild ass son of a gun
Paid for all I've done
I swear they'll get upset
Cause I ain't done just yet

Had a load of fun on my parents' couch
Tried to figure out what love's about
Mom came bustin' through that door
Wasn't makin' love no more
Kicked that girl out in the street
Next time I'll be more discreet

Wild ass son of a gun
Paid for all I've done
I swear they'll get upset
Cause I ain't done just yet

--

For more on Gavin Adcock, see below: