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.

Love of My Life
Cowboy Mouth Lyrics

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The love of my life is a shady lady, tearing me up just to bring me down
She used to be calm, but now she's crazy
I don't mind
Tearing me down like a jungle monkey, cutting me up like a jungle cat

She used to be fine, but now she's funky
I don't mind
She's not the love of my life anymore

The love of my life takes my lunch to breakfast,
Nary a thought that a man might starve

She used to smoke dope, but now she's X-ing
I don't mind
Tearing me down with a full length mirror,
Praying for death while her beauty fades

She'll go anywhere any man will lead her
I don't mind
She's not the love of my life anymore
I hurt - you walk

There ain't no looking for an answer when the question's come and gone
I'll stay - you'll go
There ain't no hoping for tomorrow, so I'll pack up all my sorrow and find

Some hope that I can borrow
I'm just tryin' to save my sanity and soul

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Cowboy Mouth's song Love of my Life speak about the singer's complicated relationship with his love. He describes her as a shady lady who tears him up just to bring him down. She used to be calm, but now she's crazy and funky, tearing him down like a jungle monkey and cutting him up like a jungle cat. Despite her destructive behavior, the singer doesn't mind and still loves her, although he admits that she's not the love of his life anymore.

The singer then goes on to describe some of the things that his former love used to do. She would take his lunch to breakfast without a second thought, and she used to smoke marijuana, but now she's using harder drugs. She tears him down with a full-length mirror and prays for death as her beauty fades. The singer also speaks about how his former love will go anywhere any man will lead her. Despite all of this, the singer still loves her and doesn't mind her behavior, although he acknowledges that she's no longer the love of his life.

Overall, the lyrics are a raw and truthful portrayal of a complicated relationship, where love and pain coexist. The singer loves the woman who tears him down and leads a life of self-destruction. He knows that he needs to save himself, and the only way to do so is to walk away and find hope elsewhere.

Line by Line Meaning

The love of my life is a shady lady, tearing me up just to bring me down
The person I thought was the love of my life is an unpredictable and troublesome person who hurts me deliberately.

She used to be calm, but now she's crazy, I don't mind
She was previously composed but now she behaves erratically, but I don't seem to care about that change in her.

Tearing me down like a jungle monkey, cutting me up like a jungle cat
She destructs me bit by bit, like a monkey would tear things apart, and causes me unbearable pain like a cat's claws.

She used to be fine, but now she's funky, I don't mind
She was all right when we first met, but now she is acting weird, and I am still OK with that change.

She's not the love of my life anymore
I acknowledge that the woman I had feelings for is not the same person I thought of as the love of my life anymore.

The love of my life takes my lunch to breakfast, Nary a thought that a man might starve
The person I now consider to be the love of my life is someone who is caring and thoughtful, always making sure that I have what I need to survive.

She used to smoke dope, but now she's X-ing, I don't mind
She might have quit smoking weed, but now she takes X, and my opinion of her hasn't changed.

Tearing me down with a full length mirror, Praying for death while her beauty fades
She verbally degrades me even though her own beauty is also fading, and she seems to wish for death.

She'll go anywhere any man will lead her, I don't mind
She is easily swayed by men and tends to follow them, but it doesn't bother me at all.

She's not the love of my life anymore
I reiterate that the woman I previously considered to be the love of my life is no longer that person for me.

I hurt - you walk
I am in pain, but it seems like you are indifferent and are leaving me to deal with it on my own.

There ain't no looking for an answer when the question's come and gone
When the question that needed an answer has already been asked and gone unanswered, looking for a reply is futile.

I'll stay - you'll go
I will remain in this situation, even if you leave me.

There ain't no hoping for tomorrow, so I'll pack up all my sorrow and find some hope that I can borrow
I have no expectation that things will improve in the future, so I will try to minimize my pain right now and find hope in others.

I'm just tryin' to save my sanity and soul
My main aim now is to preserve my own integrity and well-being instead of losing sight of them to deal with someone else's erratic behavior.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: FRED LEBLANC

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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