Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illino… Read Full Bio ↴Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville Records, before signing with Sire Records and expanding to a five-piece. Shortly after the release of the band's major label debut album Anodyne, Farrar announced his decision to leave the band due to a soured relationship with his co-songwriter Tweedy. Uncle Tupelo split on May 1, 1994, after completing a farewell tour. Following the breakup, Farrar formed Son Volt with Heidorn, while the remaining members continued as Wilco.

Although Uncle Tupelo broke up before it achieved commercial success, the band is renowned for its impact on the alternative country music scene. The group's first album, No Depression, became a byword for the genre and was widely influential. Uncle Tupelo's sound was unlike popular country music of the time, drawing inspiration from styles as diverse as the hardcore punk of The Minutemen and the country instrumentation and harmony of the Carter Family and Hank Williams. Farrar and Tweedy lyrics frequently referenced Middle America and the working class of Belleville.

The Walton's
Uncle Tupelo Lyrics

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I've been a moonshiner
For seventeen long years
And I spent all my money
On whisky and beer
And I go to some hollow
And set up my still
If whisky don't kill me
Lord, I don't know what will

And I go to some barroom
To drink with my friends
Where the women they can't follow
To see what I spend
God bless them pretty women
I wish they was mine
With breath as sweet as
The dew on the vine

Let me eat when I'm hungry
Let me drink when I'm dry
Two dollars when I'm hard up
Religion when I die
The whole world is a bottle
And life is but a dram

When the bottle gets empty
Lord, it sure ain't worth a damn

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Uncle Tupelo's song "Moon Shiner" tells the tale of a man who has spent seventeen long years as a moonshiner, making his own whiskey and beer, and spending all of his money on it. He sets up his still in some hollow, hoping that the whiskey won't kill him. He then goes to a barroom to drink with his buddoies, where the women can't follow to see what he spends. He longs for the pretty women, and wishes they were his, with breath as sweet as the dew on the vine.

The second verse continues on with the man's desires: let him eat when he's hungry, drink when he's dry, and have some spare change when he's hard up. He wants religion when he dies, believing that life is just a dram, and the whole world is a bottle. However, when the bottle gets empty, life just isn't worth a damn.

Overall, the song seems to be a lamentation of a man who has been living his life on the edge, drinking and making his own whiskey. He knows that it's not a life that most would want, but he can't seem to shake the desire for it.

Line by Line Meaning

I've been a moonshiner
I have been making and selling illegal alcohol.

For seventeen long years
I have been involved in this trade for a long time.

And I spent all my money
All the money that I earned went into purchasing alcohol.

On whisky and beer
The two alcoholic beverages I drink and sell.

And I go to some hollow
I travel to some remote location in the woods.

And set up my still
I create my own equipment to manufacture illegal alcohol.

If whisky don't kill me
If drinking too much alcohol doesn't kill me.

Lord, I don't know what will
Then I don't know what else could harm me.

And I go to some barroom
I go to a nearby bar to socialize.

To drink with my friends
To enjoy a drink with my companions.

Where the women they can't follow
Where no women are allowed to enter.