In the fifties after many failed attempts to sell his songs, he finally was signed up with Capitol Records and recorded a few rock and roll songs without much chart success. Just before he was drafted into the Army, he wrote a song called 'The All American Boy' and did a demo for his friend, Bill Parsons, to learn and record it. Instead of using the version Bill Parsons did later, the record company, Fraternity Records, decided to use the original demo done by Bobby Bare. The record reached number 2 on the Billboard Top 100, but it was wrongly credited to Bill Parsons.
His real big break came when RCA boss and guitarist Chet Atkins signed him to the RCA label. The first song he released on this label, 'Shame On Me', sold nearly a million copies and pushed Bobby Bare to fame overnight. His second RCA release, 'Detroit City' won him a Grammy for the best song of the year. Then a surge of hits followed, including '500 Miles Away From Home', 'Four Strong Winds' and others. He has also recorded two very successful albums with Skeeter Davis and has also dueted with Lacy J. Dalton and Rosanne Cash and additionally had a major hit as part of a trio with Norma Jean (singer) and Liz Anderson in 1967 titled 'The Game of Triangles'.
He moved to Mercury label in 1970 and had two big hits from early Kris Kristofferson compositions, 'Come Sundown' and 'Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends' before returning to RCA label where he produced his own records. Later Bare moved to CBS label and in 1979, he helped establish Rosanne Cash's career by singing with her on "No Memories Hangin' Round". Bare's singles for Columbia Records included 'The Jogger', 'Tequila Sheila', 'Gotta Get Rid Of This Band', 'When Hippies Get Older' and 'Numbers'. He later recorded for EMI with little success.
Bobby Bare is a versatile singer, and in the 70s started to release novelty songs recorded live with selected audiences. One of such songs, 'Marie Laveau' about a witch, reached the number one position on the country chart. This song was written by his friend, a very talented song writer, poet, author and cartoonist Shel Silverstein. He also penned many other songs for Bobby Bare including a Grammy nominated hit called 'Daddy What If' which he recorded with his five year old son, Bobby Bare Jr, who later became a star on his own. Bobby Bare later recorded a very successful album with his family and penned mainly by Shel called 'Singing in The Kitchen'. It was nominated for best group category in Grammy Awards but was declined by Bobby himself.
He later took chances recording strange, controversial material as 'Dropkick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)' (a 1976 Grammy nominee) and the expletive-driven 'Redneck Hippie Romance' with much success.
Bobby Bare is also the first to come up with a concept album called 'Bird Named Yesterday' which was very successful. His most successful concept album is 'Lullaby Legends and Lies'.
Bobby Bare was also given an opportunity to star in the movies. He did a Western with Troy Donahue called A Distant Trumpet, and a few episodes of a TV series called No Time for Sergeants. He turned his back on Hollywood to pursue his career in Country Music.
In 1998 he formed the band Old Dogs together with his friends Jerry Reed, Mel Tillis and Waylon Jennings.
In addition to the above, Bobby Bare is credited for introducing Waylon Jennings to RCA. He is also one of the first to record from many well known song writers such as Jack Clement, Harlan Howard, Billy Joe Shaver, Mickey Newberry, Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson, and many others. He later had a TV series called 'Bobby Bare & Friends, A Song Writer Showcase'. Recently, he has recorded a new album after over 20 years called 'The Moon Was Blue' produced by his son. His son, Bobby Bare, Jr., is also a musician.
Diet Song
Bobby Bare Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lunch just some lettuce two celery stalks no booze no potatoes no ham
Dinner one chicken wing broiled not fried no gravy no biscuits no pie
And this dietin' dietin' dietin' dietin' sure is a rough way to die
So pass me a carrot stick peel me a prune a glass of skim milk and that's all
Turn off the TV for the Big Mac commercial it's drivin' me right up the wall
And I'm thinkin' of french fries sausage and waffles spaghetti and cookies and cake
And each night I'm dreamin' of chocolate ice cream
[ guitar ]
Supper two pieces of cauliflower raw some beefsteak the size of a nail
One sliced tomato a small dab of slaw I swear I ate better in jail
Stop eatin' that pizza right under my nose girl that's the least you can do
Put down that candy bar while I'm singin' I'm starvin' my pants off for you
You're fixin' the kids all those creamed mashed potatoes
But it's bouillon and water for me
Hey you got a lock on the refrigerator Lord knows where you're hidin' the key
While I'm starvin' for food late at night I'm starvin' for lovin' from you
But you say that when I can see my own dick you'll be glad to look at it too
So pass me a carrot stick peel me a prune a glass of skim milk and that's all
You and Jane Fonda and old Richard Simmons are drivin' me right off the wall
Now when I am dead with the insurance paid you'll look down at me and you'll grin
You'll say well the boy tried and he suffered and died
But don't he look good when he's thin oh my
And this dietin' dietin' dietin' dietin' sure is a rough way to die
The song titled "Diet Song" by Bobby Bare highlights the struggles of dieting and losing weight. Throughout the song, Bobby narrates his strict meals of one slice of dry toast for breakfast, lettuce and celery for lunch, and a small chicken wing for dinner. His internal struggle with staying committed to his diet and avoiding temptations such as pizza and candy bars is apparent in his lyrics.
