The BoDeans worked with T-Bone Burnett on their debut album, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, which appeared in 1986 to warm reviews. They recruited another big-name producer, Talking Head Jerry Harrison, to helm 1987's Outside Looking In, which found the band reduced to a trio after the departure of Hoffman. Outside Looking In broke into the Billboard Top 100, and the BoDeans grew their audience by touring alongside U2, appearing on Robbie Robertson's self-titled solo album, and receiving the honor of Best New Band by Rolling Stone magazine. By the time they released their third album, Home, in 1989, keyboardist Michael Ramos and drummer Danny Gayol had joined. This lineup stayed intact for the release of 1991's Black and White, but the BoDeans went without a drummer once again on their next recording, Go Slow Down.
Following the release of a double-disc live album, Joe Dirt Car, the band returned in 1996 with Blend. Around the time of Blend's release, "Closer to Free" -- a song that had originally appeared on 1993's Go Slow Down -- became a hit, due in large part to its exposure as the theme song for the TV show Party of Five. "Closer to Free" eventually cracked the Top 20, becoming the most successful single of the band's career. The BoDeans were arguably more popular than ever, but the band took a break during the late '90s, with both frontmen devoting time to their solo careers.
By 2004, the band had reconvened and signed with a new label, Zoe. Resolution was released that year, followed in 2005 by Homebrewed: Live from the Pabst. Griffin left the group in 2006 and was replaced by Eric Holden, who appeared on 2008's Still. By this point, the bandmates had found a new home on 429 Records, and they remained with that label for the release of Mr. Sad Clown in 2010 and Indigo Dreams in 2011. That same year saw the departure of Llanas, citing "differences of opinion." The band's 11th studio album, American Made, arrived the following year on the band's own Free & Alive label, and was the first with Neumann as sole leader. The BoDeans toured extensively in support of the release, and in 2014 began work on their next studio project. Released in 2015, I Cant Stop featured a new BoDeans lineup anchored by Neumann, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Sam Hawksley, bassist Eric Holden, and drummer Kenny Aronoff, the latter a well-respected journeyman musician who had played on several BoDeans recording sessions in the '90s. In June 2016, the BoDeans brought out a single, "My Hometown," with the release benefiting the Milwaukee County Historical Society. The single was a preview of the group's next album; titled Thirteen, the 11-song set was released in April 2017.
Any given day
BoDeans Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a whole lot of nothing to say
He claims to be an ex-prophet see
He got something that's good for me
Said he'd seen people like you before
Don't want to worry about the world no more
Telling yourself everything's okay
When you know that ain't so
Holding heart's afire
Lost in your desire
Hoping to find your dream somehow
Any given day now
Any given day now
Yeah for one little price I could bring to you
Any little thing that you want me to
You take what you want, leave all the rest
I got love, money or happiness
And for one dollar you could see angels call
For two dollar you could see your enemies fall
For three dollar you could be king for a day
And watch your blue blues sail away
The BoDeans’s song “Any Given Day” talks about the memories of childhood, when the singer used to travel to Western Kentucky with his family. The town was old and backwards, but it held a lot of memories for him. He remembers visiting an abandoned prison in Adrie Hill, where they used to shoot empty pop bottles with their pistols. The air smelled like snakes, and he describes the town as an old town with lots of memories that have long been worn. However, when he asks his father to take him back to Muhlenberg County, his father tells him that it’s too late, and that the coal train has hauled it away.
The lyrics of this song also talk about the coal company that came and stripped the land, tortured the timber, and dug for coal until the land was forsaken. The land that was once considered Paradise was now reduced to nothing. The song talks about the progress of man that the coal company wrote down, but it was just destruction and devastation.
In the end, the singer asks that when he dies, his ashes be spread down the Green River, and his soul roll up to the Rochester dam. He describes it as halfway to Heaven, with Paradise waiting just five miles away from wherever he is. The song highlights the destruction that comes with progress, and how pieces of land that hold so many memories can be forgotten and destroyed.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a child my family would travel
As a child, my family frequently took trips together
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
Those trips often took us to Western Kentucky where my parents were both from
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
In particular, we often talked about a small, old-fashioned town
So many times that my memories are worn
In fact, we talked about it so often that my memories of it have become well-worn
Chorus: Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
I remember asking my dad to take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
To the spot by the Green River that we called Paradise
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Sadly, my dad explained that we couldn't go back there
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away
Because a coal company had come in and taken over, destroying much of the land
Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
Sometimes when we visited the area, we would follow the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
And go see an old abandoned prison by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
The air there smelled like snakes and we would have mock shootouts with our toy guns
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill
The only targets we had were empty pop bottles, which we would shoot at
Repeat Chorus:
The chorus repeats again, with me asking my dad to take me back to Paradise.
Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
However, the coal company eventually came into the area with gigantic machines to extract coal
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
These machines caused immense destruction, ripping out trees and other natural resources
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
The coal company dug and dug until there was nothing much left of the once-beautiful land
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man
However, they justified these actions as being indicative of human progress
Repeat Chorus:
The chorus repeats again, with me continuing to yearn for a return to Paradise.
When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
As I get older and contemplate my own mortality, I dream of having my ashes scattered in the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I imagine my soul drifting upriver to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
There, I feel I'll be halfway to Heaven, with Paradise just a little ways away.
Just five miles away from wherever I am
No matter where I end up, in my mind I'll always be close to Paradise, just five miles away.
Repeat Chorus:
The chorus repeats one final time, emphasizing that part of me will always long for that idyllic place by the Green River.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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