You Never Even Called Me by My Name
Unrequited Echoes: A Ballad of Unheard Names
Lyrics
Well, it was all
Expressing a limitation or constraint
That I could do to keep from crying'
Struggling to hold back tears
Sometimes it seemed so useless to remain
Feeling that continuing is pointless
But you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
Rejecting endearment terms
You never even called me by my name
Not addressing by personal name
You don't have to call me Waylon Jennings
Not identifying as Waylon Jennings
And you don't have to call me Charlie Pride
Not identifying as Charlie Pride
And you don't have to call me Merle Haggard anymore
Not identifying as Merle Haggard
Even though you're on my fighting' side
Supporting despite differences
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me
Willing to stay as long as allowed
And I never minded standing' in the rain
Comfortable in challenging situations
But you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
Reiteration of not using endearment
You never even called me by my name
Continued absence of personal address
Well, I've heard my name
Awareness of being mentioned
A few times in your phone book (hello, hello)
Recognition of name in a phone book
And I've seen it on signs where I've played
Seeing name on performance signs
But the only time I know
Anticipating name mention by others
I'll hear "David Allan Coe"
Expecting recognition in a specific context
Is when Jesus has his final judgment day
Speculating about a distant mention
So I'll hang around as long as you will let me
Willing to endure for acceptance
And I never minded standing' in the rain
Comfort in enduring difficulties
But you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
Reiteration of not using endearment
You never even called me by my name
Continued absence of personal address
Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song
Credit to friend for song authorship
And he told me it was the perfect country & western song
Friend's claim of creating perfect country song
I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country & western song
Disagreement with friend's claim
Because he hadn't said anything at all about mama
Pointing out missing elements in the song
Or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting' drunk
Listing traditional country song elements
Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me
Friend's effort to address missing elements
And after reading it I realized that my friend had written the perfect country & western song
Acknowledging friend's achievement
And I felt obliged to include it on this album
Inclusion of the additional verse
The last verse goes like this here
Introduction of the final verse
Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
Narrating a personal event while intoxicated
And I went to pick her up in the rain
Picking up mother from prison in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
Tragedy of mother getting run over by a train
She got run over by a damned old train
Failed attempt to reach the station in time
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me
Willingness to stay despite challenges
And I never minded standing' in the rain, no
Comfort in enduring difficulties
But you don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
Reiteration of not using endearment
You never even called me
Continued absence of personal address
Well, I wonder why you don't call me
Expressing curiosity about the lack of personal address
Why don't you ever call me by my name
Questioning the absence of being called by name
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