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.
You Win Again
George Jones Lyrics
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I know that I should leave but then I just can't go you win again
This heart of mine could never see what everybody knew but me
Just trusting you was my great sin what can I do you win again
I'm sorry for your victim now cause soon his head like mine will bow
He'll give his heart but all in vain and someday say you win again
You have no heart you have no shame you take true love and give the blame
The lyrics to George Jones's song "You Win Again" tell a story of a man who is aware of his partner's infidelity but still can't seem to leave. The news about his partner's affair is spreading throughout the town, yet the man still stays with her. He admits that his trust in her was a mistake, and that his heart was blinded by love. He also acknowledges that he will never be able to leave her, as he is unable to resist her charms. He apologizes to the next victim, who will experience the same heartbreak he is currently feeling. The song ends with the man expressing his love for the partner who has hurt him, admitting defeat by stating, "I love you still, you won again."
The lyrics to "You Win Again" are an emotive expression of love, betrayal, and the difficulty of letting go. Despite its melancholic nature, the song has become a country music classic, and its impact on the genre is significant. The song has been covered by numerous artists in various styles, such as Hank Williams, Sr., The Grateful Dead, Jerry Lee Lewis, and The Rolling Stones. The song has also been used in various movies, television shows, and commercials, adding to its popularity and influence.
Line by Line Meaning
The news is out all over town that you've been seen a runnin' round
Everyone in town knows that you've been running around with someone else.
I know that I should leave but then I just can't go you win again
Although I know I should leave you because of what you've done, I can't seem to go, and you win again.
This heart of mine could never see what everybody knew but me
Even though everyone else knew what you were doing, my heart was blinded and I couldn't see it.
Just trusting you was my great sin what can I do you win again
My biggest mistake was trusting you, and now I feel helpless because you have won again.
I'm sorry for your victim now cause soon his head like mine will bow
I feel sorry for the person you're with now because they will eventually feel the same pain and heartbreak as I did.
He'll give his heart but all in vain and someday say you win again
Your new partner will give their heart to you, but it won't matter in the end because they too will say you win again.
You have no heart you have no shame you take true love and give the blame
You have no emotions or feelings, and you take true love and give it the blame for your actions.
I guess that I should not complain I love you still you won again
Even though I have every right to be upset and complain, I still love you and you have won again.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Hank Williams, Sr
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TheDenny2
Fantastic! Words of wisdom, spoken with experience and soaked in bitter tears and beer.
rayford latham
Man I have been there.
Jesse Holt
The greatest country singer singing the greatest country song of all time
Anonymous Anonymous
He stopped loving her today
Leroy Patton
What can I say, he's the greatest male country singer ever.
Leland Waltz
Hank Williams was great but George is the best
Hunter Duncan
Leroy Patton Hank Williams???
Denis Lessard
damn is there anything this guy couldn't sing? does a great job on anything he decides to sing.
Gino
He was the best
Jonathan Stagg
He could have sung the phone book and it would've sounded beautiful