Finn McCool
One has to wonder what Seth Tiven and Kirk Swan were thinking when they formed the band Dumptruck in Boston in 1983. What kind of music did they think they were playing? What does it mean to name a group after a construction vehicle? So many questions!
Were they thinking about farm vehicles created by Graff and Hipple or dust carts (aka trash trucks) developed by Thornycraft? These are the first dump trucks people! Show some respect!
Dump trucks are easily one of the most important tools on a construction site. They are used in mining, demolition, waste management and landscaping and have become a feature of everyday life. They are commonly seen in children’s toys and books.
In recent years, the backhoe has made inroads (pun intended!) into children’s playsets, but the dump truck still reigns supreme as the most popular piece of construction equipment.
With all this history and cultural import behind them, the members of the band Dumptruck surely felt the weight of expectations as they put their band into high gear (another pun!). Maybe naming the band after a construction vehicle was supposed to show how the band “delivers”? I don’t know. It’s a thought. In 1986, the band released their second album, Positively Dumptruck, and started garnering rave reviews in the music press and heavy airplay on college radio stations. One got the feeling that they were going places (maybe to drop off gravel at a construction site? Just kidding!) and that bigger things were just around the corner for this buzz band. The single “Back Where I Belong” is a total earworm and still holds up nicely today.
In this video, the members of Dumptruck look exactly like how you would think the members of a college rock band from the 80s would look and act. You could easily imagine them in your college town, playing basement shows and clubs like South Main or The Cellar. In fact, here is a video of the band actually playing in a basement in the 80s, so you can see that I’m not just blowing smoke here.
The band seems to be emulating the jangle pop or jangle rock sound of the period with the folky sort of guitars and vocal harmonies, but the laconic vocal delivery kind of sets things off in a different direction and the fuzzy lead guitar slicing through gives a little bit of a psychedelic edge. And this was at a time (1986) when college rock bands didn’t really do lead guitar lines. The lyrics are intentionally cryptic with questions like “What did you have in mind?” and “Where the hell were you?”
Was there room in the college rock atmosphere for a slightly cryptic, sort of psyche-y, folky band that had no problem throwing in a lead guitar line when no one else seemed to want to? It’s hard to say because, while things were gaining momentum like a dump truck going downhill, everything ground to a halt as the band ran into a runaway truck ramp in the form of a lawsuit. The band was sued by their label in 1988 and the band filed a countersuit. Accusations were made, legal fees paid and basically no music ended up getting released by the band during this period. The band ended up winning their lawsuit, but the bankrupt label was not able to pay Dumptruck the full amount owed and the band broke up.
Although Seth Tiven reformed Dumptruck with a new line-up in the 1990s, the initial momentum had been lost like a truck unable to downshift a nonsynchro tranny. No one knows what would have happened had the band been able to continue at its then-current pace. It’s a mystery.
Another mystery is the meaning of messages I’ve seen on the backs of various dump trucks around town. While many dump trucks have references to Bible verses or the Bible verses themselves, recently I have started to see more cryptic dump truck messages that could be open to different interpretations.
Unfortunately, I am always driving when I see these dump trucks, so I have never been able to take a proper picture of any of them. You’ll just have to trust me that I actually saw all these trucks!
Here is a list of Cryptic Dump Truck Messages and some possible interpretations:
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye – This is probably the most jarring message I have seen. It leaves me wondering if the truck driver has some kind of death wish or something. Like, “Is the driver gonna bring me my load of gravel or is he or she gonna go all rogue over somebody’s lawn or the entire DC Metropolitan area?” Alternatively, it could just be a less obvious way of saying “carpe diem.”
Time For a Good Time – Okay, I am down with this sentiment, but exactly when is the good time going to happen? Is the driver going to be having a good time like right now, on Interstate 270? Who else is going to be involved in this good time? Is the driver going to be able to pay attention to the road while the good time is happening? Or is the good time synonymous with “Miller Time” and happens only during off-work hours? But that makes it sound like a good time would always be off-work hours and then when is he or she going to deliver my gravel? Update: I saw this truck again, pulled over to the side of the road at 8:40 a.m. on a weekday morning. I am wondering if a good time was happening at that moment.
Heaven Just Got Louder – I think this a probably a tribute to a fallen co-worker or family member, but it could also be a death wish.
Andi’s Heart Attack (2nd Wind) – Not sure where to start with this one. “Peter’s Plantar Fasciitis” might be similar but it doesn’t really have the same ring. Might be a death wish.
Dreams Come True – After seeing this one, I started thinking about Stevie Nicks (as one does) and her song “Dreams.” Does the driver have dreams about Stevie Nicks? Does he really think Stevie is just gonna somehow appear at this late date and make all his dreams come true? I remember in eighth grade gym class when the topic of who was hotter, Stevie or Farrah, was current and hotly debated, but I think we’ve all moved from then, right? Maybe the trucker hasn’t. Does he know that Farrah died the same day as Michael Jackson and therefore never got her props? Sad. Maybe just keep your dreams to yourself. On the other hand, Stevie apparently hooked up with Joe Walsh, so I suppose it could happen to anybody.
