What is “Rattlesnake Smile” about?
"Rattlesnake Smile" follows Bobby Dean, a charming stranger with boots too clean for the road and a black Cadillac with out-of-state plates, who wins over a small town, courts the banker's daughter and disappears when the checks bounce. The twist comes in the bridge, when the narrator admits he wore that same smile in another town and another life, turning the warning into a confession. The sixth track on The Last Porch Light, it is a third-person story song until its final turn.
Rattlesnake Smile lyrics
Bobby Dean walked into town with a grin like a lit fuse
Boots too clean for the road he claimed he'd been on
Bought the first round for the whole bar at Jennings'
Said he was in oil, or cattle, or something
Had a handshake like a preacher and eyes like a dealer
And the women all leaned in when he laughed
But old Leon at the end of the bar just watched him
And said that boy's running from something fast
Rattlesnake smile, all charm and no warning
You don't hear the rattle till the bite's already in
Rattlesnake smile, pretty from a distance
But get too close and you'll learn where the venom begins
He'll buy you dinner, he'll call you darling
He'll make you feel like the only one in the room
Rattlesnake smile, and by the time you see it
The poison's already running through you
He stayed three weeks at the Motor Lodge on Fifth
Drove a black Cadillac with out-of-state plates
Took the banker's daughter to the county fair
Won her a bear and stole her daddy's trust
By the time the checks bounced and the stories fell apart
He was already two towns down the line
Left a trail of empty promises and maxed-out cards
And a woman crying in the parking lot at nine
Rattlesnake smile, all charm and no warning
You don't hear the rattle till the bite's already in
Rattlesnake smile, pretty from a distance
But get too close and you'll learn where the venom begins
He'll buy you dinner, he'll call you darling
He'll make you feel like the only one in the room
Rattlesnake smile, and by the time you see it
The poison's already running through you
And I know because I've been that man
In another town, in another life
I wore the smile and told the stories
And left before the morning light
So when I tell you watch the charming ones
I ain't preaching from a throne
I'm warning you from the inside out
Because a rattlesnake knows his own
Rattlesnake smile, all charm and no warning
You don't hear the rattle till the bite's already in
Rattlesnake smile, I know it when I see it
Because I used to wear it on my skin
Rattlesnake smile
Lord, I used to wear it on my skin
A rattlesnake knows his own