Born in Texas, Jones first heard country music when he was seven, and was given a guitar at the age of nine. He married his first wife, Dorothy Bonvillion, in 1950, and was divorced in 1951. He served in the United States Marine Corps and was discharged in 1953. He married Shirley Ann Corley in 1954. In 1959, Jones recorded "White Lightning", written by J. P. Richardson, which launched his career as a singer. His second marriage ended in divorce in 1968; he married fellow country music singer Tammy Wynette a year later. Years of alcoholism compromised his health and led to his missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones". After his divorce from Wynette in 1975, Jones married his fourth wife, Nancy Sepulvado, in 1983 and became sober for good in 1999. Jones died in 2013, aged 81, from hypoxic respiratory failure.
George Jones has been called "The Rolls Royce Of Country Music" and had more than 160 chart singles to his name from 1955 until his death in 2013. Johnny Cash once said, "When people ask me who my favorite country singer is, I say, 'You mean besides George Jones?'"
Jones tirelessly defended the integrity of country music, telling Billboard in 2006, "It's never been for love of money. I thank God for it because it makes me a living. But I sing because I love it, not because of the dollar signs." Jones also went out of his way to promote younger country singers that he felt were as passionate about the music as he was. "Everybody knows he's a great singer," Alan Jackson stated in 1995, "but what I like most about George is that when you meet him, he is like some old guy that works down at the gas station...even though he's a legend!"
Shortly after Jones' death, Andrew Mueller wrote about his influence in Uncut, "He was one of the finest interpretive singers who ever lifted a microphone...There cannot be a single country songwriter of the last 50-odd years who has not wondered what it might be like to hear their words sung by that voice." In an article for The Texas Monthly in 1994, Nick Tosches eloquently described the singer's vocal style: "While he and his idol, Hank Williams, have both affected generations with a plaintive veracity of voice that has set them apart, Jones has an additional gift—a voice of exceptional range, natural elegance, and lucent tone. Gliding toward high tenor, plunging toward deep bass, the magisterial portamento of his onward-coursing baritone emits white-hot sparks and torrents of blue, investing his poison love songs with a tragic gravity and inflaming his celebrations of the honky-tonk ethos with the hellfire of abandon." In the New Republic essay "Why George Jones ranks with Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday," David Hajdu writes:
"Jones had a handsome and strange voice. His singing was always partly about the appeal of the tones he produced, regardless of the meaning of the words. In this sense, Jones had something in common with singers of formal music and opera, though his means of vocal production were radically different from theirs. He sang from the back of his throat, rather than from deep in his diaphragm. He tightened his larynx to squeeze sound out. He clenched his jaw, instead of wriggling it free. He forced wind through his teeth, and the notes sounded weirdly beautiful."
David Cantwell recalled in 2013, "His approach to singing, he told me once, was to call up those memories and feelings of his own that most closely corresponded to those being felt by the character in whatever song he was performing. He was a kind of singing method actor, creating an illusion of the real." In the liner notes to Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country Rich Kienzle states, "Jones sings of people and stories that are achingly human. He can turn a ballad into a catharsis by wringing every possible emotion from it, making it a primal, strangled cry of anguish". In 1994, country music historian Colin Escott pronounced, "Contemporary country music is virtually founded on reverence for George Jones. Walk through a room of country singers and conduct a quick poll, George nearly always tops it." In the wake of Jones's death, Merle Haggard pronounced in Rolling Stone, "His voice was like a Stradivarius violin: one of the greatest instruments ever made." Emmylou Harris wrote, "when you hear George Jones sing, you are hearing a man who takes a song and makes it a work of art - always," a quote that appeared on the sleeve of Jones' 1976 album The Battle. In the documentary Same Ole Me, several country music stars offer similar thoughts. Randy Travis: "It sounds like he's lived every minute of every word that he sings and there's very few people who can do that"; Tom T. Hall: "It was always Jones who got the message across just right"; and Roy Acuff: "I'd give anything if I could sing like George Jones". In the same film, producer Billy Sherrill states, "All I did was change the instrumentation around him. I don't think he's changed at all."
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed George Jones among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Ain't It Funny What a Fool Will Do
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(George Jones - Johnny Mathis)
« © '63 Glad Music »
(Funny what a fool will do)
Here am I without your love again
Oh how many times have you walked out and walked back in
And I cry just like a baby after you
Here am I with empty arms again
Counting all the times that you walked out and walked back in
Still my heart goes right on wanting you
Oh oh it's funny what a fool will do
Oh oh it's funny what a fool will do
The song Ain't It Funny What a Fool Will Do is a heartbreakingly beautiful ballad from George Jones's 1963 album Songs from the Heart. The lyrics narrate the aftermath of a turbulent relationship that involves multiple breakups and reconciliations. The singer, who seems to be a perpetual victim of his beloved's whims, laments the despair and helplessness he feels as he tries to cope with the volatile nature of their bond. The phrase "funny what a fool will do" implies that he is aware of his own foolishness and his tendency to cling onto a love that is bound to cause him pain.
Throughout the song, Jones's emotive vocal performance adds to the poignant quality of the lyrics. He manages to convey the subtle nuances of the lyrics and capture the vulnerability of the character he portrays. The repetition of "walked out and walked back in" emphasizes the cyclical nature of their relationship and serves as a reminder of the emotional toll it takes on the singer. The line "still my heart goes right on wanting you" encapsulates the struggle of moving on from a love that one knows is toxic.
In conclusion, Ain't It Funny What a Fool Will Do is a timeless masterpiece that captures the essence of heartache and the folly of love. The lyrics remind us of the depths of despair one can experience when trapped in a tumultuous relationship, and Jones's performance makes it all the more poignant.
Line by Line Meaning
(Funny what a fool will do)
It's interesting and ironic how foolish people can act.
Here am I without your love again
I find myself once again without your love.
Oh how many times have you walked out and walked back in
You have left and returned so many times that I have lost count.
And I cry just like a baby after you
I become so emotional and vulnerable after you leave.
Oh oh it's funny what a fool will do
It's interesting and ironic how foolish people can act.
Here am I with empty arms again
Once again, I am left with empty arms and a broken heart.
Counting all the times that you walked out and walked back in
I keep track of every time you have left and returned.
Still my heart goes right on wanting you
Despite everything, my heart still desires you.
Oh oh it's funny what a fool will do
It's interesting and ironic how foolish people can act.
Oh oh it's funny what a fool will do
It's interesting and ironic how foolish people can act.
Lyrics © GLAD MUSIC CO.
Written by: G JONES, J MATHIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kurt Mair
You can hear the raw emotion in his voice . This is why I love ol George
Plymouthfury1000
WOW! Breathtaking. No one could sing like THE POSSUM.
Plymouthfury1000
That makes sense. He gone now and he's still surprising his fans. FANTASTIC! version of this song.
Karen Lindsay
Beautiful song🎤😍🎸👍🏻
Mary Thompson
This Beautiful Song By George That Voice Never Be Replace Thanks Tom
Lena Andersson
Lovely song💗🎤🎸by George🌹❤🍃
iamjumbo
damn, a possum song i hadn't heard before. thanks
Ciaran Watters
This happens me so often I don't feel like a real George Jones fan even after 40 years of listening. I appreciate YouTube for truly exposing my failings on this one...but knowing he worked tirelessly producing great country numbers, I take some comfort in the fact that I love George, more & more so and his songs absolutely Blow Me Away! I Love the guy for what he has done and I think I always will...xxx
Plymouthfury1000
Does anyone know who wrote this great song?
Tom Page
That's actually one of George's songs that he wrote with "Country" Johnny Mathis.