Jinks is a native of Haltom City in Fort Worth, Texas, and attended Haltom High School. He started learning to play a few country music riffs on the guitar from his father when he was 16, but soon formed a heavy metal band.
Jinks started out as the lead singer of a thrash metal band from Fort Worth named Unchecked Aggression, initially named Silas, that was active from 1998 to 2003. He also played the lead guitar; the other band members were Gary Burkham on bass who left in 2000 and was replaced by Chris Lewis, Anthony Walker on drums, and Ben Heffley on guitar. They were influenced by Metallica and Pantera. An album, The Massacre Begins was released in 2002. Songs they recorded included "Hell Razor" and "Kill Me Again". The band however broke up after a trip to Los Angeles, and Jinks took a year off from music. In around 2005, he started playing country music, the music he grew up with.
Jinks is backed by The Tone Deaf Hippies. He began to release albums in the country genre in 2008. An album titled 30 was released in 2012. He began to develop his own sound in an EP, Blacksheep, which was released in 2013.
2015: Adobe Sessions
The album was recorded at the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, and the album title was named after a small adobe room they recorded the album in. It was released in January 2015 and charted in Billboard's regional Heatseekers charts – #2 on Heatseekers South Central and #8 on Heatseekers Mountain. Jinks toured in support of Adobe Sessions as an opener for Sturgill Simpson in 2015.
2016: I'm Not the Devil
I'm Not the Devil was released on August 12, 2016. The album was recorded at the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. It includes a cover of Merle Haggard's "The Way I Am". The title track was written with Ward Davis; the album was almost finished and the album title had already been decided, but it was retitled with the name of the song they wrote. The album debuted at #4 on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 11,300 copies in the first week. Jinks supported I'm Not the Devil with a co-headlining tour with Whitey Morgan and the 78's in August, September, and October. The album was rated one of the best country albums of 2016 by Rolling Stone.
2017
Jinks released a cover of Pink Floyd's hit song "Wish You Were Here" in January 2017. He also re-released a remixed and remastered version of his 2010 album Less Wise, as Less Wise Modified 2017, with three bonus tracks included.
2018: Lifers
Jinks released the album Lifers on July 27, 2018, via Rounder Records. It was preceded by the lead single "Must Be the Whiskey", which was released on June 15, 2018.
2019: After the Fire and The Wanting
On October 11, 2019, Jinks released the album After the Fire. The album was independently produced and released by his own label, Late August Records, marking a departure from Rounder Records, with whom he produced 2018's Lifers. The album was preceded by two singles, "Ain't a Train" and "Think Like You Think". Jinks also promoted the song "William and Wanda", which was written about his late grandparents. For the week of October 26, 2019, the album was #2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
One week later, October 18, 2019, Jinks released a second album, The Wanting. Similar to After the Fire, the album was independently produced. It was preceded by two singles, "Same Kind of Crazy as Me" and "Which One I Feed".
On October 24, 2019, both albums held the # 1 and 2 spots for Top Albums on iTunes and Apple Music.
Heavy Load
Cody Jinks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stuck where I'm going
Stuck in a lot of ways
Tell me it still matters
In a world in vain
Pissing in the wind
Screaming about the same old things
Time stands still every now and then
Then it's gone
Wondering what you did
Wondering what you did all wrong
Hindsight's 20/20 when you're
Looking back
Looking out ahead
All I see is black
The train jumped track some time ago
You can't root that heavy load
It's all downhill from now
And sure we paid the toll
Train jumped track some time ago
The train jumped track some time ago
You can't root that heavy load
It's all downhill from now
And be sure we paid the toll
The train jumped track some time ago
I heard the voice of the fourth beast say
Come and see
And I looked and behold a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was Death
And Hell followed with him
The train jumped track some time ago
You can't root that heavy load
It's all downhill from now
And be sure we paid the toll
The train jumped track some time ago
It's all downhill from now
Forever paying that toll
The train jumped track some time ago
Cody Jinks's song Heavy Load carries a theme of feeling stuck and helpless against the unstoppable flow of time. The opening lines of the chorus, "The train jumped track some time ago, you can't root that heavy load" serve as a metaphor for someone who's lost control of their life, unable to change their course and struggling to keep up with the demands of life. The lyrics "I can't think of one damn thing to say, stuck where I'm going, stuck in a lot of ways" express a sense of hopelessness and being trapped in one's situation. The line "Hindsight's 20/20 when you're looking back, Looking out ahead, all I see is black" suggests a dark and uncertain future where the singer may continue to make mistakes without a clear solution.
The lyrics also touch on the futility of trying to make a difference in the world. The line "Tell me it still matters in a world in vain, pissing in the wind, screaming about the same old things" paints a picture of someone who's lost faith in the impact they can make in the world. The reference to "a world in vain" perhaps refers to a society where one's efforts to make a positive change are met with apathy or disdain.
The closing lines of the song draw on biblical references, with the words "And I looked and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him." The use of these words further deepens the sense of despair and hopelessness of the lyrics, and in a way, paints a picture of the end of the world. The final lines of the song echo the chorus, emphasizing that the singer's struggles are far from over and that the heavy load is something that they will carry indefinitely.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't think of one damn thing to say
Feeling stuck and unable to express oneself
Stuck where I'm going
Feeling lost and without direction
Stuck in a lot of ways
Being stuck in life in multiple ways
Tell me it still matters
Questioning the significance of one's actions
In a world in vain
Feeling as though the world is empty or meaningless
Pissing in the wind
Feeling powerless or ineffective
Screaming about the same old things
Feeling frustrated with repeating the same issues
Time stands still every now and then
Moments of stagnation and lack of progress
Then it's gone
Moments of clarity fleeting quickly
Wondering what you did
Questioning past actions and choices
Wondering what you did all wrong
Questioning past mistakes and faults
Hindsight's 20/20 when you're
Realizing one's mistakes in hindsight
Looking back
Reflecting on the past
Looking out ahead
Focusing on the future
All I see is black
Feeling overwhelmed with negativity
The train jumped track some time ago
Realizing one's life has gone off-course
You can't root that heavy load
Unable to fix one's problems or mistakes
It's all downhill from now
Expecting things to get worse
And sure we paid the toll
Acknowledging the consequences of past choices
The train jumped track some time ago
Repeating the realization of life being off-course
I heard the voice of the fourth beast say
Referencing the Biblical book of Revelation
Come and see
Invitation to witness the end of the world
And I looked and behold a pale horse
Depiction of Death from the book of Revelation
And his name that sat on him was Death
Reiteration of Death's name in the passage
And Hell followed with him
Depiction of the end of the world
Forever paying that toll
Expectation of continued consequences for one's actions
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Cody Jinks
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dakota
on Loud and Heavy
I love the meaning behind songs and not just the music and Cody jinks songs are all of the above!
Ernie
on Loud and Heavy
Duh