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 ā #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.
I'm Not the Devil
Cody Jinks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It ain't no excuse, but I'm just a man
I slipped and I fell, it got outta hand
But I'm not the devil you think that I am
It wasn't no gun, they held to my head
I got caught up believin' in lies that were said
And in a moment of weakness I stumbled and I made my bed
I'm not the devil you think that I am
It ain't no excuse, but I'm just a man
I slipped and I fell, it got outta hand
But I'm not the devil you think that I am
There's ten thousand reasons for you not to stay
And no one would blame you if you want it that way
It might take some time
But I'll show you that I'm worth the wait
I'm not the devil you think that I am
It ain't no excuse, but I'm just a man
I slipped and I fell, it got outta hand
But I'm not the devil you think that I am
And I'll spend forever, do all that I can
To prove I'm not the devil you think that I am
And I'm not the devil
The song "I'm Not The Devil" by Cody Jinks is a soulful ballad about redemption and the consequences of our actions. The singer starts by acknowledging his shortcomings and owning up to his mistakes. He admits that he is not perfect and has made some poor decisions in the past, but he is not the evil person that others might think he is. He takes responsibility for his actions, and asks for forgiveness and understanding from those around him.
The second verse reveals that the singer got caught up in a situation where he believed the lies he was being told. He was weak in that moment, and this led to some negative consequences. He doesn't want to make excuses for what happened, but he wants to make it clear that he is not the devil that people might perceive him to be. In the final verse, the singer pleads with someone to stay with him and give him a chance to prove that he is worth the wait. He promises to do all that he can to show them that he is not a bad person and that he is worthy of their love and trust.
Overall, the song encourages us to look beyond our initial judgments of people and to give them a chance to redeem themselves. It also reminds us that we are all flawed and make mistakes, and that forgiveness and understanding can go a long way in healing relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm not the devil you think that I am
I'm not as bad as you believe me to be
It ain't no excuse, but I'm just a man
I have no justification for my actions, but I am human and I make mistakes
I slipped and I fell, it got outta hand
I made a mistake and things got worse than I intended
But I'm not the devil you think that I am
I am not as evil or malicious as you perceive me to be
It wasn't no gun, they held to my head
I was not forced or coerced into my wrongdoing
I got caught up believin' in lies that were said
I became involved in a situation based on falsehoods
And in a moment of weakness I stumbled and I made my bed
I made a mistake due to a moment of vulnerability and now have to deal with the repercussions
There's ten thousand reasons for you not to stay
There are many valid reasons for you to leave
And no one would blame you if you want it that way
It is understandable if you choose to leave
It might take some time
It may not be an easy or quick process
But I'll show you that I'm worth the wait
I believe that I am worth the effort and patience it takes to prove myself
And I'll spend forever, do all that I can
I am willing to put in the effort for as long as it takes
To prove I'm not the devil you think that I am
To demonstrate that I am not as horrible as you have come to believe
And I'm not the devil
In the end, I am just a flawed human trying to make things right
Lyrics Ā© O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Meredith Cody Jinks, Ward Davis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alyssa Canales
This song reminds me so much of my father. He toured twice in Iraq, received a Purple Heart and was honorably discharged after an injury from an ambush. Although he came back alive, he did not come back the same and struggles with PTSD from what he had to see and do. He always tells me that he lives with so much heaviness on his soul. Even though he thinks he's some devil, I think he's the best dad any one could ask for.
Shh B Quiet
God Bless both of you. I'm young but my dad was old. He actually was in Vietnam. He had a temper and would scare easy when approaching him at night. He always told us after he was sorry and part of it was due to Undiagnosed PTSD. Back then no one wanted that label. I remember one time he wrapped my older brother up in a choke hold out of the dead of sleep. It was impressive but frightening lol I'm 31. He passed away 2 years ago. Keep loving your Dad forever and beyond. RIP D.B. I miss yuh.
Jack Burton
Shit fucking sucks . He'll be that way for the rest of his days. Hug hi m and let him know every day what you said here. Tell him I said drink fucking water , pull security and move the fuck out. He'll know what that means š
Celtic Warrior
God Bless you and your Dad. War is Horrible and like the other comments, just tell him you Love him and God Loves him and maybe he can find some Peace.
Jb Littleton
Alyssa Canales your dad is a great man and a very brave one to fight for our freedom my cousin was over there did 2 tours and now suffers from the same
Elihishua ibn dabit barAbbas
Your Father in heaven couldn't be more pleased with your empathy for your dad.
So is His yshw.
Bless you little one.
Jovin Repairs
I found this song not long after my family moved out. I was about 4 months into drying out. Played this song a lot while working the steps. Needed something to remind myself that I wasn't all bad and that getting sober was worth it.
Kylie Littlefield
When I listen to Cody Jinks, so do the neighbors! š¤šš¤
Donnie Campbell
All the Time š¤š¤
Bill I
Only way to do it!