No one knows what it feels like to be me.  No one knows what it feels like to be me.  No one knows what it feels like to be me…

Or so say the wooden signs, quoted from a Tom Petty song and nailed to a telephone pole, one under the other on the outskirts of Amarillo.

Since around 2003, Cody Patterson, an auto mechanic, has found artistic release in hanging signs on telephone poles close to his home/shop on South Coulter and all over the Panhandle, going as far as Dallas to express his unique outlook on the world.

“I had around 600, but there are only about 250 left because people come by and take them down as a joke.” Patterson said.  “[But] that’s just the way the world is.”

Taken from song lyrics by artists such as Twilight Zone, Patterson said he tweaks the lyrics on the signs only slightly to apply to him personally.  His abusive childhood stands out particularly to him as an inspiration, he said.

“The words to the songs describe my life,” Patterson said.

In addition to the death of his sister and sometimes simply feeling like an outcast, Patterson’s many near-death experiences (mainly due to heart problems) continue to infuse his mind with ideas about the signs that make his mark on the world.

“I have been legally pronounced dead nine times,” Patterson said.  “I’m beyond a cat.”

Patterson said his spirituality also inspires him to pour out his mind on the roadside.

“My grandfather was very spiritual,” Patterson said.  “I’ve seen the light.”

Quirky as these ideas may sound, Patterson said he doesn’t expect everyone to like what he does.

“Everyone thinks I’m weird and strange because I’m not like them,” Patterson said.  “But I don’t want to be like them; it‘s not unique.”