While the Buckaroos originally featured a fiddle and retained pedal steel guitar into the 1970s, their sound on records and onstage was always more stripped-down and elemental. The band's signature style was based on simple story lines, infectious choruses, a twangy electric guitar, an insistent rhythm supplied by a prominent drum track, and high, two-part vocal harmonies featuring Owens and his guitarist Don Rich.
From 1969 to 1986, Owens co-hosted the popular CBS television variety show Hee Haw with Roy Clark (syndicated beginning in 1971). According to his son Buddy Alan (Owens), the accidental 1974 death of Rich, his best friend, devastated him for years and impacted his creative efforts until he performed with Dwight Yoakam in 1988.
Owens is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Owens was born on a farm in Sherman, Texas, United States, to Alvis Edgar Owens Sr. and Maicie Azel (née Ellington) Owens.
In the biography About Buck., Rich Kienzle writes: "'Buck' was a donkey on the Owens farm." "When Alvis Jr. was three or four years old, he walked into the house and announced that his name also was "Buck." That was fine with the family, and the boy's name became "Buck" from then on."He attended public school for grades 1–3 in Garland, Texas.
Owens' family moved to Mesa, Arizona, in 1937 during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. While attending school in Arizona, Owens found that while he disliked formal schoolwork, he could often satisfy class requirements by singing or performing in school plays. A self-taught musician and singer, Owens became proficient on guitar, mandolin, horns, and drums. When he obtained his first electric steel guitar, he taught himself to play it after his father adapted an old radio into an amplifier. Owens quit school in the ninth grade in order to help work on his father's farm and pursue a music career.
Owens had three sons: Buddy Alan (who charted several hits as a Capitol recording artist in the early 1970s and appeared with his father numerous times on Hee Haw), Johnny, and Michael Owens.
Owens successfully recovered from oral cancer in the early 1990s, but had additional health problems near the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s, including pneumonia and a minor stroke in 2004. These health problems had forced him to curtail his regular weekly performances with the Buckaroos at his Crystal Palace. Owens died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack at his ranch just north of Bakersfield on March 25, 2006, only hours after performing at his club. He was 76 years old.
Owens was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. He was ranked No. 12 in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003. In addition, CMT also ranked the Buckaroos No. 2 in the network's 20 Greatest Bands in 2005. He was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The stretch of US Highway 82 in Sherman, Texas, is named the Buck Owens Freeway in his honor.
Made In Japan
Buck Owens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And when it's night over here over there it's a breakin' day
I remember all the good times I had a walkin' in the sand
With the beautiful girl that I met made in Japan
The beauty of her face was beyond my wildest dreams
Like cherry blossoms blooming in the mountain in the early spring
As we walked by the river and she softly took hold of my hand
In the dark of night we would lay on Tokyo Bay
And the singin' of the birds woke us up at the break of day
Her smiling eyes always seemed to try to understand
All the love in my heart for the girl made in Japan
My transistor radio comes from far away
And when it's night over here over there it's a breakin' day
She cried when she said she'd been promised to another man
That's when I left my heart with the girl made in Japan
Yes, my heart will always be with the girl made in Japan
In Buck Owens's song Made in Japan, the singer reminisces about a past love and the good times they had. He describes her as a beautiful girl, with a face that was beyond his wildest dreams. They walked by the river and held hands, and he fell deeply in love with her. The intimacy between them is amplified by the fact that they would lay in the dark of night on Tokyo Bay, listening to the singing of the birds and watching the break of day. However, the girl eventually reveals that she has been promised to another man, and the singer is forced to leave his heart with her.
The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a love affair that was passionate and intense, but ultimately doomed. The girl's beauty is compared to cherry blossoms, which is a recurring symbol for the impermanence of life in Japanese culture. The fact that the love affair takes place in Japan also adds to the theme of exoticism and transience.
Overall, Made in Japan is a bittersweet meditation on a love that was fleeting but unforgettable. The singer has resigned himself to the fact that his heart will always be with the girl made in Japan, even though they are no longer together.
Line by Line Meaning
My transistor radio comes from far away
The radio I own originated in a distant land
And when it's night over here over there it's a breakin' day
When it's evening here, it's morning on the other side of the world
I remember all the good times I had a walkin' in the sand
I recollect the pleasant experiences I had walking on the beach
With the beautiful girl that I met made in Japan
I met a girl of great beauty who was from Japan
The beauty of her face was beyond my wildest dreams
The loveliness of her face exceeded my grandest thoughts
Like cherry blossoms blooming in the mountain in the early spring
She was comparable to the blooming of cherry trees on mountains in the beginning of spring
As we walked by the river and she softly took hold of my hand
While strolling by the river, she gently grasped my hand
That's when I fell deep in love with the girl made in Japan
That's when I became passionately enamored with the Japanese girl
In the dark of night we would lay on Tokyo Bay
During the night, we would recline on Tokyo Bay
And the singin' of the birds woke us up at the break of day
The singing of the birds aroused us at daybreak
Her smiling eyes always seemed to try to understand
Her cheerful eyes appeared to strive to comprehend
All the love in my heart for the girl made in Japan
She appeared to understand the strong passion I had for her, the girl from Japan
She cried when she said she'd been promised to another man
Tears streamed down her face as she informed me she was betrothed to someone else
That's when I left my heart with the girl made in Japan
That's when I gave my heart entirely to the Japanese girl
Yes, my heart will always be with the girl made in Japan
I will always hold deep feelings for that girl from Japan
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bob Morris, Faye Morris
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind