The group originally formed in 1985, playing its first gigs in Dallas's Deep Ellum neighborhood. Its current members are Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath on guitar and lead vocals, Jimbo Wallace on the upright bass, and Scott Churilla on drums. Through relentless touring and a manic stage show, they have established themselves as one of the most popular underground acts in America. Their sound is self described as "Country-fed punkabilly." Their music is a mixture of country, punk, big band, swing, and rockabilly, all played loud and energetically with lyrics that are often very humorous.
Jim Heath played in a cover band called Southern Comfort with friends from Corpus Christi Ray, his high school, before attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1977. At UT, he often entertained friends and dormmates and was often found playing in the stairwells at Moore-Hill Dormitory late into the night to avoid disturbing the sleep of roommate Harold Shockley, now a Corpus Christi banker. Jim left school in the spring to join up with a touring cover band by the name of Sweetbriar. Three years later, former dormmate David Livingston, now in his senior year of school and at home visiting family, saw a familiar face on stage and reunited with Jim. David told Jim stories of the punk music scene in Austin and the acts playing at venues like Raul's and Club Foot. Once, while home on another visit, David took Jim to a Dallas rock and roll venue, The Bijou, to see an act called The Cramps. After the show, there broke out a punks vs. rockers brawl in the parking lot. While Jim and David escaped any involvement in the scuffle, Jim later claimed to have had an epiphany on that evening. Always a fan of blues and honky tonk, Jim returned the favor by taking David and his wife, Ellen, to see The Blasters in Dallas at a venue known as the Hot Klub and Jim's love for roots rock took over from there.
Jim had married a former bandmate from Sweetbriar, and together they had a child. Together they decided that the rock-and-roll lifestyle was over and that it was time to have real jobs. Around 1985, Jim was known as "Jim the Sound Guy" by those who frequented two warehouses that by night became music venues, Theater Gallery and The Prophet Bar. Jim used the old Sweetbriar PA system to earn from $20-$50 per night for extra money, running sound for bands such as the New Bohemians, End Over End, Shallow Reign and Three On A Hill. One night during a lull, Russell Hobbs, one of the original Deep Ellum visionaries and proprietors of these venues goaded Jim into getting up to play. He played alone, tearing through a version of "Folsom Prison Blues" that is now so familiar to millions of Reverend Horton Heat fans around the world. Throughout the song, Hobbs hooted and shouted out, "Go Reverend". Jim decided then and there to form a band and came up with the name Reverend Horton Heat, as an ode to Johnny Horton, using the shortened version of his last name, Heath. The late nights and the fact the Jim was now playing in a band and his wife and former bandmate was not took its toll on the marriage and she soon left with their child and dog. Jim's feelings upon the loss of his family are well documented in the song, "Where In The Hell Did You go With My Toothbrush?". The Jimi Hendrix poster mentioned in the song was on the back of a door that Jim used for a practice room in the house he shared with his wife and child. The dog's name really was Smokey.
About this time, David and Ellen moved back from Oklahoma City, where they had been since graduating from UT. David began to book gigs for Jim and his new band, and their refeshing sound and raw live performance quickly won over the local music scene. Jim drew crowds to brand new music venues, playing three nights a week at Froggy Bottoms in the then brand new West End and assured a quick start to Club Dada, the first "for profit" bar in Deep Ellum by playing every night for the first two weeks that it was open. David continued to work with Reverend Horton Heat until 1989, when his own new family and day job required all of his attention, and Jim needed a real manager who could get him out on the road and into the studio. Jim and David remain close friends today, and a song that they co-wrote together back in the '80s, "Liquor, Beer and Wine", appeared on 1994's "Liquor In The Front".
Check out the [url=http://[officialsite]www.victorymerch.com/store/reverendhortonheat]Reverend Horton Heat merch store.
This artist is also on Last.fm as: 'The Reverend Horton Heat'
Ain't Gonna Happen
Reverend Horton Heat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To make things happen
I tried to force the issue
'Til it breaks in two
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
That's what you said
And I swear i won't forget that dumb remark until I'm dead
and I'll be here too
When everyone is asking "What the hell ever happened to you?"
And i'll sing to that
Like the SAS With a special plan
I'm dropping in like i'm spider man
Tried so hard, as hard as I can
Tried so hard, so hard, yeah
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
I tried so hard
To make things right
I just screwed things up
Well, what can one man do?
