One of my biggest regrets freshman year of college was not getting on the Cody Jinks train.
Of course, I heard his first true hit song, “Loud and Heavy” off his 2015 Adobe Sessions album, but for some odd reason, I didn’t think to listen to him again until junior year.
And when I did… I was hooked.
His authenticity, gritty voice, and storytelling imagery pulled me in quick, and I can contribute that to one song:
“David.”
Also on his Adobe Sessions album, I quickly realized that this song didn’t get as much love as it should, after taking a backseat to songs like “Loud and Heavy,” “Mamma Song,” and “Cast No Stones.”
In “David,” Jinks takes introduces you to his friend David, who was a good kid, but a bit of an outcast like himself.
He then takes you on a journey of what it was like growing up in his small town, saying:
“It’s college or trade school for those with the means
There’s never been any small town for those in between
Yeah, the poor folks they go to work, or they go to war.”
He took the war route, and did 1,500 days in the Marine Corp, and when he got back, he quickly realized things weren’t the same, and he decided to join the police force.
David had gotten into some legal trouble since he’d been gone, and he was a “burned out, beat down shell of my old friend…”
Then, after a three day bender, Jinks caught David speeding through town, and Jinks chased after him… but it was too late. David lost control of the vehicle, and flipped his truck in the floodplain. He didn’t make it.
I think this song is criminally underrated, because it paints the perfect picture of the struggles these people go through in small towns like this.
The stress of life and living paycheck to paycheck in a town with no growth just takes its toll on people… some more than others.
When you listen to the song, you can close your eyes and picture the lyrics in your head like a movie. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The ability to make people feel your emotions, and picture the lyrics in their heads is the mark of a stellar songwriter.
Needless to say, with “David,” along with several other songs, Cody Jinks fits that mold very well.
Live at Red Rocks
