Cody Jinks Speaks to Everyday Struggles in New Song “Lifers”

photo: Brad Coolidge

If you’re looking for reasons why Cody Jinks has accrued such a rabid, dedicated, and wide fan base—including the many who refer to themselves as “Flockers”—it’s because he writes and records songs that feel like they were composed exclusively for them, ripped right out of their personal narratives, with people and characters that feel as familiar as family.

Ahead of the release of Cody Jinks’ latest album Lifers, the title track has materialized on streaming channels and for those who’ve pre-ordered the record. In a similar vein as signature Cody Jinks songs such as “Hippies and Cowboys” and “Cast No Stones,” “Lifers” doesn’t just convey a story—or in this case, a series of them. It speaks to the type of blue collar, hard-nosed, and dedicated lives the the devotees of Cody Jinks lead.

You don’t have to be a poor farmer from Waco, or a moonlighting country singer slinging drinks in Nashville to relate to the dedication to lives and dreams these characters embody in the verses of “Lifers.” It’s the spirit they uphold, and the way Cody Jinks canonizes everyday life that makes the stories so appealing and relatable, and the music something more than just words and song. It imparts spirit and assurance that you’re not the only one out there struggling, yet persevering.

At the same time, this isn’t the pandering and caricaturistic portrayal of work hard/play hard life that often infects the songs on mainstream radio attempting to speak to the common man, but ultimately taking only skin deep observances to the point where the holes in the jeans feel made before they were purchased in the store, and the grit beneath the fingernails has been cleansed away.

And it wouldn’t be a Cody Jinks song if it didn’t sound downright country with little or no wiggle room like “Lifers” does. Similar to the first song we’ve heard from the record, “Must Be The Whiskey,” this is more the singalong style of Cody Jinks song instead of the heartbreaking, songwriting-based approach of songs such as “David” from 2015’s Adobe Sessions, or “No Words” from 2016’s I’m Not The Devil. But there will be plenty of other tracks to punch you in the gut when Lifers is released on July 27th.

In the meantime a song like this is something to crank up this 4th of July week along with other Cody tunes for the “Lifers” of today, and those who’ve gone on. It may be too late to change the name of Cody’s dedicated fans from “Flockers” to “Lifers,” but with Jinks fans, they’re one in the same.

Lifers can now be pre-ordered.

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