Apart from her solo career, singer Bonnie Owens is well known for the work … Read Full Bio ↴Apart from her solo career, singer Bonnie Owens is well known for the work she did with her former husbands, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Born Bonnie Campbell on October 1, 1932, in Oklahoma City to a pair of sharecroppers and one of eight children, she first met Buck in the mid-'40s when he had a local daily 15-minute radio show. Once Buck discovered that Bonnie could sing, he helped her get a job with him on another radio show in 1947. The following January, Buck and Bonnie married, but the union was short-lived. By 1951, after giving birth to two sons, the marriage was over. Since neither could afford a divorce, they stayed legally married, but separated, for several years. Bonnie and the two boys left for Bakersfield, where she worked as a cocktail waitress. It was during this period that Bonnie met Fuzzy Owen and guitarist Roy Nichols, who would be instrumental in the career of Haggard.

By the late '50s Bonnie was recording on the Mar-Vel label with Fuzzy and his band, the Sun Valley Playboys. She cut a well-received duet album with Fuzzy, her sometime boyfriend, on Tally Records, which would later be re-released on Capitol Records as "Just Between the Two of Us." In 1961, Bonnie saw Haggard singing for the first time at a Lefty Frizzell concert. At the time, Haggard was just a few months out of San Quentin prison for breaking and entering. By 1964 Fuzzy was managing Haggard and suggested that Bonnie and Haggard re-record "Just Between the Two of Us." Taking Fuzzy's advice paid off; the song hit the top of the country charts but not for long. It was replaced by "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers," Haggard's breakthrough single.

In 1965 Haggard signed with Capitol Records, married Bonnie, and signed the Strangers (including Bonnie) with a booking agency owned in part by Buck. Bonnie's marriage to Haggard lasted until 1978, but the two had already separated in 1975. Eventually Bonnie resumed touring with the Strangers in the late '70s and remarried for the final time to Fred McMillenher. She continued to tour regularly with Haggard and the Strangers. While Bonnie released half a dozen albums and numerous singles on Capitol Records in the mid- to late '60s, she remained satisfied singing backup as a member of the Strangers.

Jealous Heart
Bonnie Owens Lyrics

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Jealous heart oh jealous heart stop beating can't you see the damage you have done
You have driven him away forever jealous heart now I'm the lonely one
I was part of everything he planned for and I know he loved me from the start
Now he hates the sight of all I stand for since he heard your beating jealous heart

I was part of everything

Overall Meaning

he planned for and I know he loved me from the start. The opening lines of Bonnie Owens's Jealous Heart express the pain and anguish of a relationship that has been damaged by jealousy. The song speaks to the universal experience of loving and losing, and how often one's own insecurities can contribute to a relationship's downfall. Here, the "jealous heart" is personified as an entity that has driven the singer's lover away, leaving her alone and broken. She laments the fact that she was once at the center of his life, but now she is nothing to him. Jealousy, the song suggests, is a monster that can destroy even the deepest love.

As the song continues, the singer returns to the theme of how she was once part of everything her lover planned for. The lyrics suggest a deep connection between the two that has been irrevocably severed. The final lines of the song express the pain she feels at being rejected: "Now he hates the sight of all I stand for since he heard your beating jealous heart." The heart that once beat with love now beats only with jealousy, and the singer is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. The powerful emotions expressed in the song, combined with Owens's soulful delivery, makes Jealous Heart a classic of country music.

Line by Line Meaning

I was part of everything
I used to be an integral part of his life

he planned for and I know he loved me from the start
He made plans with me and I could feel his love from the beginning

Jealous heart oh jealous heart stop beating can't you see the damage you have done
My envious heart, stop with the incessant beating, can't you see the trouble you have caused?

You have driven him away forever jealous heart now I'm the lonely one
You were the cause of driving him away permanently, envious heart. Now, I am left all alone

Now he hates the sight of all I stand for since he heard your beating jealous heart
Now, he can't stand anything associated with me due to your constant beating, green-eyed heart

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jenny Lou Carson

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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