Lucinda Williams plays her song "2 Kool 2 Be 4-gotten" live in concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California on November 2, 2019. The song appeared on her 1998 album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Williams played the song as part of her Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 20th Anniversary Tour, in which she plays each track, in order, from this Grammy winning album. Joining her onstage were her band Buick 6: Stuart Mathis (guitar), David Sutton (bass), and Butch Norton (drums).
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2 Kool 2 Be 4-gotten lyrics:
You can't depend on anything, really
There's no promises, there's no point
There's no good, there's no bad
In this dirty little joint
No dope smoking, no beer sold after 12 o'clock
Rosedale, Mississippi, Magic City Juke Joint
Mr. Johnson sings over in a corner by the bar
Sold his soul to the devil so he can play guitar
Too cool to be forgotten
Hey, hey, too cool to be forgotten
Man runnin' thru the grass outside
Says he wants to take up serpents
Says he will drink the deadly thing
And it will not hurt him
House rules, no exceptions
No bad language, no gambling, no fighting
Sorry, no credit, don't ask
Bathroom wall reads: Is God the answer? Yes
Too cool to be forgotten
Hey, hey, too cool to be forgotten
June bug versus hurricane
June bug versus hurricane
Hey, hey
I had a lover
I thought he was mine
Thought I'd always be his Valentine
Leaning against the railing of a Lake Charles bridge
Overlooking the river, leaning over the edge
He asked me: Would you jump into the water with me?
I told him: No way, baby, that's your own death you see
Too cool to be forgotten
Hey, hey, too cool to be forgotten
June bug vs. hurricane
June bug vs. hurricane
Hey, hey...
Hey, hey...
Hey, hey...
Written by Lucinda Williams
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Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 20th Anniversary Tour Dates:
Sept. 22 - Wilmington, DE @ Grand Opera House
Sept. 24 - North Bethesda, MD @ The Music Center At Strathmore
Sept. 25 - Richmond, VA @ Modlin Center For The Arts
Sept. 27 - Charlotte, NC @ Ovens Auditorium
Sept. 28 - Athens, GA @ Wildeood Revival
Sept. 29 - Chattanooga, TN @ Tivoli Theatre
Oct. 1 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe
Oct. 2 - Annapolis, MD @ Maryland Hall For The Creative Arts
Oct. 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 3 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
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Lucinda Williams official bio:
Three-time Grammy Award winner, Lucinda Williams has been carving her own path for more than three decades now. Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Williams had been imbued with a “culturally rich, economically poor” worldview. Several years of playing the hardscrabble clubs gave her a solid enough footing to record a self-titled album that would become a touchstone for the embryonic Americana movement - helping launch a thousand musical ships along the way.
While not a huge commercial success at the time Lucinda Williams (aka, the Rough Trade album) retained a cult reputation, and finally got the reception it deserved upon its reissue in 2014. Jim Farber of New York’s Daily News hailed the reissue by saying “Listening again proves it to be that rarest of beasts: a perfect work. There’s not a chord, lyric, beat or inflection that doesn’t pull at the heart or make it soar.”
For much of the next decade, Williams moved around the country, stopping in Austin, Los Angeles, Nashville, and turning out work that won immense respect within the industry (winning a Grammy for Mary Chapin Carpenter’s version of “Passionate Kisses”) and a gradually growing cult audience. While her recorded output was sparse for a time, the work that emerged was invariably hailed for its indelible impressionism - like 1998’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, which notched her first Grammy as a performer.
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CWOAGR 20th Anniversary Tour announcement:
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of her highly-influential masterpiece, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, three-time Grammy award winner Lucinda Williams will perform the album in its entirety, followed by a second set of songs from throughout her remarkable career. The Car Wheels On A Gravel Road set will feature visual elements to enhance the storyteller style Williams has used for the special performances.
The influence of Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is immeasurable, and it is considered one of the cornerstones of what is now called Americana. Following its release, the record was named Best Album of 1998 in the Village Voice’s annual “Pazz & Jop” critics poll and received a 4-star review in Rolling Stone, while garnering critical praise throughout the press. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and Rolling Stone has ranked it #304 on their list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time."
In a long and celebrated career, Lucinda Williams’ art is as genuine and soulful as when she began writing, and there’s no signs of her slowing down any time soon.