I’m undecided if Achy Breaky Heart was a good or a bad thing for Billy Ray. It became so reviled so quickly (and it is indeed a horrible song) it might have kept him underrated for the rest of his life. On the other hand, it put him on the map.
He’s got like ten songs I really like but he never got to #1 a second time.
Oh, this brings me back to 7th grade. I still can’t help myself when someone mentions that someone else’s name is William. I’ll reply with, “I’m sure it’s Bill or Billy or Mac or Buddy.” I get weird looks.
Other than the chorus, the song is all lifted from the poem “Fun” by Wyn Cooper. Of course it’s a poem. Today I learned.
My favorite ballad artist ever. Grateful he recorded this one live before his death. This song pretty much sums up my first relationship. I love this chorus so much.
Still I hope that you can find another Who can take what I could not He’ll have to be a super guy Or maybe a super god ‘Cause I never was much of a martyr before And I ain’t ’bout to start nothin’ new And baby, I can’t hang upon no lover’s cross for you
CCR was my band growing up. I practically wore out a cassette tape of their first recorded concert. And I also have the box set, which includes all of their work when they were called both The Golliwogs as well as Tom Fogerty and the Blue Velvets. While it helped destroy his relationship with Tom, John taking over creative control sure helped the music.
John’s opening guitar rift here is still my absolute favorite, even more so than the one to Johnny B. Goode.
Adam Duritz now hates this song. Apparently he\s rejected the song’s aspirations for being famous. And apparently I’ve always interpreted the song differently than he intended.
This came out when I was 13, pretty much the age when everyone starts hating themselves and believing everyone else hates them as well. So I fantasized about being popular, being likeable. I knew literally being famous wouldn’t solve anything, but I just craved being in the spotlight for a hot minute. Mr. Jones wound up being my favorite song for at least twenty-five years.
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