Behind the Song
My wife and I love watching The Rockford Files. We bought the complete series on DVD after Netflix lost the streaming rights a few years back.
As a child of the 80s, I remember seeing re-runs of the show on TV, but I always turned away. It held zero interest for me.
But when my brother got into watching shows from the 70s and 80s (including Rockford, The Fall Guy, Vega$, The A-Team) for some reason my wife and I decided to give Rockford a look.
We were quickly captured by Jim’s cool, his good-heart, and his canniness. We were impressed by the sophistication of the writing, particularly the depth of guest characters.
And watching Jim Rockford, well, you just feel safe knowing he’s in the world.
If you’ve been following my songs, you’ll notice this one sounds a bit different. More bluesy, less folky. I’m not much of a blues fan — that’s my brother also — but I figured for this song, some kind of blues chord progression would work. I have only the vaguest idea of what that sounds like, but it’s what I tried to capture here.
Lyrics
In a beat up trailer
by the big blue sea
you'll find Jim Rockford
livin' free.
A t-bone steak
against his face
he took the punch
but he won the chase.
Poor Jim, you may get screwed
tossed out like a broken tool
But oh, Jim, you're still the rock
holding up the church of cool.
Back in the slammer
he makes a call
he sweet-talks Beth
she's on the ball.
He hocks his firebird
to post his bail
gotta clear his name
or he's back in jail.
Poor Jim, you may get screwed
tossed out like a broken tool
But oh, Jim, you're still the rock
holding up the church of cool.
A taco wet with hot sauce
a clock with no alarm
fishing with Rocky off the pier
a new lady on his arm.
To con a con
he's your man
let Jimmy Joe
hatch a plan.
A business card
for every line
who needs a gun, babe?
When you got shine.
Poor Jim, you may get screwed
tossed out like a broken tool
But oh, Jim, you're still the rock
holding up the church of cool.
ScottStoriesandSongs 