During last week's article post, we took a deep dive into an eclectic mix of music by deep diving Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg, If Something Should Happen by Darryl Worley and The Bug by Dire Straits.
John Deere Green - Joe Diffee
I’ll never forget the first time I heard this song. I was in the family truckster and we were listening to Froggy 98.1 and this song came on. As a seven year old, I hadn’t experienced anything close to what’s described in this song. John Deere was a tractor and I didn’t realize it was always green. Plus it just didn’t make much sense why you would paint something in farm colors.
The older I got, the more I appreciated this 90s Country classic.
"They were farm kids way down in Dixie
They met in high school in the sixties
Everyone knew it was love from the start
One July in the midnight hour
He climbed upon the water tower
Stood on the rail and painted a ten foot heart"
This one is pretty obvious, but some parts are actually a little unclear. Were they dating and he was declaring his undying love, or was this unrequited love? Regardless, they met in the 60s in high school in the South. I would like to think that this takes place in Alabama. To everyone on the outside looking in, this was true love. So, like anyone would do, the young man took it upon himself to make a declaration of his love for his high school sweetheart by climbing up the town’s water tower and painted a 10-foot heart.
"In John Deere green, on a hot summer night
He wrote "Billy Bob loves Charlene" in letters three foot high
And the whole town said that he should've used red
But it looked good to Charlene
In John Deere green"
This is where things always got confusing to me. For a long time, I thought he painted the heart in green, which made no sense to me. You should always paint the heart in red. But I believe he carry two buckets of paint up the water tower. One in red for the heart that was enormous. The second was in John Deere green. He used the second bucket of paint to paint the words “Billy Bob loves Charlene” in large letters under the heart. If you’ve ever seen a water tower, you’ll know that most of them are blue in color. The red and green would pop to passers by. All green, might risk blending too closely and would fade in time. While the whole town said he should have used red, his use of green was tactical. They were farm kids, so John Deere had meaning to Charlene. Billy Bob chose to write their names in Green for that reason.
"They settled down on eighty acres
Raising sweet corn, kids and tomatoes
They went together like a hand and a glove
On a clear day, from their front yard
If you look and know what to look for
Off to the east you can still read his words of love"
Things get clearer here. Billy Bob married Charlene after his act of vandalism. They had an 80-acre farm and they were active farmers with children. Forrest Gump would have said Peas and Carrots, but hand and a glove is also pretty crystal clear. The end of the verse is what tells me that his paint had staying power. It stayed up on the water tower because no one in the town wanted to remove it. It was like Banksy came to town, it was a part of the town now and the townsfolk weren’t about to remove this landmark.
"In John Deere green, on a hot summer night
He wrote "Billy Bob loves Charlene" in letters three foot high
And the whole town said the boy should've used red
But it looked good to Charlene
In John Deere green"
Nothing new to reveal here, just the chorus repeating.
"Now more than once the town has discovered
Painting over it ain't no use
There ain't no paint in the world that'll cover it
The heart keeps showing through"
This actually tells us in the bridge that the town has thought about covering it up. If we refer back to the last verse, I may stand corrected. The town might have actually painted over it. That’s why you have to know what to look for, because it was painted over and isn’t as visible anymore. However, everyone knows it’s still there and if they forget they just have to see Billy Bob and Charlene in town to have a quick reminder that their love lives on.
"In John Deere green, on a hot summer night
He wrote "Billy Bob loves Charlene" in letters three foot high
And the whole town said the fool should've used red
But it looked good to Charlene
In John Deere green"
"Ah, paint it green boy"
"In John Deere green, on a hot summer night
He wrote "Billy Bob loves Charlene" in letters three foot high
And the whole town said the boy should've used red
But it looked good to Charlene
In John Deere green
John Deere green"
Released in November 1993, John Deere Green reached No. 69 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, establishing crossover appeal for Diffee. The classic also peaked out at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs list. The song has been covered multiple times since Diffee’s death in March 2020.
Check It Out - John Mellencamp
I got a John Mellencamp album from Columbia House when they used to do the 10 CDs for 99 cents membership deal that everyone bailed on shortly after getting their cheap music.
This was tucked on an album of hits with Jack and Diane, Pink Houses, Small Town and R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
"A million young poets screaming out their words
To a world full of people just living to be heard
Future generations, riding on the highways that we built
I hope they have a better understanding"
A lot of people write a lot of content. Musicians are all just trying to have their voices heard. They often times shout into the void because regular, everyday people also just want to be heard. The back half of the verse is about looking forward with the hope that the next generation can learn from the mistakes of the past and go forward with the hope of a better tomorrow.
