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.
Something I Dreamed
George Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I seem to feel our love slipping away
I have no special reason for feeling this way
It must have been something I dreamed
Darling hold me close and chase away the ghost that tortures me so
Kiss away my doubt until my poor heart shouts that you'll never go
I have faith in you, I just lack faith in me
I'm afraid that I'll lose you, then where would I be?
Oh let it be something I dreamed
Your words lack conviction or do you suppose
That I love you too much and I listen too close?
I know I get jealous and sometimes it shows
It must have been something I dreamed
Darling hold me close and chase away the ghost that tortures me so
Kiss away my doubt until my poor heart shouts that you'll never go
This feeling's not your fault, you're sweet as can be
I have faith in you, I just lack faith in me
I'm afraid that I'll lose you, then where would I be?
Oh let it be something I dreamed
In "Something I Dreamed," George Jones expresses his fear of losing his lover, even though he knows that she is faithful to him. He admits to feeling pessimistic and paranoid even though he has no cause for it. He wonders if he's hearing her words correctly or if he's misconstruing them due to his insecurity. He begs her to hold him and reassure him that he is loved and that she will never leave him.
The song's lyrics are deceptively simple, but it is a poignant depiction of the fear and doubt that can haunt even the strongest of relationships. Jones truly captures the raw emotions of love and trust that are essential to any healthy relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Forgive me if I'm pessimistic today
I am sorry if my negative attitude is affecting my behavior today
But I seem to feel our love slipping away
I have a feeling that our relationship is falling apart
I have no special reason for feeling this way
I am unable to pinpoint a precise cause for my emotions
It must have been something I dreamed
Perhaps these feelings are not real and are just figments of my imagination
Darling hold me close and chase away the ghost that tortures me so
Please comfort me and alleviate my emotional pain
Kiss away my doubt until my poor heart shouts that you'll never go
Show me your love so that I know I can trust you and that you won't leave me
This feeling's not your fault, you're sweet as can be
My emotions have nothing to do with your actions, you are kind and loving
I have faith in you, I just lack faith in me
I believe in your love for me, but I am unsure whether I deserve it
I'm afraid that I'll lose you, then where would I be?
I worry that if our relationship doesn't work out, I will have nothing left
Oh let it be something I dreamed
I hope that these negative feelings are not real and will go away
Your words lack conviction or do you suppose
I am unsure whether you truly mean the things you say
That I love you too much and I listen too close?
Perhaps my intense love for you is causing me to overanalyze everything you say
I know I get jealous and sometimes it shows
I am aware of my tendency to become jealous and it can be evident in my behavior
It must have been something I dreamed
Maybe these feelings are not real and are just in my head
Contributed by Matthew A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
countrychess
Underrated song of King George ; deserves to be better known
betty stephenson
beautiful love it
J.W. Gauntt
appreciate it Betty , thank you for listening
Mrsbubblegum
My favorite George Jones Song🤗
Brenda Proffitt
Awesome....I Love 💘 💘 💘 💘 💘 this song......Thank you so much
J.W. Gauntt
more than welcome , sure appreciate it
BeMisty
Great song! Thanks, Jack!
J.W. Gauntt
glad you enjoyed it , you're very welcome Bianca
Johnny HL Western
So Great, from -63