Cover art for Carolina Drama by The Raconteurs
Mar. 25, 20081 viewer32.1K views

Carolina Drama Lyrics

[Intro]
I'm not sure if there's a point to this story
But I'm going to tell it again
So many other people try to tell the tale
Not one of them knows the end


[Verse 1]
It was a junk house in South Carolina
Held a boy the age of ten
Along with his older brother Billy
And their mother and her boyfriend
Who was a triple loser with some blue tattoos
That were given to him when he was young

And a drunk temper that was easy to lose
But thank God he didn't own a gun


[Verse 2]
Well, Billy woke up in the back of his truck
Took a minute to open his eyes
He took a peep into the back of the house
And found himself a big surprise
He didn't see his brother, but there was his mother
With her red-headed head in her hands

While the boyfriend had his gloves wrapped around an old priest
Trying to choke the man

[Verse 3]
Billy looked up from the window to the truck
Threw up, and had to struggle to stand

He saw that red-necked bastard with a hammer
Turn the priest into a shell of a man

The priest was putting up the fight of his life
But he was old and he was bound to lose
The boyfriend hit as hard as he could
And knocked the priest right down to his shoes


[Verse 4]
Well, now Billy knew but never actually met
The preacher lying there in the room
He heard himself say, "That must be my daddy"

Then he knew what he was gonna do
Billy got up enough courage, took it up
And grabbed the first blunt thing he could find
It was a cold, glass bottle of milk
That got delivered every morning at nine


[Verse 5]
Billy broke in and saw the blood on the floor
And he turned around and put the lock on the door
He looked dead into the boyfriend's eye
His mother was a ghost, too upset to cry
Then he took a step toward the man on the ground
From his mouth trickled out a little audible sound

He heard the boyfriend shout, "Get out!"
And Billy said, "Not 'til I know what this is all about"
"Well, this preacher here was attacking your mama"
But Billy knew just who was starting the drama
So Billy took dead aim at his face
And smashed the bottle on the man who left his dad in disgrace

And the white milk dripped down with the blood
And the boyfriend fell down dead for good
Right next to the preacher who was gasping for air
And Billy shouted, "Daddy, why'd you have to come back here?"
His mama reached behind the sugar and honey
And pulled out an envelope filled with money
"Your daddy gave us this," she collapsed in tears
"He's been paying all the bills for years"
"Mama, let's put this body underneath the trees
And put daddy in the truck and head to Tennessee"
Just then his little brother came in
Holding the milk man's hat and a bottle of gin
[Bridge]
Singing; la la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la la, la la la la, yeah
La la la, la la la...

[Outro]
Well now you heard another side to the story
But you wanna know how it ends?
If you must know the truth about the tale
Go and ask the milkman

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

This song bio is unreviewed
Genius Annotation

This Southern gothic ballad tells of a kid named Billy, his brother and their mother, who witnesses her loser boyfriend attacking a priest with a hammer.

The London Times asked Jack White where this song came from. He replied:
< “Brendan (Benson) was over at my house a year ago, and we were playing acoustic guitar, and I just said this line: ‘This is a story about Billy and his brother and I’m going to tell it again…’ That line isn’t even in the song any more but that’s what generated the whole story. That line gave me the job to do – it told me to get to work. Billy and his brother – what’s going on there?”

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Raconteurs say about "Carolina Drama"?
Genius Answer

White was initially apprehensive to name the protagonist of the song “Billy” as he thought it’d been used too often as a name in popular song, i.e. “Billy Don’t Be a Hero.” White would ask Bob Dylan for his thoughts to which Dylan replied, “How about Eddie?” White decided not to change the name to Eddie out of respect for his own brother also named Eddie. This song had the working title of “Battle of the Bottle.” (via jackwhiteiii.com)

Credits
Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Assistant Mastering Engineer
Assistant Engineer
Recorded At
Blackbird Recording Studios, Nashville, TN
Release Date
March 25, 2008
Tags
Comments