Here in Louisville, it’s been so cold lately, and just doesn’t seem to be getting any warmer. Like most people, I’ve been missing summer, so for my music monday I decided to go with the theme of summer. When I think of summer I think of country music. I’ve grown up with it my whole life. It’s probably one of my favorite genres of music.
Friday Night Fever by George Strait
This song comes off of Strait’s debut studio album Strait Country in September of 1981. This was his breakout album, peaking at number 26 on the US Billboard Top Country Albums chart. This album had so many hits including Unwound and Down and Out. This album also was one of the first albums ever to be digitally recorded and mastered.
The song follows a man getting off of work and wanting a “breather” from a hard day of work. He touches on that this breather is just wanting to enjoy whiskey and country music. It touches on how he and his wife were different, but that their “love kept them together.” Strait married his wife 10 years prior in 1971.
“Though birds of a different feather
Our love keeps us together
And she knows what’s wrong with me tonight
I’ve got that Friday night fever
Sometimes a man just needs a breather
She knows I love her and I need her
And I’m no cheater
I’ve just got that Friday night fever”
I’ve Found Someone of My Own by Cal Smith
This song comes off of Cal Smiths album I’ve Found Someone of My Own which came out in 1972. This was his most popular album, peaking at number 5 in the United States, and the song I’ve Found Someone of My Own peaking at number 4 in the United States.
The song follows our narrator in a somewhat bitter sweet moment where his then partner came and sat down next to him, and cried to him telling him that she had found a new man to take his place. The twist to the song was that our narrator had too. What sounds like a basic country heart break song, is performed so beautifully by Smith. His voice, which is much deeper than many other country artists, it was more along the line of artists like Frank Sinatra’s voice, delivered this song with more emotion than you would originally presume.
“You know those lonely nights when you left me all alone
Oh, my new love would call and comfort me on the telephone
And I said, “Darling, if that’s the way it’s gotta be
Oh, sweet woman, don’t you worry ’bout me”
She said, “I’ve found somebody new
To take your place”
I said, “Don’t feel so all alone
I’ve found someone of my own
I got up from the table
I reached down and wiped the tears from her face
I put out my cigarette, turned and walked away”
Country Club by Travis Tritt
When I was growing up I could never escape a Travis Tritt song. Whether it was on the radio in my dads garage or playing on a tape or CD in our living room, his music was always on. This song was Tritt’s debut single and first ever top 10 hit, peaking at number 2. The single was later released on Tritt’s debut album Country Club, which came out in 1990. This song was originally written in 1989 for country superstar Alan Jackson, but was cut from his album, and given to Tritt.
I have a personal connection to this album and another one of Tritt’s albums called T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Both of these albums I know by heart front to back, like so many other people. Tritt had more success with T-R-O-U-B-L-E than he did Country Club, and even performed at Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994. This is still cited as one of the best half time shows ever.
The Song Country Club is based on a true story that one of his friends experienced. Tritt follows a story of a man who went to a country club, and was trying to woo a woman who was much wealthier than he was. Through the song we see that the woman is uninterested because he is a redneck, and not someone like them. She said you have to belong to this country club to be there, when the man states that he loves country music too. Through the song he proves that his lifestyle is better than theirs.
“And in the parkin’ lot I said, “It’s mighty hot
Maybe I could buy you a beer”
She said, “I’m glad you asked but I’ll have to pass
‘Cause only members are allowed in here”
And I said
I’m a member of a country club
Country music is what I love
I drive an old Ford pick-up truck
I do my drinkin’ from a Dixie cup
Hey, I’m a bona fide dancin’ fool
I shoot a mighty mean game of pool
At any honky-tonk roadside pub
I’m a member of a country club”
It’s Different With You by Hank Willams Jr.
Hank Williams Jr. is one of the most recognizable and popular country artists from the 1970s till now. He’s been on top of the country world with his songs All My Rowdy Friends or Dinosaur, or him drunkenly shooting off rifles at his shows in the 80’s. What’s so different about this song is that it is slower than the majority of his other songs.
Its Different With You takes a sweeter and slower pace than any of his other songs on his album One Night Stand. This was one of his largest albums, which came out in 1977 and peaked at number 33. This album has one of his hit songs, Honey Wont You Call Me. It’s Different With You, Hank sings about slowing down and finding love in his life now that he is older. His singing sound reminiscent of his dad, Hank Williams Sr, who was a prolific country singer in the 1950’s. What makes this song so different is that most of Hanks’ songs are about parties, women, and lots of booze, not finding love. For me, this is one of his songs I wish more people knew about.
“I’ve been all around big cities country towns
Lovers I’ve had quite a few
But the older I grow the more that I know
It’s different with you
Society page and suntan bays
The game I played by the rules
Oh I used to be the sort who thought love was a sport
But it’s different with you”
Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson
One of the most recognizable country songs ever, Chattahoochee, was on Alan Jackson’s third studio album A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ’bout Love) which came out in 1992. The song peaked at number 1 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs, and is renowned as Jackson’s most popular song. This was one of the first albums I bought on tape and I listened to it religiously during the summer that I got my car. This song was always on in the middle of the summer heat, because of course my car never had AC, it just helped add to the feeling.
The song follows Jackson on a coming of age story. Him being a teenager and growing up and finding love at the Chattahoochee River, which is between Alabama and Georgia. It is used as the perfect backdrop to talk about love and summer because so many people can connect to it. It calls back to a much simpler time before life really had to start and be taken seriously. The song feels like a warming and reminiscent country song that makes you feel and think about summer.
“Down by the river on a Friday night
Pyramid of cans in the pale moonlight
Talking about cars and dreaming about women
Never had a plan just a living for the minute
Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me
But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was
A lot about living and a little ’bout love’, aw haw”
Though these songs all deal with different topics, they all call back to summer time for me. These are songs I either grew up on or just found a love for as I got older. I recommend all of these artists and songs, and hopefully, they can make summer come even faster.
