Tag: Chuck Prophet

Chuck Prophet – Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins

Since I posted Chuck Prophet, I haven’t stopped listening. This song is probably one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a long time. All of his songs are so melodic. This one is like a sermon wrapped in a three-minute rock song. I’ve been waiting to post this since I posted my first song by him in August.

Bobby Fuller had a giant hit with I Fought the Law before dying under suspicious circumstances. Fuller was found dead in the front seat of his mother’s car shortly after I Fought The Law became a huge hit. His death was ruled a suicide, but there were signs of foul play.  The investigation was tainted, leaving the circumstances of his death a mystery, and rumors continue to this day.

Prophet uses Fuller as a symbol for anyone hurt by the music industry or just random bad luck. He made a mixture of homage and a warning. When he recorded this song, he wanted nothing too polished. He and co-producer Brad Jones focused on capturing energy instead of perfection.

Prophet said he wrote it in a stream-of-consciousness style, from his own frustration with the American culture eating its young. He kept coming back to the idea that stories like Fuller’s get swept under the rug. They have been filed away as a kind of trivia instead of a tragedy.

The song was the title track to his 2017 album. The album peaked at #24 on the US Top Alternative Album Sales Charts, #6 on the Heatseekers Album Charts, and #2 on the UK Americana Album Charts.

Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins

Cruising through El Paso, carrying a heavy load
Bobby Fuller died for your sins
And a cop shoots a kid on a hot summer morn
Bobby Fuller died for your sins

I could be anywhere when I hear that sound
Take me back, pretty baby
Oh your daddy, he’s so alone

I hear the record crackle, the needle skips and jumps
Bobby Fuller died for your sins
And I ain’t never seen a movie that moved me half as much
Bobby Fuller died for your sins

I could be anywhere when I hear that sound
Take me back, pretty baby
Oh your daddy, he’s so alone

Together we stand, divided we fall
Bobby Fuller died for your sins
And I wish my little sister she could be here now
Bobby Fuller died for your sins

They say that someone’s gonna have to pay the price of love
Bobby Fuller died for your sins
I don’t know why they gotta pay it or who they gotta pay it to, but
Bobby Fuller died for your sins

I could be anywhere when I hear that sound
Take me back, pretty baby
Oh your daddy, he’s so alone

Bobby Fuller died for your sins
Bobby Fuller died for your sins
Bobby Fuller died for your sins
Bobby Fuller died for your sins

Chuck Prophet – Ford Econoline

I started to go through his songs and found quality throughout. I went with this one because the car/van song fan in me had to pick it. Here is a 1985 Econoline. Let’s take a ride. 

Certain songs feel like they were written for the open highway. Not really to a set destination, but through unnamed towns and roadside attractions. This is that type of song. In this song, every mile matters, and the road is always calling.

Prophet first broke onto the music scene in the mid-1980s with Green on Red, a band in the Paisley Underground in Los Angeles. Prophet joined as guitarist in 1985, just in time to inject his rootsy edge into their sound. He was barely out of his teens, suddenly on the road in Europe, and finding out fast what life in a rock band really meant: cheap motels, crooked promoters, and that you kept going, no matter what.

When Green on Red broke up in the early 1990s, Prophet made a solo album called Brother Aldo, which showcased his knack for blending storytelling with rootsy music. He has released 17 solo albums since then and was on 10 of Green on Red albums. While some of his peers have retired, he is still showing up in clubs playing his Telecaster.

After listening to some of his catalog, he comes from everywhere. He has something for almost everyone, from pop, soul, rock, and Americana. I’ve mostly listened to Night Surfer, but I started to explore other albums. His songwriting really stands out, and his songs are catchy and stick with you. This song came out in 2014 on his Night Surfer album. Peter Buck worked on this album with Chuck, playing guitar. 

Ford Econoline

She pulled over said, “Climb on in”I did what she saidShe turned the music up real loudIt was The Talking HeadsDidn’t matter where we were goingMade no difference to me at the timeIt takes me back when I hear that songMakes me feel warm insideFord Econoline!Ever since the beginning of the worldThe beginning of timeSomebody said that the road was hisSomebody said, “No, it’s mine”Some folks are born ‘neath a sign on the roadClose enough to turn and leave it all behindFall together like the Rock Of GibraltarGuitars and drums insideFord Econoline! Ford Econoline Ford EconolineChris-crossed the country in two tone jobIt was a 1985Mile after mile we was burning oilWe couldn’t keep it aliveLaid out flatter than a Chinese rugWhen she went her way I went mineAll these memories like dirty platesStacked up in the sink of timeFord Econoline! Ford Econoline

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