It Ain’t The Whiskey (That’s Killing Me) – This could be a death wish or an AA confession.
Tonight Looks Good On You – Definitely this is a pick-up line, but plastered on the back of a dump truck, I’m not sure he (it’s more than likely a he) is really targeting a specific audience and everybody knows you have to write to the audience. Good luck with that one, dude. While he may think he’s casting a wide net (i.e., everyone on the highway), he’s probably just limiting himself to what Eddie Rabbitt would call a “truckstop cutie” and we all know those are a dying breed.
Full of Dreams – If this truck is full of dreams, how is the trucker going to have room for my load of mulch?
We Need to be Ready – This is more than likely an apocalyptic/Biblical reference, but there’s also a very good chance that the driver would be really motivated to deliver one last load of mulch or gravel before everything goes to pot.
Crazy Town – I’m not sure about this one. On the one hand, if you assume the truck driver is from Crazy Town, can you assume that they’re crazy? Maybe the driver just lives in the general proximity of Crazy Town, like in the suburbs and not in the downtown area, where you would have to assume (a lot of assumptions going on here!) that things would be a lot crazier. On the other hand, maybe being crazy is all relative and the driver is pretty stable when it comes to doing his or her job. Maybe there’s a pride in the work and the “crazy” comes more from the “fire in the belly” to get the job done. Surely, proper vetting would need to be done before hiring what could be a real wild card. Just ask John McCain.
It’s About Time – This message seems pretty straightforward and to the point. I feel like the gravel/sand/dirt is going to get to the work site on time, if not under budget. On the other hand, what’s if it’s about time for a Sno-Cone™? Those can be hard to find in the Greater Washington area! What if the truck is just driving all around looking for that Sno-Cone™ and not delivering the promised load? Or what if “about time” is just another way of saying “whenever I feel like it”? What if “It’s About Time” is a death wish and he or she just wants to get it done right now? For the love of Stevie Nicks, please just deliver the gravel!
The Only Way I Know How (Wide Open – Full Throttle) – While I admire this motivated driver, let’s try to keep Smokey off our tail, shall we?
Cuttin’ Up – Are you being serious? Cutting up usually refers to someone not being very serious, which can be all well and good sometimes. I mean, sometimes you just need someone to come in and cut the tension by making a joke or something and putting everyone at ease. So maybe the driver is like a well-intentioned goofball, you know? Just out to make someone’s day and bring a smile to his/her face? But does this person know when it’s time to be serious? Telling jokes is one thing, but at a certain point we have to, you know, cut the crap and get busy. There are many ways that this phrase can cut! Not sure it really cuts the mustard for a serious truck driver …
Sometimes A Rainbow Is Better Than A Pot Of Gold – I understand that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination, but not on my dime!
My Kinda Party – The beauty of a party is in the eye of the beholder, so I’m going to reserve judgement on this one for the time being. One person’s party is another person’s traffic jam. In the case of Woodstock, a traffic jam turned out to be (part of) a party. But if you’re trying to get the goods to the work site, you don’t want to hear “The New York State Thruway is closed, man!”
Take That Fire and Walk Right Through It – This is either a challenge or a reference to a David Lynch film. Or a death wish.
Crash My Party – On the surface, this sounds pretty inclusive. Fun, even. It’s an open party, everyone! Come on in! Something more sinister could be lurking under the surface, however. Could the driver be a serial killer looking for fresh victims? Certainly, a serial killer would not advertise malicious intent on the back of a truck. A benign, even warm, welcome would be more likely. Remember how the wicked witch lured Hansel and Gretel into her house with an endless supply of candy? That was an open party too! In any event, I don’t think it’s wise to use the word “crash” to advertise anything if you’re a professional driver!
Remember it’s about “The Dash-” – This may be the most cryptic message so far. The word “remember” indicates that this is something that you already knew or previously learned or at least had some familiarity with. This reference is so obscure that I doubt many people are saying, “Oh, yeah! I forgot about the whole dash thing!” I am aware of “the dash” being a form of punctuation separating words and phrases in a sentence, but is that what the author is going for here? The dash (which is actually included in the message next to the spelled-out word) is an important piece of punctuation, to be sure, but so what? One could argue that the period or exclamation point(!) is more important. But if we’re talking about a dash as being something that’s in between two other things, that could be referring to anything. It could actually be pretty deep. Let me think about that for a minute. Or is “The Dash-” referring to a quick trip somewhere? Maybe to the worksite? But I’d like to think the driver is driving at a considerate, legal speed to the worksite not just dashing about all willy-nilly. But what if the driver is dashing in an Errol Flynn sort of way? What if the driver is listening to the Erich Wolfgang Korngold soundtrack to an Errol Flynn movie? Talk about swashbuckling music! I think I’d give the driver a pass if that’s the case. It’s so easy to get carried away when listening to exciting music. Also, who is this driver with the obscure music tastes?
