The Cumberland Post

The Cumberland Post
My Backyard, Six Miles from the Cumberland River

Saturday, February 11, 2012

A Beer and a Weenie

Buck had a post recently that featured John Prine and Bonnie Raitt and that reminded me of today's song. I found it on the Tube of You and put it in my hopper as a post to write later.

Guess what. It's now later.

This time Prine is paired with Iris Demint. In  my opinion, it's a perfect pairing for a great country song--"We're Not the Jet Set."

This song was written by Bobby Braddock, a great songwriter (13 #1 hits) who's now a producer in Nashville. One of those 13 songs is "He Stopped Loving Her Today," considered by many to be the all time greatest country song. (He's also the guy who discovered Blake Shelton back a few years ago.)

That's his picture over there to your left. Looks like he just said, "Hey you readin' this crappy blog. I'm talkin' to you. You got a problem?"

But back to "We're Not the Jet Set," which was not one of Braddock's chart toppers. It was first recorded by George Jones and Tammy Wynette back in 1973 and reached the #15 spot on the US Country charts.

Based on the song's invention, originality, and wit, I think it should have been a #1. The lines aren't forced like many songs, and the rhymes here are pleasantly unexpected--kinda like the sudden burst of liquid sweetness when you popped a piece of that old Freshen Up Gum in your mouth and chewed down on it. One good example is: "Our steak and martini is a beer and a weenie." Martini-weenie. Not every songwriter could have banged those two together like that.

Joyce and I have been to Paris...Tennessee. And Rome...Georgia.

We've been to Manchester...Tennessee.

And also to Manchester, England. In 1987. (Damn, was that 25 years ago?)

So, we've been around the block. But we're not the jet set. Definitely. We like other places and people in other places. But we like home better. And the people and friends here that we feel comfortable with.

I may be wrong about this, but I think "We're Not the Jet Set" cuts both ways. The speakers (singers) are making a little fun of themselves as they make their comparisons, but they imply a strong preference for the unsophisticated, country, and on a larger scale American values. They're not ignorant. They obviously know about these other places, things, and people, but they like their own things better. Enjoy.


10 comments:

  1. Most excellent! I particularly liked "We're the Ol' Chevro-lett set;" my mother used to get all pissed at me when I'd say Chevro-lett, even though she KNEW I did it to just push her buttons.

    Time flies, don't it? I was thinkin' about England the other day (I think about England a LOT; you may have noticed) and it literally shocked me to think I was assigned there in 1980... over 30 years ago. It sure doesn't SEEM that long ago.

    Thanks for the shout-out!

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  2. Dan, this is really one of my favorite quirky country songs.

    Even though I never was much of a George Jones fan, it always makes me giggle when I hear this one done by he and Tammy on the oldies country station.

    He and Tammy really went yard in the studio with this one! I'm actually surprised that it only went to #15...figured it was a #1.

    Excellent choice of songs...performers, not so much. Sorry...not one of Bonnie's best efforts.

    Heh!

    BTW, I've been to Athens, Texas. And, Paris, TX, but not Paris, TN. I've been to Jerusalem, Arkansas, too!

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  3. I meant Iris...had Bonnie on the brain.

    Sigh.

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  4. Sorry Dan, I'm with Andy on this one. Great song.

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  5. YeeeeHAW!
    Dan, you had to dig deep for this one! Now that's PURE country music. We both got a laugh out of it as we can relate to the lyrics pretty well.

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  6. Buck, our 1987 England trip seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago. We're sorry now we didn't go ahead and take a trip to Paris (the one in France) while we were over there.

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  7. Andy, George and Tammy's version is most excellent. BTW, I've also been to Paris, TX. But not Jerusalem, Arkansas. I haven't been there, but did you know there's a Palestine, Arkansas? Does that mean the folks who live there are the real Palestinians? Their library organization would be the PLO. :-)

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  8. Deb, I like George and Tammy's version too, but Buck's use of Prine's and Raitt's song on his blog is what reminded me of this version. Hope your healing process is going well.

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  9. Ed, Glad you liked it. Hope you guys are on the mend from that bad cold.

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  10. Yeah, I knew that, Dan.

    Also, a Palestine, Texas. I used to work there about once a month when I was in the restaurant maintenance biz.

    PLO.

    Nyuk...

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