Don’t Sit on Your Cigarettes: 9 DBT Smoking Songs
The best Drive-By Truckers lyrics about smoking, from hilarious to nostalgic to ugly.
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Like most former smokers, I loved smoking. When I was in high school, my mom offered me $5,000 if I quit smoking, and I refused. (I know! I was a fucking dumbass.)
Rationally, I knew smoking was very, very bad for me. But emotionally, cigarettes felt good. They occupied my fidget-y ADHD biology. They gave me an excuse to leave social situations when I felt fatigued. They helped me make friends in the smoking section of the Village Inn, outside my college dorm, and in the “smoking hut” (ew) at the Pensacola News Journal. To this day, when I step outside the Pensacola airport, the scent of cigarettes and humidity feels nostalgic, and if you don't think humidity has a scent, you haven't been to the Florida panhandle.
And, duh, smoking felt rebellious and cool. Which is funny, because smoking is about as corporate as fast food and Big Gulps. You could swap James Dean’s cigarette for a sugary Starbucks Frappuccino, and the image would be just as “rebellious.”
Mike Cooley used to be one of our great rock and roll smokers, and he has crafted some truly great lyrics about cigarettes.
I’m glad I quit smoking, and I’m glad Mike Cooley quit smoking — even though that man used to be one of our great rock and roll smokers. He effortlessly ripped darts onstage while playing guitar, and he has crafted some truly great lyrics about cigarettes.
Nancy Einhart
Even when cigarettes aren't mentioned explicitly, a lot of the characters depicted in Drive-By Truckers lyrics feel like they smoke. To name a few: the Avon Lady, Margo and Harold, and the narrators of “Tales Facing Up” and “Love Like This.” And, of course, Steve McQueen, who reportedly quit smoking in the late ‘70s but died from mesothelioma.
Like I did for the 20 best DBT daddy lyrics, I've decided to count down my favorite Truckers lyrics about cigarettes and smoking, from hilarious to nostalgic to downright ugly. Check out my companion playlist on Spotify, and tell me what songs and lyrics I missed in the comments.