'Watch Out' by Tyler Childers - Lyrics & Meaning

'Watch Out' unspools like a backwoods fable, one passed between friends on a porch or down a dirt path lined with copperheads and secrets.

One of the most conversational songs on Snipe Hunter, it feels both lived-in and whispered–equal parts survival manual and folklore. It’s rich in Appalachian texture and guided by storytelling that feels more overheard than performed, as if Tyler Childers is letting the listener in on something private and old.

Over a steady build of rattling drums and guitar twang, Childers paints a picture of rural reverence and natural danger, where wisdom is measured in mushroom names and know when not to sneak.

Sonically, 'Watch Out' builds with a hypnotic simplicity. The song starts with percussive clatter; rattlesnake-adjacent almost, as its both sharp and dry, before unfolding into a grounded rock-folk groove.

Childers’ voice is casual and clipped, like someone recounting something real rather than performing. That tone keeps the song anchored in storytelling, while the electric guitar subtly propels it forward.

As it stretches toward the end, the repetition and long instrumental break take a trance-like feel, almost like a backwoods chant echoing through the holler. There’s a field-recording energy to the entire track; it sounds like something caught live, unfiltered, with just enough grit to keep it human.

It’s less about conventional structure and more about atmosphere and cadence, tapping into oral tradition and local wisdom.

At its core, 'Watch Out' is a cautionary tale, but not in the way you might expect. The warnings here, about copperheads in the woodpile or a mama bear in the woods, are less about danger and more about presence. It’s about listening to your surroundings, respecting the world you’re walking in and knowing that even pleasure–like foraged oysters–requires attentiveness.

Childers roots the lyrics in the real, using someone named Mikey’s knowledge and colloquial references to ground the track in oral tradition. The deeper meaning becomes one of environmental awareness. It’s not just about being careful, but being self-aware in a place that might not be the same as what you’re used to.

'Watch Out' reads like a lesson in humility: in nature, in community and knowing that not everything is yours for the taking.

Watch out where you reach
You could come back penny in handed
In the rocks and weeds and the woodpile
There’s copperheads everywhere

And watch out where you sneak
In the woods without a little listenin’
You don’t wanna creep
And spook you up a momma bear

This one here it’s called pointer
Cole hausch to be more proper
Mikey called it pointer so that’s pointer there to you
I didn’t know it’s actual name
Was really black cole hausch
That’s another little interesting thing that I learned offa Mikey too

Watch out where you reach
You could come back penny in handed
In the rocks and weeds and the woodpile
There’s copperheads everywhere

And watch out where you sneak
In the woods without a little whistlin’
You don’t wanna creep
And spook you up a momma bear

This one here it’s an oyster
And it is your daddy’s favorite
From the final frost til the first one come and you can usually find a few
They got gills that look like still
Taste just like oysters
They grow on trees standin’ and a rottin’ and you know whatcha got to do

Watch out where you reach
You could come back penny in handed
In the rocks and weeds and the woodpile
There’s copperheads everywhere

And watch out where you sneak
In the woods without a little listenin’
You don’t wanna creep
And spook you up a momma bear

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