A lot! Yeah, a lot!
It's gonna happen
That's what I say
Maybe not tomorrow or in months or years or days
It's gonna happen, woo!
Just stick it out
Many people get without knowing what they're talking about
And I don't mean that
I'm gonna do what it takes
Sure i'm gonna make a few mistakes
Some will surf from my wake
They'll get to see the entire lake
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
Go!
I tried so damn hard
And it doesn't always work out
But it's the journey not the arrival
That's what i'm I'm all about
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
That's what you said
And I swear I won't forget that dumb remark until I'm dead
It's gonna happen, woo!
When it comes to the light
Time's a fast revenge and we don't have to fist fight
Still means I might
i'm pushing hard
And pulling a load up a hill
Where there ain't no road
and into the (?)
It means a lot
And all I gotta do is play connect the dots.
yeah!
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
Ain't gonna happen
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
Ain't gonna happen!
Ain't gonna happen!
Ain't gonna happen.
The song "Ain't Gonna Happen" by Reverend Horton Heat is about a determined individual who has been told that their dreams will never come true, and they refuse to accept it. The verse shows the character's frustration in their attempts to force things to happen and make their dreams come true despite being told that it will not happen. The chorus emphasizes the character's determination to succeed and prove the naysayers wrong. They believe that their dreams will come true and they will be there to see it.
The second verse shows the character's realization that they may have made mistakes in the past but they are still willing to work hard to achieve their goals. The bridge highlights the character's relentlessness as they compare themselves to the SAS and Spider-man, indicating that they will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, even if it means making mistakes along the way. The final verse emphasizes the importance of the journey as opposed to the destination and concludes with the repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the character's determination to succeed.
Line by Line Meaning
I tried so hard
To make things happen
I tried to force the issue
'Til it breaks in two
I put in a lot of effort to make something happen and pushed hard until it got pushed to its limit.
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
That's what you said
And I swear i won't forget that dumb remark until I'm dead
You said it wasn't going to happen and I won't forget your remark for a long time.
It's gonna happen, woo!
and I'll be here too
When everyone is asking 'What the hell ever happened to you?'
It's going to happen, and I'll be around when people ask what happened to me when I worked so hard before.
And i'll sing to that
Like the SAS With a special plan
I'm dropping in like i'm spider man
Tried so hard, as hard as I can
Tried so hard, so hard, yeah
I'll sing with happiness and pride like SAS with their special plan, just like a superhero dropping at the right moment. I put so much effort into it.
I tried so hard
To make things right
I just screwed things up
Well, what can one man do?
A lot! Yeah, a lot!
I tried hard to make things right, but I failed. But even one man can achieve a lot, and I'm one such person.
It's gonna happen
That's what I say
Maybe not tomorrow or in months or years or days
It's gonna happen, woo!
Just stick it out
Many people get without knowing what they're talking about
And I don't mean that
It's going to happen, and that's what I believe, although it may not be immediate. So, let's hang in there. Some folks talk without knowing anything, but I don't mean that.
I'm gonna do what it takes
Sure i'm gonna make a few mistakes
Some will surf from my wake
They'll get to see the entire lake
I'm going to do whatever it takes, although I may make some mistakes. Nonetheless, some people will benefit from my efforts and see the beauty.
I tried so damn hard
And it doesn't always work out
But it's the journey not the arrival
That's what i'm I'm all about
I put in a lot of work, but things don't always go as planned. However, it's about the journey and not the destination, and that's what drives me.
When it comes to the light
Time's a fast revenge and we don't have to fist fight
Still means I might
i'm pushing hard
And pulling a load up a hill
Where there ain't no road
and into the (?)
It means a lot
And all I gotta do is play connect the dots.
Eventually, everything will come to light, and time will take revenge quickly without resorting to violence. Still, I'll work my hardest and push forward to achieve my goal, even if the road is tough. It's essential to me and all I need to do is connect the dots.
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
Ain't gonna happen
Ain't gonna happen, woo!
Ain't gonna happen!
Ain't gonna happen!
Ain't gonna happen.
Despite the obstacles, I won't stop and will continue to work until my goal is met. It definitely won't be an easy road.
Contributed by Jayden O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.