15) Two Story House
"I've got my story, and I've got mine too. How sad it is we now live in a two story house."
A tale about a young, married couple seeking fortune, fame, and the finer things in life. They achieve it and buy a two story house, only to realize that they "left love out".
14) Bartender's Blues
"Well, I'm just a bartender, And I don't like my work, But I don't mind the money at all."
An absolute jukebox staple. Penned by the legendary soft rock singer/songwriter James Taylor, who also sang backup on the record.
13) Walk Through This World With Me
"In life we search and some of us find. I've looked for you a long, long time"
The title pretty is pretty much all we need to know. Not too many lyrics, not many are needed. A man asking the woman of his dreams to stand by him for the rest of his life.
12) Golden Ring w/ Tammy Wynette
"By itself, it's just a cold metallic thing. Only love can make a golden wedding ring"
Ironically, for the First Couple, the song was a hit one year after their divorce.
11) The Grand Tour
"As you leave, you'll see the nursery. Oh, she left me without mercy, taking nothing but our baby and my heart."
I really prefer Aaron Neville's version, probably because it was the first version I heard of this absolute tear-jerker. George recorded this song about a broken relationship in 1974, the same year he and Tammy divorced. Is it a coincidence that the song was co-written by Tammy’s future husband, George Richey?
10) Finally Friday
"It's finally Friday, I'm outta control. Forget the working blues and let the good times roll."
It may be the best after-work song of all time. It's fun, it's happy, it makes you want to just stand up and cheer so loud!
9) White Lightning
"I took a little sip and right away I knew. And my eyes bugged out and my face turned blue"
Just a fun song about moonshine. The moan George gives before he gasps the title of the song have to make you chuckle.
8) She Thinks I Still Care
"Just because I saw her then went all to pieces, she thinks I still care."
Brilliant songwriting. A man putting on a brave face that he doesn't care about his ex, while all the while, it's breaking his heart.
7) If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)
"Lord it's been ten bottles since I tried to forget her. But the memory still lingers lying here on the ground."
It's a picture of the hell that comes from medicating by alcohol. This guy is dangerously desperate. He can't bear to live anymore because of the excrutiating pain of his woman leaving. Drinking appears to be an easier path to him.
6) High-Tech Redneck
"He ain't into hip hop, he ain't into rap. He likes to rattle them speakers with Ronnie Milsap"
One of George's last singles that hit the Top 30. Just a fun song, with a catchy riff that somehow combines a rural, blue-collar dude with the latest technology, such as cell phones, CD, picture-in-picture, and get ready for it...VCR's! Folks, we've come a long way since 1993!
5) A Good Year For the Roses (w/ Alan Jackson)
"A lip print on a half-filled cup of coffee that you poured and didn't drink. But at least you thought you wanted it, that's so much more than I can say for me."
Rarely is a re-made version of a song better than the original, but I adore this recording that leaves out the orchestra and includes steel guitar and dobro. Not to mention the melancholy vocals of the great Alan Jackson. Even Elvis Costello covered this track in the early 1980's.
4) The Window Up Above
I've posted the lyrics before, there's no need to do it again. But it's simply one of the best cheating songs ever, and I love it because it's the guy getting screwed over, I might know something about that. As the man confronts his wife, he tries to maintain control, but his voice betrays his pain. The background vocals become a funeral choir as his marriage dies before his eyes.
3) Choices
"If I had listened, no I wouldn't be here today living and dying with the choices I've made."
George's last Top 30 single that also earned a Grammy award. It's his swan song in a way. Anyone can relate to the lyrics, but since it's George Jones singing it, the lyrics feel that much more vibrant and that much more chilling. They're humbling and they're striking.
2) Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
"Who's gonna give their heart and soul to get to me and you? Lord I wonder, who's gonna fill their shoes?"
Recorded in 1986, this is pure truth. Who will rise up and assume the mantle left by the Waylon's, the Cash's, the Marty's, the Acuff's, etc. Now it begs a new question. Who could ever take the place of the Possum. The answer is easy. No one.
1) He Stopped Loving Her Today
"You know, she came to see him one last time. Oh, we all wondered if she would. And it kept running through my mind, this time he's over her for good.
Perhaps it is the quintessential country music song. Maybe the most painful love song ever written. The morbid story of a man who has to pass away to finally stop loving his ex was not a favorite of Jones at first as he thought it was too sad. And after years of substance abuse, he had no desire to record the song, but did so at the insistence of producer Billy Sherrill. And the song only earned him Grammy, CMA, and ACM awards and CMA Male Vocalist honors in 1980 and 1981. As Jones put it in his autobiography, “a four-decade career had been salvaged by a three-minute song.”
4) The Window Up Above
I've posted the lyrics before, there's no need to do it again. But it's simply one of the best cheating songs ever, and I love it because it's the guy getting screwed over, I might know something about that. As the man confronts his wife, he tries to maintain control, but his voice betrays his pain. The background vocals become a funeral choir as his marriage dies before his eyes.
3) Choices
"If I had listened, no I wouldn't be here today living and dying with the choices I've made."
George's last Top 30 single that also earned a Grammy award. It's his swan song in a way. Anyone can relate to the lyrics, but since it's George Jones singing it, the lyrics feel that much more vibrant and that much more chilling. They're humbling and they're striking.
2) Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
"Who's gonna give their heart and soul to get to me and you? Lord I wonder, who's gonna fill their shoes?"
Recorded in 1986, this is pure truth. Who will rise up and assume the mantle left by the Waylon's, the Cash's, the Marty's, the Acuff's, etc. Now it begs a new question. Who could ever take the place of the Possum. The answer is easy. No one.
1) He Stopped Loving Her Today
"You know, she came to see him one last time. Oh, we all wondered if she would. And it kept running through my mind, this time he's over her for good.
Perhaps it is the quintessential country music song. Maybe the most painful love song ever written. The morbid story of a man who has to pass away to finally stop loving his ex was not a favorite of Jones at first as he thought it was too sad. And after years of substance abuse, he had no desire to record the song, but did so at the insistence of producer Billy Sherrill. And the song only earned him Grammy, CMA, and ACM awards and CMA Male Vocalist honors in 1980 and 1981. As Jones put it in his autobiography, “a four-decade career had been salvaged by a three-minute song.”
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