LINE BY LINE, IT'S STILL THE GREATEST ONE EVER!

With CRS going on, I haven't had a chance to comment yet on the recent 2011 Hall of Fame class. Well done, CMA! Jean Shepard is a choice that has been overlooked for way too long, and with both Alabama and George Strait in, you had to figure that Reba would attain her rightful induction. But the one that I wanted to comment on was Bobby Braddock. As part of the "Songwriter" class that will be inducted every three years, Braddock has written some classics over the years..."D-I-V-O-R-C-E," and "I Wanna Talk About Me" among them. But there's one that probably outshines the rest among his compositions. It was a song that Johnny Russell recorded in the late 1970s, but couldn't get played, so a guy by the name of George Jones recorded it. The legend has it that Jones bet Billy Sherrill, his producer, $100 that nobody would (quote) "buy that morbid son of a bitch." Needless to say, the Possum was wrong.....You know the song I'm talking about....but imagine for a minute that it was March of 1980 and you heard the song for the first time----which was what I tried to do the other day. There is a reason why 95% of Country artists and fans recognize this as the greatest Country song of all time. This is going to be different for me blog-wise, but I'm gonna give you my thoughts on this song---line by line---as if I were a listener for the first time....

"He Said I'll Love You Till I Die"---(What a sweet thought.)
"She Told Him 'You'll Forget In Time'---(How cold of her.)
"As The Years Went Slowly By, She Still Preyed Upon His Mind"
(Some people you never forget. I wonder if he's singing about Tammy.)

"He Kept Her Picture By His Bed"---(This guy never gives up.)
"Went Half Crazy Now And Then"-----(We all have, so don't judge.)
"He Still Loved Her Through It All"----(Tammy?)
"Hoping She'd Come Back Again"-----(If you have faith, it can happen.)

"Kept Some Letters By His Bed, Dated 1962"---(He's a sentimental one.)
"He had underlined in red, every single 'I Love You"---(Well, there's always one.....but shouldn't you move on?)
"I Went To See Him Just Today"---(Good for you. You gotta get him out of the house)
"Oh, But I Didn't See No Tears"---(He's finally able to talk about her without breaking down)
"All Dressed Up To Go Away"----(A date, perhaps?)
"First Time I'd Seen Him Smile In Years" (Finally, after all this time!)

"He Stopped Loving Her Today"----(As well he should!)
"They Placed A Wreath Upon His Door"----(Placed a wreath...Uh.)
"And Soon They'll Carry Him Away"----(No...you don't mean that...)
"He Stopped Loving Her Today"----(In my best Lewis Grizzard. 'Oh, my Gawd!"

"You Know She Came To See Him One Last Time" (I bet she did, that...)
"We All Wondered If She Would"----(I bet the funeral home fell in.)
"And It Kept Running Through My Mind"----(What? Tell me!)
"This Time, He's Over Her For Good"-----(Silence...What can you say?)

"He Stopped Loving Her Today"----(Wow! What a line!)
"They Placed A Wreath Upon His Door"----(Rest that poor man's soul.)
"And Soon, They'll Carry Him Away"----(George Jones is the greatest)
"He Stopped Loving Her Today"------(Where's the Kleenex, and can you play that one again?)

Throw in Sherrill's amazing production, with the strings and the haunting background singers, and folks, it's no cliche. This is the greatest Country song of all time. Congratulations, Mr. Braddock. You and Curley Putnam wrote a classic! Now, next year a picker goes in....Who votes for Don Rich?