Pieces of a Dream Part 2 – Right off the bat, I’m willing to rule out a reference to the R&B/jazz fusion group named Pieces of a Dream. I saw them perform once as the opening act for Grover Washington, Jr. None of the group members mentioned driving a truck, but that was years ago. I noticed that nowadays the group (who recently celebrated its 40th anniversary) is down to just two members, so maybe a former member is now driving the truck and referencing his old group? Okay, maybe. Or maybe it’s referring to a dashed dream and the truck ownership is all that’s left of a larger goal/life plan? That would be really sad if that’s the case. On the other hand, maybe the driver has already accomplished various life goals and has started out here with some fresh dreams — part two, if you will. Maybe there’s a Part 3 and a Part 4 and maybe it’s a really uplifting story overall, full of grit, perseverance and real accomplishments, along with the ability to put those dreams of Stevie Nicks aside finally.
“Baby” You’re Not Worth the Whiskey – The use of quotation marks around the word “baby” seems to indicate that maybe this “baby” isn’t really a baby. Is this a taunt, then? Certainly, the “you’re not worth” part conjures up ill intent. This might be like an early version of social media, where the driver is taunting someone in public, which is never a good look. A professional driver referencing alcohol consumption (on the truck, no less) is also not a good look.
When She Says “Baby” – This totally begs the question of what happens next. I’m guessing this might be a song lyric, so maybe the answer lies in the rest of that line. I also get the feeling that the driver’s thoughts are elsewhere and maybe not concentrating on the task at hand. Whoa! Look out! You just missed that deer! Try to keep your eyes on the road a little bit, okay?
Dancing Around Like a Fool Starring in Her Own Little Show – The use of the word “little” indicates an affectionate familiarity with the subject, but then the word “fool” kind of takes things in a different direction. Now it seems more like a mocking tone, which maybe the driver intended to be “gentle mocking,” but which really doesn’t come off that way if we’re being honest.
Whiskey Glasses – If whiskey glasses are the same thing as “beer goggles,” then I know what those are. I also know that the term “beer goggles” is used to justify some maybe questionable decisions. But why try to explain away a potential mistake before it happens? Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. And do you really want people thinking you are driving around at 8:37 a.m. with impaired vision?
Night Train (with the word “Night” crossed out) – Do you remember the Steve Winwood top-ten hit “While You See a Chance” from 1981? The album it’s taken from, Arc of a Diver, also includes a track called “Night Train.” At just over seven minutes long, it really takes you for a ride. I remember someone mentioning that the guitar solo was named “best guitar solo of the year” or something like that. I believe it. What a rippin’ solo! One year, I was making a monster batch of mashed potatoes to bring for Thanksgiving dinner and I played Arc of a Diver, Genesis’ Abacab album and the first Asia album back-to-back while cooking. It was like 1981 all over again! About the truck, I am not sure why the word “Night” was crossed out with what looked like electrical tape. The fact that you could still read it makes me think that the driver wanted you to know that the “Night” part was still relevant to his/her situation somehow, or maybe used to be, but is not anymore? I might advise the driver to listen to that Winwood album again and maybe reconsider that electrical tape.
Sometimes You Have To Die To Live Again – At first blush, this seems like another religious reference, with its theme of rebirth. But it starts with “sometimes” and that makes it seem like someone is hedging his or her bets. So, sometimes you get to live again but if, say, the Supreme Being (or whomever is calling the shots in this scenario) is busy at the moment, well then it’s just not your day? My wife suggested that it could really be referring to the old adage that “sometimes you gotta hit rock bottom before you can see the way to get up” and I guess I can go with that one, too.
It’s Your Game! – This one seems pretty positive, right? Like, “You go, girl! It’s your game!” But then it also sounds like Charles Manson’s failed pop song attempt “Look At Your Game, Girl” and that’s kinda weird.
One More Number – This could maybe be a gambling (or bingo) reference? Like someone is just waiting for his/her luck to change and maybe this will be the big windfall that will change everything. It also seems kind of fatalistic, though. Maybe every delivery is a number and this particular trip is the next to last one. But then every delivery would be like the one before the last one. Hmmm… It would never resolve!! There would always be one more number! Wait! Maybe that’s it! There’s always one more number, right? Okay, so maybe yeah, but then that begs the question of what happens after the next number. Or the last number? Now I’m confused again! It might also be a death wish.
R.I.P. FATS – I guess we have to assume that the deceased in question was okay with what was probably a nickname while he or she was alive. Now that they’re dead, there’s really nothing the person in question can do about it and I just don’t think that’s fair.
RIP POPS BIG ED SO FINE – This appears to be a memoriam for a person with two nicknames and an editorial comment tacked on the end for good measure. Definitely I would say that posthumously being called “so fine” is better than posthumously being called fat.
And so the mystery of Cryptic Dump Truck Messages continues. But what about the mystery of the band Dumptruck? Whatever happened to them? Well I’m happy to report that there’s a version of Dumptruck currently gigging in and around Austin, Texas. You might even see them at your local Chili Dog Fest!
Sometimes You Have To Die To Live Again!
The Gullible Ear 