He notes how his cravings for unhealthy foods consume his thoughts to the point where he even dreams of chocolate ice cream. He also portrays the frustration of living a different life from his family who gets to enjoy creamed mashed potatoes while he is left with bouillon and water. Although he strives for weight loss, he cannot help but contemplate the difficulty of dieting and how it feels like "a rough way to die."
Overall, Bobby Bare's "Diet Song" accurately captures the internal and external struggles of losing weight and sticking to a strict diet.
Line by Line Meaning
Breakfast black coffee one slice of dry toast no butter no jelly no jam
For breakfast, I can only have black coffee and a piece of dry toast with no butter, jelly or jam.
Lunch just some lettuce two celery stalks no booze no potatoes no ham
For lunch, I can only have lettuce and celery, no alcohol, potatoes or ham.
Dinner one chicken wing broiled not fried no gravy no biscuits no pie
For dinner, I can only have one broiled chicken wing with no gravy, biscuits, or pie.
And this dietin' dietin' dietin' dietin' sure is a rough way to die
This diet is killing me, it's very difficult.
So pass me a carrot stick peel me a prune a glass of skim milk and that's all
I'm limited to eating only carrot sticks, prunes and a glass of skim milk.
Turn off the TV for the Big Mac commercial it's drivin' me right up the wall
I'm craving a Big Mac but I can't have it, so turn off the TV when the commercial comes on.
And I'm thinkin' of french fries sausage and waffles spaghetti and cookies and cake
I can't stop thinking about all the foods I'm not allowed to eat.
And each night I'm dreamin' of chocolate ice cream
Every night, I dream about eating chocolate ice cream that I can't have.
And I'm starvin' to death when I wake
I wake up extremely hungry every morning.
[ guitar ]
Supper two pieces of cauliflower raw some beefsteak the size of a nail
For supper, I can only have two pieces of raw cauliflower and a small beefsteak.
One sliced tomato a small dab of slaw I swear I ate better in jail
I'm only allowed one sliced tomato and a small amount of coleslaw. I ate better in jail.
Stop eatin' that pizza right under my nose girl that's the least you can do
Don't eat pizza in front of me, girl. That's not fair.
Put down that candy bar while I'm singin' I'm starvin' my pants off for you
Stop eating that candy bar while I'm singing. I'm starving and it's not fair.
You're fixin' the kids all those creamed mashed potatoes
You're making the kids creamed mashed potatoes.
But it's bouillon and water for me
But all I can have is bouillon and water.
Hey you got a lock on the refrigerator Lord knows where you're hidin' the key
You locked up the fridge and I have no idea where the key is.
While I'm starvin' for food late at night I'm starvin' for lovin' from you
While I'm hungry at night, I'm also craving love and affection from you.
But you say that when I can see my own dick you'll be glad to look at it too
You say you'll be more attracted to me when I've lost enough weight that I can see my own penis.
You and Jane Fonda and old Richard Simmons are drivin' me right off the wall
You, Jane Fonda, and old Richard Simmons are driving me crazy with all this diet talk.
Now when I am dead with the insurance paid you'll look down at me and you'll grin
If I die, and you collect the insurance money, you'll be happy.
You'll say well the boy tried and he suffered and died
You'll say, 'Well, he tried, and he suffered, and now he's dead.
But don't he look good when he's thin oh my
But at least he looks good now that he's lost weight.'
And this dietin' dietin' dietin' dietin' sure is a rough way to die
This diet is really tough to stick to and is making me suffer.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: SHEL SILVERSTEIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind