Yay or Nay Song Review: “Outfit” by Drive-By Truckers

A note from Mr. Claypool:

Seniors in my Contemporary Poetry Class are asked to review songs in what’s called a “Yay or Nay? Review.”

The purpose is to expand our musical palettes while analyzing and evaluating songs for lyrical craft.

These reviews are expected to address three aspects of the song:

• Poet’s Craft (most important—they must spend 80% of your time here)

  • What amazing techniques do you see in the lyrics—allusions, puns, internal rhyme? (and/or) What is poorly done or lazy about the lyrics?

• Music

  • What aspects do you enjoy about the music and sound going on behind the lyrics? (and/or) What is grating to your ears or impossible to listen to—why?

• “Other” What about the energy, the personality of the performer, the song’s or artist’s backstory? This section is for anything other than lyrics and music.

Finally, the review must give the song a “Yay” or “Nay” and explain why.

I picked “Outfit” for the first “Yay or Nay?,” but the highest scoring student(s) picks the next song the class reviews.

Photo by Mike Mercer

“Outfit” by Drive-By Truckers - A Yay or Nay Review by Mike Mercer

At first listen, “Outfit” (sang by the Drive-By Truckers with lead singer Jason Isbelle)  released in 2006 has the stereotypical trashy country sound, drawing in some people and polarizing others. Don’t pay mind to this though because this song quickly becomes interesting no matter what your taste is. Listen to the first few verses and you notice that the singer uses little to no autotune. It’s not too common nowadays to hear a song that is not rich with fake voices and sounds, giving “Outfit” a fresh approach to modern music. The artists voice is not even particularly pretty, but it fits the vibe perfectly, painting a picture of a man on a mission. Not to mention that it ties in well with the theme of not being someone that you are not. “Don’t sing with a fake British accent” the speaker advises. It is not worth changing your voice to make people like your music. Instead, The Drive-By Truckers rely on their lyrics to get plays.

In the case of lyrics, they are pretty much perfect. The narrator is assumed to be lead singer Jason Isabelle’s father, telling him to take pride in himself and act as a respectable southerner. As is the usual fatherly speech that everyone with a dad gets sometime in their high school life.

For example:

“Don’t call what you’re wearin’ and outfit                           (stereotype that rich city boys call their clothes an outfit)

Don’t ever say your car is broke                              (Know about your car, be specific, what about your car is broken? Important quality of a man)

Don’t worry about losing your accent                                   

A southern man tells better jokes                            (don’t hide who you are, take pride in your Accent, and let your jokes do the talking)

Have fun, but stay clear of the needle                                  (You can have fun, but stay away from the hard drugs)

Call home on your sister’s birthday                          (Love your family and be obvious about it)

Don’t tell em youre bigger than Jesus, don’t give it away (Allusion- The Beatles once said that they were “More popular than Jesus,” people hated this. The message is, stay humble, and just know that you are great)

Don’t give it away”            

The rhyme of this chorus is interesting. He starts many of the lines out with “Don’t”, creating repetition at the beginning of every line.  You can notice “broke” and “joke” rhyme, then after that he discontinues the “oke” sound. It doesn’t really seem like he relies heavily on rhyme in this song, but it definitely is hidden in the nooks and crannies of the piece just to keep it poetic.

This chorus really pulls me in because not only does it follow the theme of the father’s speech, but its catchy, it makes sense, its original, and you actually need to read into the lyrics. It almost seems like each five-to-seven-word lines tells a whole story. It’s a good change of pace, rather than hearing about his truck and his woman, we hear an important, poetic message. One that might even strike nostalgia in the hearts of men.

On the topic of sound, this song is packed with classic southern colloquialisms. The use of contractions and terms like “em” (Them), “Wearin’” (wearing),  and “losin’” (losing) creates an authentic country vibe that blends well with the instrumentals and the lyrics, adding to the thought and effort of this song. I don’t notice too much casual rhyming like we are used to in modern music. The rhyme doesn’t normally lie at the end of the lines in this song. Instead we notice tons of repetition of the word “Don’t” right at the beginning of to create a great sound. There is light end rhyme in the song, like “me – three”, “Years – Gears”.

I would say that the audience of this song would be the average man. My reasoning is because it is just like getting a speech from your dad, the one about how to treat a woman with respect and conduct yourself like a respectable adult. It is a speech about morals and effort in work which everyone can appeal to because the goal of every human is to be known as a good person and a hard worker. Therefore, the advice in this song strikes a very personal cord that could cause a sense of comfort and completion in men.  The theme of this song is being the best man that you can be and do what is best for you.

Not many songs nowadays follow a strong story. They usually are packed full of cliches and sound like a popularity contest. The purity and effort of this song makes it unique and most definitely timeless. In conclusion, Drive by Truckers ability to craft a well written story from a unique perspective, not use autotune to make a pure heartfelt sound, and have a catchy beat and sound all while staying uniquely lyrical makes this song a very big “Yay” from Michael (Monkey) Mercer.