# Help me understand these song lyrics

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-these-song-lyrics/932211>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** music\
**Created:** [February 4, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-these-song-lyrics/932211 "2021-02-04T18:06:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-these-song-lyrics/932211/1 "2021-02-04T18:06:25Z")

</div>

I am stumped by the meaning of this song about moonshining: Down in the Gulley by Brent Cobb.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hNnnjgJKu3A/maxresdefault.jpg "Brent Cobb – Down In The Gulley [Official Audio]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNnnjgJKu3A)

The lyrics are easily found online. Basically the story is that his grandaddy had him and his cousin run pipe from the creek to a shack in the woods. Eventually the sheriff comes to hunt down who’s making the moonshine in his dry county. The sheriff tears down the shack and grandaddy laughs because “the shack was a pumphouse.” That line seems to be the payoff to the story, such as it is.

It’s presented like grandaddy really pulled one over on the sheriff, but I don’t get it. They laid pipe to the pump house just to create a decoy? And the sheriff was dumb enough to think it was a still and tear it down, then give up? Doesn’t seem so clever. Feels like I’m missing the punchline.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-these-song-lyrics/932211/2 "2021-02-04T19:36:54Z")

</div>

I’ll try.

First, I don’t think it is clear. But it could mean one of two things.

The still is off somewhere elose, and the only thing the revinooers got was the outlet.

The source of the 'shine is the mountain itself. Sort of metaphysical - he’s not brewing the shine, he’s tapping a natural resource. (The creek?) I suspect this is the meaning.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-understand-these-song-lyrics/932211/3 "2021-02-05T12:07:31Z")

</div>

He explains it in his intro here: [Brent Cobb: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuOJF8ecoY8). But he says that it is based on a real experience - his uncle Bubba was accused of having a moonshine still in what was a pumphouse. So he wrote the song imagining what would happen if it had been a still. So it seems to just be a punchline of sorts. His intro starts about 2:45 but like virtually all NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts the whole thing is excellent.