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Formation log · Well 3 of 3 · Logged by R. Pike · Caliche Records
Stacked Out
The last record. Released in April 1986, the month the rigs came down. Eight songs. Recorded in a week, because for the first time in five years nobody had to be at work.
- 01Stacked Out3:07
Words, as written on the sample bag
February, the pusher come out at noon Never shut his motor off Said they're stacking her on Monday Finish out the tour and then that's all Said he'd call us if they called him Said it like he meant it too We finished the tour like any other 'Cause what else you gonna do Stacked out Rig's in a yard and I'm at home Stacked out Five years running and it's gone I ain't been home on a Tuesday afternoon Since nineteen eighty-one Stacked out Drove out to the yard on the Andrews highway Eighteen rigs laid down in a row Found ours by the number on the doghouse Where the weeds were starting to grow Monkeyboard I climbed ninety feet to get to Lying in the dirt at my knee I stood on it a minute anyway With my hard hat on, for free Stacked out Rig's in a yard and I'm at home Stacked out Five years running and it's gone I ain't been home on a Tuesday afternoon Since nineteen eighty-one Stacked out Daddy farmed cotton till the cotton quit Said son, you go where the work is I called him up last Sunday And said Daddy, where is it Stacked out Rig's in a yard and I'm at home Stacked out Five years running and it's gone I ain't been home on a Tuesday afternoon Since nineteen eighty-one Stacked out
- 02Ten Dollar Oil2:06
Words, as written on the sample bag
Thirty dollars in November Twenty when the new year came Ten by the time the mesquite leafed out And it ain't come back again Man on the TV news in Midland Pointing at a line on a chart Somebody overseas opened up the valves And the line dropped off the chart Ten dollar oil, ten dollar oil A mile of hole and a crew of five Ten dollar oil, ten dollar oil Ain't enough to keep a rig alive Pumper shut the stripper wells in They ain't worth the lift no more Every motel that said no vacancy Took the no down off the door Truck's worth half what I owe on it House is worth less than that Neighbor mailed his keys to the bank And he ain't coming back Ten dollar oil, ten dollar oil A mile of hole and a crew of five Ten dollar oil, ten dollar oil Ain't enough to keep a rig alive I never met him and he never met me The man who turned the valve But he laid off half of Ector County And he never left his chair Ten dollar oil, ten dollar oil A mile of hole and a crew of five Ten dollar oil, ten dollar oil Ain't enough to keep a rig alive
- 03Last Payday3:13
Words, as written on the sample bag
Same shoebox on the seat of the pusher's truck Same envelopes with our names This time he got out and shook our hands And nobody had to explain Two weeks' pay and a little extra Company's way of saying sorry Bank in Odessa's got a line again But nobody's in a hurry Last payday Cash it while the bank's still open Last payday Ain't another Friday coming Buy the groceries, pay the light bill Put the rest up on the shelf Last payday Hundred and twelve dollars when the bills are paid And a truck worth less than I owe Half the crew is driving to Dallas On a rumor and a tank of gas Other half are staying in Odessa 'Cause the rig was all they had Last payday Cash it while the bank's still open Last payday Ain't another Friday coming Buy the groceries, pay the light bill Put the rest up on the shelf Last payday We played the dance hall Friday Same as any payday Room was full and nobody had a check They came out anyway Held their hard hats up at the end of every song Same as they always did Last payday Cash it while the bank's still open Last payday Ain't another Friday coming Buy the groceries, pay the light bill Put the rest up on the shelf Last payday
- 04Pipe Yard3:01
Words, as written on the sample bag
Six in the morning at the pipe yard gate Thirty trucks and the engines running Yard boss walks out with a clipboard Needs two hands, maybe none Everybody climbs out of his pickup Stands up straight, hat in hand Yard boss points at two of 'em And the rest get back in again Pipe yard, pipe yard Racks of pipe as far as you can see Pipe yard, pipe yard Nobody's buying and nobody's calling me Rust on the threads and weeds in the racks And a hundred good hands that want to go back Drill pipe lying in the racks out there Some of it's been through my hands Made it up and ran it to the bottom Ninety feet at a time in the wind Now there's a number painted on it And a price somebody'd take Sold by the ton for scrap To a man from out of state Pipe yard, pipe yard Racks of pipe as far as you can see Pipe yard, pipe yard Nobody's buying and nobody's calling me Rust on the threads and weeds in the racks And a hundred good hands that want to go back I can make a connection in ninety seconds Rack a stand in a forty-mile wind Throw a chain and run a brake None of that's worth nothing in town Pipe yard, pipe yard Racks of pipe as far as you can see Pipe yard, pipe yard Nobody's buying and nobody's calling me Rust on the threads and weeds in the racks And a hundred good hands that want to go back
