My submission for Song Lyric Sunday – Name Dropping. A Unique Title for Me
My country roots brought us here today. There wasn’t a honky tonk in the 80’s that didn’t have a cover band playing this song at least twice in one night. Those were the days.
You Never Even Called Me by My Name – David Allan Coe
Well, it was all That I could do to keep from crying’
Sometimes it seemed so useless to remain
But you don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’
You never even called me by my name
You don’t have to call me Waylon Jennings
And you don’t have to call me Charlie Pride
And you don’t have to call me Merle Haggard anymore
Even though you’re on my fighting’ side
And I’ll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standing’ in the rain
But you don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’
You never even called me by my name
Well, I’ve heard my name
A few times in your phone book (hello, hello)
And I’ve seen it on signs where I’ve played
But the only time I know
I’ll hear “David Allan Coe“
Is when Jesus has his final judgment day
So I’ll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standing’ in the rain
But you don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’
You never even called me by my name
Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song
And he told me it was the perfect country & western song
I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country & western song
Because he hadn’t said anything at all about mama
Or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting’ drunk
Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me
And after reading it I realized that my friend had written the perfect country & western song
And I felt obliged to include it on this album
The last verse goes like this here
Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a damned old train
And I’ll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standing’ in the rain, no
But you don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’
You never even called me
Well, I wonder why you don’t call me
Why don’t you ever call me by my name
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John Prine / Steve Goodman
You Never Even Called Me by My Name lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Our Eyes Open 
Comments
12 responses to “The Perfect Country & Western Song”
Absolutely one of my all time favorites. Especially that last verse.
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No one wants to hear me sing, but if I’m ever put in a situation where there is karaoke, I can’t resist singing this song. Because it is the perfect Country and Western song because of that last verse. 🤠
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Absolutely! I usually sing Goodbye Earl and/or Leader of the Pack.
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A true pioneer. And like the outlaw country movement of the 70s Coe’s music continues to endure in a fantastically captivating way!
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It certainly does.
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Okay, I think that you’ve cloned my childhood. 😉 My fist vehicle was my dad’s van ( full sized Chevy G series complete with shag carpet) It had a 8 track player and a full library of Country and Western music.
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The ole 8 track. Love love love this! ❤️
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Woop Woop! My friend Skip mentioned the 8 track a bit ago as well. I’ve got a trend going here.
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These posts also bring me back to late 1970. On the McGuire Air Force Base flightline, serving on a tire-brake-change crew for C-141s participating in a “Reforger” exercise. When there wasn’t an aircraft to fix, me and the other three members of my crew sat in the supervior’s car. Proud as hell, he was, for just purchasing a new 8-track tape that contained Merle Haggard “Same Train Different Time” album. For a lot of hours that night time 12-hour shift I heard gobs of repeats of Merle singing Jimmie Rogers biggest hits. ‘Twas also the night I became a dedicated country and western fan.
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So, now we know the rest of the story! hahahaha
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This one went through Lisa although it ended up in my spam folder for a while. It is a wonderful song and it made me smile especially the verse with the mom, prison, pickup truck and the train. I feel it would be the perfect country song if his dog ran away and his wife cheated on him.
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You my be on to something there. Add the dog ran away & his wife cheated, then maybe, just maybe it could be the perfect country & western song.
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