About the Song
When Steve Earle released “Copperhead Road” in 1988, he didn’t just give us a song—he gave us a full-blown Southern outlaw epic. This track, the title song from his third studio album, is a gritty blend of rock, country, and rebellion that still hits like a shot of Tennessee moonshine. With its pounding drums, roaring electric mandolin, and Earle’s fiery vocals, “Copperhead Road” became an instant anthem for misfits, veterans, and anyone who’s ever felt left behind by the American dream.
At its core, “Copperhead Road” is a story—a multigenerational tale of a Tennessee family steeped in moonshining and, later, drug running. The song’s narrator, John Lee Pettimore III, follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, bootleggers who used the family’s backwoods holler, Copperhead Road, to hide their illegal stills. But when John returns from serving in Vietnam, he doesn’t go back to moonshine. Instead, he starts growing marijuana—using guerrilla tactics learned in the jungle to elude the DEA. It’s raw, gripping, and unapologetically real.
Earle’s delivery is part of what makes the song so unforgettable. He doesn’t just sing the words—he spits them like a warning. There’s defiance in every line, especially as he growls: “I learned a thing or two from Charlie, don’t you know / You better stay away from Copperhead Road.” The pounding, militaristic beat—complete with bagpipes and a distorted, marching rhythm—gives the song a haunting, cinematic edge, as if the ghost of war still walks that narrow, moonlit road.
For older listeners, especially veterans or those who grew up in small-town America, “Copperhead Road” strikes a powerful chord. It captures the disillusionment of post-war life, the cycles of poverty and defiance, and the rural pride that’s often misunderstood. It’s not romanticized—it’s real. And that’s what makes it so compelling.
Over time, the song has become a cultural touchstone. It’s played at biker rallies, military reunions, dive bars, and even country line dances. And it continues to resonate, especially with those who see in it a reflection of hard choices, generational struggle, and the scars of both war and home.
Steve Earle didn’t just write a song—he carved a piece of American folklore into the landscape. And “Copperhead Road” still winds through our collective memory, dark, defiant, and unforgettable.
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Lyrics: Copperhead Road
Well my name’s John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He’d buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
It’s before my time but I’ve been told
He never came back from Copperhead Road
Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason’s Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin’ sound
Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin’, knew something wasn’t right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin’ down Copperhead RoadI volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first,’round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
And I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Well the D.E.A.’s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I’m back over there
I learned a thing or two from ol’ Charlie don’t you know
You better stay away from Copperhead RoadCopperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road