"Check it out
Going to work on Monday
Check it out
Got yourself a family
Check it out
All utility bills have been paid
Can't tell your best buddy that you love him
So check it out
Where does our time go?
Check it out
Got a brand new house in escrow
Check it out
Sleeping with your back to your loved one
This is all that we've learned about happiness"
The chorus is all about the grind. Humanity wraps up the weekend and goes to work Monday morning. We grow up, we get married, we have kids, and we go through life quickly. We forget to do the normal things that got us there, and as we get older we are more fragile and our relationships become more strained due to the complexities of life.
"Check it out
Forgot to say hello to my neighbors
Check it out
Sometimes I question my own behavior
Check it out
Talking about the girls that we've seen on the sly
Just to tell our souls we're still the young lions
So check it out
Getting too drunk on Saturdays
Check it out
Playing football with the kids on Sundays
Check it out
Soaring with the eagles all week long
And this is all that we've learned about living
This is all that we've learned about living"
The second verse continues the themes of the chorus. You forget regular, everyday kindness and you begin to question the person you’ve become. When you’re in conversation, you wax nostalgic just to remember the good old days and make yourself feel alive again. The back part of the verse talks about the good and the bad of this ordinary life we’ve created. Will we be proud of the things we’ve done, the children we’ve raised and who we are as people?
"Check it out
Check it out
Check it out
Check it out"
"A million young poets screaming out their words
Maybe someday those words will be heard
By future generations riding on the highways that we built
Maybe they'll have a better understanding
Check it out
Hope they'll have a better understanding
Check it out
Maybe they'll have a better understanding
Check it out
Maybe they'll have a better understanding
Check it out
Hope they have a better understanding"
"Check it out
Check it out
Check it out
Check it out
Check it out
Check it out"
Released as the third single from his album “The Lonesome Jubilee” in 1988, Check It Out reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Edge of Desire - John Mayer
In my mid to late 30s, I drank way too much bourbon. I would drink it by myself and turn on the speakers and just listen to music in the evening with a glass of bourbon on the rocks.
One evening, I was on YouTube and this song came on. I was in the kitchen putting dishes away and had to go listen to it again to make sure I heard what I thought I heard and to ensure myself that it was John Mayer.
"Young and full of running
Tell me where has that taken me
Just a great figure eight
Or a tiny infinity?"
The first verse is classic Mayer depth in very few words. Mayer’s asking if all of the relationships he’s had and has moved on from in his youth have actually gotten him anywhere at all. Or is he still the same broken hearted, single guy he was before he met all of them. A figure 8 and the infinity symbol are completely identical. They go on endlessly in loop, after loop after loop until you get off the tracks. This verse really reminds me a lot of One Step Up by Bruce Springsteen, mainly because of this first verse.
"Love is really nothing
But a dream that keeps waking me
For all of my trying, we still end up dying
How can it be?"
In the quick second verse, Mayer makes a stark statement. Love hasn’t treated him well at all. He’s not very good at it and when he’s in a relationship, they inevitably end so why keep trying.
"Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me
'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see
I want you so bad, I'll go back on the things I believe
There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me"
The chorus is clearly Mayer saying he’s making a late night phone call to a lover. He connected with them and just needs a companion for the evening to keep him from destroying his life. He’s all in on this woman though, and is willing to try again in the relationship if she is. He’s worried about the most human of things happening if they don’t reacquaint: He will become a memory of her past. That’s the most horrifying thing that can happen in most people’s lives.
"So young and full of running
All the way to the edge of desire
Steady my breathing, silently screaming
'I have to have you now' "
The third verse refers to the first with a quick spin. He’s at the edge now and wants more of this woman. He’s having a panic attack and tries to calm himself mid-conversation and just calmly states that he needs her.
"Wired and I'm tired
Think I'll sleep in my clothes on the floor
Or maybe this mattress will spin on its axis
And find me on yours"
The panic attack and maybe some extra curricular have caused him to be wide awake now. However, he’s also admitting fatigue due to the situation. The last piece of the verse is one of the most attractive things I believe I’ve ever heard in music. It’s poetry in motion. He’s telling her that he hopes she’ll invite him over to close the deal.
"Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me
'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see
I want you so bad, I'll go back on the things I believe
There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me"
"Don't say a word, just come over and lie here with me
'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see
I want you so bad, I'll go back on the things I believe
There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me"
He now is in full onslaught mode and is in dire need of being with this woman to have any chance of moving on in life. He’s thrown all of his cards on the table and is scared he will be forgotten by the person he cares about the most and a last ditch attempt to save what they’ve lost.
Never released as a single, Edge of Desire was the ninth track on John Mayer’s multi-platinum selling album Battle Studies. The album reached number 1 on the US Billboard 200 and Top Rock Albums charts.