Cowboy Mouth is a rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, taking their n… Read Full Bio ↴Cowboy Mouth is a rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, taking their name from the title of a Sam Shepard play which got the term from a Bob Dylan song. The nucleus of the band, Fred Leblanc (Drums, Vocals) and John Thomas Griffith (Guitar, Vocals), formed in the early 1990s, and they climbed the ladder from an opening act living in a van to a powerhouse live act that has been called "a religious experience" by more than one music journalist. In particular their 2004 live Lincoln Park, Chicago album "Live From the Zoo" received incredible criticial praise, especially form Rolling Stone. They have received modest radio play yet every year the band plays before more than half a million people at live shows around the nation. Some of their classic songs include "Everybody Loves Jill" (where the audience throws red spoons on stage), "Hurricane Party" (audience tosses Tootsie Rolls), "Easy," "Better,", "Disconnected", and "Jenny Says," the their most famous song and the traditional closing song of every show. They also perform a version of "Born to Run" on the Light of Day tribute album to Springsteen. "The Avenue" after the famed St. Charles Avenue, a heart-wrenching plea for New Orleans' return to normal in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, was treated as a athem to many in Lousiana. However, Leblanc has since added the line "The Saints won the f****** Superbowl" as a upbeat note. Now a regular of the Regis and Kelly show Leblanc has written a song ,"Kelly Ripa", about Leblanc's somewhat obsesion with the co-host. They have since performed the song on the show, much to the dancing Ripa's delight. They have also as one of their more popular songs "Joe Strummer", a ode to the late-great Clash guitarist. Lead singer Fred Leblanc, particularly in opening and closing numbers, exhorts the crowd with encouragements to let go of cares and worries, "I don't care what's buggin' you, I don't care what's bringing you down, the only thing that matters is right here, right now!" With roots always in New Orleans Cowboy Mouth constantly plays at the Annual Jazz Fest and is always one of the fan favorites there.

Easy
Cowboy Mouth Lyrics

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I once had a friend who
Met an early end to
A kind of modern way of thinkin
He wasn't taken from us
But he lives for drugs and drinkin

Yeah, he's still among us
He liked to point the finger

A deeper part of every action
His accusations linger
He dispersed the blame for
He loved to play the game where
Every deep dissatisfaction

Easy to bitch
Easy to whine
Easy to moan
Easy to cry

Easy to feel like there ain't nothing in your life
Harder to work
But its really worth it if you give it a try
Harder to strive
Harder to be glad to be alive

He once told me how he
Couldn't wait to beat me
So he could take what I was telling
(He said)
They don't give a damn its
All a master plan for
Us to buy what they are selling

Easy to bitch
Easy to whine
Easy to moan
Easy to feel like there ain't nothing in your life
Easy to cry
Harder to strive

Harder to work
Harder to be glad to be alive
(Come on, give it a try)
But its really worth it if you give it a try

I can't sit in judgement
If I sound above it
Cause I ain't sure where I'd be sittin
These are all my problems
Lord, I tried to drop them
Cause this ain't how I should be livin

Easy to bitch
Easy to moan
Easy to feel like there ain't nothing in your life
Easy to whine
Easy to cry
(Life)

Hard to work
Harder to be glad to be alive
Harder to strive
But its really worth it if you give it a try
(Come on, give it a try)

Easy to bitch
Easy to whine
Easy to moan
Harder to work
Harder to strive

Easy to cry
Harder to be glad to be alive

Overall Meaning

Cowboy Mouth's song "Easy" revolves around the struggles of living life and all the difficulties that come with it. The song opens with a friend who has a skewed perspective on life, fueled by drugs and alcohol. The friend had a deeper way of thinking, but it was lost due to addiction. He pointed fingers and refused to take responsibility for his actions. He played games and blamed others for his dissatisfaction. The singer of the song acknowledges that it's easy to complain and be negative but stipulates that it's harder to work towards betterment.

The second verse of the song reveals the toxic traits of the friend, who talked about beating up the singer and disparaged the notion of working against societal pressures to conform. The singer eventually realizes that he can't judge others because he too has problems. He tries to let go of his negativity because it's no way to live.

The refrain "Easy to bitch, easy to whine, easy to moan, easy to cry" is reflective of how easy it is to complain about things that are wrong in our lives. However, it's more difficult to work on fixing the problems and being positive.

Line by Line Meaning

I once had a friend who
I had a friend who

Met an early end to
Died young due to

A kind of modern way of thinkin
A modern type of mindset

He wasn't taken from us
He didn't die

But he lives for drugs and drinkin
But he now lives for substances

Yeah, he's still among us
Yeah, he's still alive

He liked to point the finger
He often blamed others

A deeper part of every action
A more profound motivation behind his actions

His accusations linger
His accusations remain

He dispersed the blame for
He shifted the blame for

He loved to play the game where
He enjoyed playing the game in which

Every deep dissatisfaction
Every profound frustration

Easy to bitch
Easy to complain

Easy to whine
Easy to whinge

Easy to moan
Easy to gripe

Easy to cry
Easy to weep

Easy to feel like there ain't nothing in your life
Easy to feel like your life is meaningless

Harder to work
More challenging to put in effort

But its really worth it if you give it a try
But it's rewarding if you make the effort

Harder to strive
More challenging to aim for success

Harder to be glad to be alive
More difficult to find joy in life

He once told me how he
He once confided in me that he

Couldn't wait to beat me
Was looking forward to fighting me

So he could take what I was telling
So he could undermine my message

(He said)
(According to him)

They don't give a damn its
They don't care, it's

All a master plan for
A plan created by someone in control, for

Us to buy what they are selling
Us to buy what they're offering

I can't sit in judgement
I can't judge others

If I sound above it
If I sound superior

Cause I ain't sure where I'd be sittin
Because I'm not certain where I would stand

These are all my problems
These are my own problems

Lord, I tried to drop them
God, I tried to get rid of them

Cause this ain't how I should be livin
Because this isn't the way I should live

(Life)
(Life)

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (FRANCE), BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CARL PUTTNAM, MICHAEL LAWRENCE DUNPHY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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