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.
If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time
George Jones Lyrics
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We'll go honky tonkin' and we'll have a time
We'll make all the night spots dance drink beer and dine
If you've got the money honey I've got the time
There ain't no use to tarry so let's start out tonight
We'll spread joy oh boy oh boy and we'll spread it right
We'll have more fun baby all way down the line
If you've got the money I've got the time
We'll go honky tonkin' and we'll have a time
Bring along you Cadillac leave my old wreck behind
If you've got the money honey I've got the time
Yes we'll go honky tonkin' make every club in town
We'll go to the park when it's dark we won't fool around
But if you run short of money well I'll run short of time
'Cause you with no more money honey I've no more time
If you've got the money
The lyrics from George Jones’s song “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time” are an invitation to live life to the fullest. The lines suggest that if one has the financial means and the will to party, then there is no reason to delay. By going “honky tonkin” and visiting all the “night spots” one can drink, dance, and dine the night away. There is no need to wait till another day. The lyrics suggest that it is time to start living now, hence the line “there ain’t no use to tarry so let’s start out tonight.”
The verses continue to further describe the vibrant life one could lead with the availability of funds, with the promise of endless fun and joy to be had. The song’s repetitive refrain “If you’ve got the money, honey, I’ve got the time” is its key signature. The message here is that if you have the money, then the singer's time is yours, but if the money runs out, the party will come to an abrupt end.
The song is a classic country tune that is packed with joyous energy and fun lyrics, and its central message remains consistent today. The lyrics affirm the idea that the good things in life are meant to be enjoyed, and if you want to have a good time, then you should not wait for it, you should go and make it happen.
Line by Line Meaning
If you've got the money I've got the time
I'm open for any adventure, as long as you have the financial means to make it happen.
We'll go honky tonkin' and we'll have a time
We'll visit all the popular clubs, dance, drink, and have a great time.
We'll make all the night spots dance drink beer and dine
We'll go to every happening spot, drink beer, dine, and dance to good music.
If you've got the money honey I've got the time
As long as you can afford to pay for our adventures, I'm available and willing to accompany you.
There ain't no use to tarry so let's start out tonight
We should not waste any time; let's begin our exciting journey tonight.
We'll spread joy oh boy oh boy and we'll spread it right
We'll have a lot of fun and ensure that everybody else around us is happy and joyous too.
We'll have more fun baby all way down the line
Our journey will be full of excitement and joy from start to finish.
Bring along you Cadillac leave my old wreck behind
If you can afford it, let's travel in your luxurious Cadillac while I leave my old car behind.
Yes we'll go honky tonkin' make every club in town
We'll visit every nightclub in the city and have an awesome time.
We'll go to the park when it's dark we won't fool around
We'll visit the park at night, but we'll behave and not engage in any illicit activity.
But if you run short of money well I'll run short of time
If you run out of money, I won't be able to continue accompanying you, as I need to be compensated for my time.
'Cause you with no more money honey I've no more time
If you can't pay for our adventures anymore, I won't be able to continue and will have to leave.
Lyrics © Peer Music Ltd
Written by: JIM BECK, LEFTY FRIZZELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind