Dierks Bentley: What Was I Thinkin' (2003)

One of the features of country music which make it a great soundtrack when driving is that the songs often tell stories. Sometimes those narratives are maudlin and sentimental, sometimes they really hit a spot in the heart -- and sometimes they are just kinda dumb fun. Like this one.

In '04 while driving across the Southern states, this song by Bentley -- his major label debut single which went to #1 on the country charts -- was all over country radio.

The line "hood slidin' like Bo Duke" was what caught my attention on a first hearing, and it was so good that every time the song came on we'd turn it up loud and laugh like drains.

Bentley writes serious lyrics too (see clip below) but this is one of those for a long highway and the window down. The clip of it is here.

And these are the lyric if you didn't quite get them . . . 

Becky was a beauty from south Alabama

Her daddy had a heart like a nine pound hammer

Think he even did a little time in the slammer

What was I thinkin'?

She snuck out one night an' met me by the front gate

Her daddy came out a-wavin' that 12-guage

We tore out the drive, he peppered my tailgate

What was I thinkin'?

Oh, I knew there'd be hell to pay

But that crossed my mind a little too late

'Cause I was thinkin' 'bout a little white tank top

Sittin' right there in the middle by me

An' I was thinkin' 'bout a long kiss

Man, just gotta get goin', where the night might lead

I know what I was feelin'

But what was I thinkin'?

What was I thinkin'?

By the county line, the cops were nippin' on our heels

Pulled off the road an' kicked it in four-wheel

Shut off the lights an' tore through a cornfield

What was I thinkin'?

At the other side, she was hollerin', "Faster"

Took a dirt road, had the radio blastin'

Hit the honky-tonk for a little close dancin'

What was I thinkin'?

Oh, I knew there'd be hell to pay

But that crossed my mind a little too late

'Cause I was thinkin' 'bout a little white tank top

Sittin' right there in the middle by me

I was thinkin' 'bout a long kiss

Man, just gotta get goin', where the night might lead

I know what I was feelin'

But what was I thinkin'?

What was I thinkin'?

When a mountain of a man with a "Born to kill" tattoo

Tried to cut in, I knocked out his front tooth

We ran outside, hood slidin' like Bo Duke

What was I thinkin'?

I finally got her home at a half past two, later

Daddy's in a long chair sittin' on the driveway

Put it in park as he started my way

What was I thinkin'? Oh, what was I thinkin'?

Oh, what was I thinkin'?

Then she gave a "Come an' get me" grin

An' like a bullet, we were gone again

'Cause I was thinkin' 'bout a little white tank top

Sittin' right there in the middle by me

I was thinkin' 'bout a long kiss

Man, just gotta get goin' where the night might lead

I know what I was feelin'

Yeah I know what was I feelin'

But what was I thinkin'?

What was I thinkin'?

I know what I was feelin'

What was I thinkin'?

Guess I was thinkin' 'bout that tank top

Spread out

For more one-offs, oddities or songs with an interesting backstory see From the Vaults.