- 05Rig for Sale3:04
Words, as written on the sample bag
Somebody wired a sign to the mast Plywood painted red and white For sale, and a number in Dallas I called it on a Tuesday night Man said she's going at auction Third week of April, cash or check Everything she's got goes with her From the crown block to the deck Rig for sale Mast and drawworks, pumps and all Rig for sale Doghouse, tongs and catwalk Make an offer, she's a good one Never lost a man Rig for sale Auction day the yard was full Of men in clean boots I didn't know Some of 'em bidding by the pound for scrap Some to ship her off and drill some more Hammer came down on a number Less than my pickup cost Man who bought her never touched her Never took his sunglasses off Rig for sale Mast and drawworks, pumps and all Rig for sale Doghouse, tongs and catwalk Make an offer, she's a good one Never lost a man Rig for sale I know every bolt on her Every weld that ever cracked I could find the brake in the dark Still could, if they'd bring her back Rig for sale Mast and drawworks, pumps and all Rig for sale Doghouse, tongs and catwalk Make an offer, she's a good one Never lost a man Rig for sale
- 06Laid Down3:28
Words, as written on the sample bag
Last job on the last well They had us lay the pipe down Every joint out of the derrick Down the catwalk to the ground Every stand I racked up in the board I latched and sent down slow Floor hands broke 'em into singles And laid 'em on the racks in a row Laid down Pipe on the racks and the mast on its side Laid down Crew sent home in the middle of the day Laid down Five years of standing it all up And a week to lay it down She said come lay down a while It's two o'clock and you look tired You ain't slept in the daylight Since the first day you got hired I lay down with my boots on And the sun across the bed First time in five years I didn't have to go And I'd rather go instead Laid down Pipe on the racks and the mast on its side Laid down Crew sent home in the middle of the day Laid down Five years of standing it all up And a week to lay it down You stand it up in a day You drill it in a month You lay it down in a week And then you're done Laid down Pipe on the racks and the mast on its side Laid down Crew sent home in the middle of the day Laid down Five years of standing it all up And a week to lay it down
- 07Back to Houma3:04
Words, as written on the sample bag
Morning after the last show We loaded your truck by the porch light Amp and the duffel and the boxes Bass case going in last, strapped down tight You said it's bad down there too Half the boats in Fourchon tied up But at least it's bad at home, you said And Mama kept your room made up Back to Houma Sealed case riding in the bed Back to Houma Leaving how you came, you said Eight hundred miles, Odessa to the bayou With the sun coming up ahead Back to Houma Five years you held the bottom down Root note under every song Held it like a rig in a swell Never moved and never wrong I stood out in the road till your taillights Turned onto the interstate Nobody said the band was over Nobody had to say Back to Houma Sealed case riding in the bed Back to Houma Leaving how you came, you said Eight hundred miles, Odessa to the bayou With the sun coming up ahead Back to Houma If the rigs ever come back up I'll call you, and you know it And you'll be out past Fourchon on a crew boat And you won't come, and I'll know it Back to Houma Sealed case riding in the bed Back to Houma Leaving how you came, you said Eight hundred miles, Odessa to the bayou With the sun coming up ahead Back to Houma
- 08Plug and Abandon3:34
Words, as written on the sample bag
Cementers came out on a Tuesday Set a plug across the bottom zone Another at the shoe, another at the surface Then the pump truck headed home Cut the casing three feet under Welded on a plate of steel Wrote the lease and well number on it Pushed the dirt back over the field Plug and abandon Cement it from the bottom to the top Plug and abandon Cut it off below the ground and stop Write the number on the plate Push the caliche back in place Plug and abandon Come spring there's mesquite on the pad Cattle bedding where the doghouse stood Nobody driving by would know Five of us were out there, and we were good Plug and abandon Cement it from the bottom to the top Plug and abandon Cut it off below the ground and stop Write the number on the plate Push the caliche back in place Plug and abandon We spudded in the boom We plugged in the bust Five years and a mile of hole And a little bit of us Plug and abandon Cement it from the bottom to the top Plug and abandon Cut it off below the ground and stop Write the number on the plate Push the caliche back in place Plug and abandon Don't write it down as a dry hole It wasn't dry, it just quit Plug and abandon