Gretchen was born in Pocahontas, Illinois to a 16-year-old mother. Her father left before she was two years old, and she and her mother lived in trailer parks and relative poverty. Gretchen's mother worked as a waitress, and Gretchen herself dropped out of the 8th grade at age 15 to work as a cook and bartender in rural Illinois.
After a failed marriage to former Baywolfe bandmate Larry Rolens, Gretchen moved to Nashville and began dating Mike Penner. They have a daughter, Grace Frances Penner, who was born November 9, 2000.
Gretchen, who had sung for Kmart as a child, sang in two bar bands by the age of 20. In 1996 she moved to Nashville to sing back-up and record sample songs. In 2000, she met John Rich, a former member of Lonestar, who invited her to become his song-writing partner. Wilson signed with Epic Records in 2003 and recorded Here for the Party within the year.
Her first single, "Redneck Woman", was released in early 2004 and reached the top of the Hot Country Songs charts and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of "Redneck Woman" prompted an earlier-than-planned release for Here for the Party -- May 11, 2004 -- and it debuted at #1 on the Billboard country chart. It also reached #2 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Internet album sales charts. She performed as a support artist for Brooks & Dunn and Montgomery Gentry.
She released the title track Here For The Party as the second single. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard country chart. Two other songs were released as singles, and both reached the top 10. Released in markets outside the U.S., the album hit #2 on the Australian country charts (behind Kasey Chambers) and the top 50 of the Australian charts. As of July 5, 2004, "Redneck Woman" was #1 on a world composite country chart (based on the U.S., UK, and Australia charts). The album went on sell more than 4 million copies in the U.S. and 5 million worldwide and was certified four times platinum.
On September 27, 2005, Gretchen released her second album, All Jacked Up, which peaked at #1 on both the Top 200 and Country album charts, but, after initial decent sales, the album quickly fell off the charts. It was certified Platinum and sold 1 million copies. The title track, All Jacked Up, peaked at a disappointing #8 on the Country singles chart and was the only song from the album to reach the top 10. The second single, I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today, peaked at #22. The third and the fourth singles were Politically Uncorrect and California Girls, which peaked respectively at #23 and #25 on the Country chart. Kid Rock appeared on "The Other Side of Me," an exclusive track that Target released with the album.
On February 28, 2006, Gretchen appeared on Kid Rock and The Twisted Brown Trucker Band's "Live" Trucker, as she performed "Picture" recorded at Detroit's Cobo Hall, 3/26/04. On November 2006, she released a new single called Come To Bed, a song produced by her friend John Rich, who also sings the background vocals. The song's suggestive video received a TV-14 S rating when aired on CMT.
Gretchen's "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and Best Country Song. In 2006, Wilson contributed a well-received cover of Kris Kristofferson's Sunday Mornin' Coming Down on the tribute CD The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson. In 2007, Wilson displayed her rock and roll vocals on the cable TV special VH1 Rock Honors, singing Heart's hit Barracuda, along with Alice in Chains and Heart member Nancy Wilson on guitars.,
On May 15, 2007, Gretchen released her third album, One of the Boys. The album debuted at #5 on the Top 200 and at #1 on the Country album chart. After 11 weeks, it exited the Billboard Top 200, having sold just 178,220 copies at that point. "Come To Bed" and "One Of The Boys", the first two singles released, both failed to enter the top 30 and missed the Hot 100 completely. The third single, "You Don't Have to Go Home", was even less successful, peaking at #53.
Come To Bed
Gretchen Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Bout who's wrong and right
And stay up all night
Sometimes we drink
And say hurtful things
We don't mean
Yeah, we're both screamin'
Let's take this madness
Out of the kitchen
Come to bed
Let's just lay down
There's just one way
We're gonna work this out
Forget what I did
Forget what you said
Oh, darlin'
Come to bed
Well, I love you
You know I do
You love me too
So let's just stop
Remember what we've got
Before it all gets lost
Just take my hand
It's been way too long
Turn out the lights
And turn each other on
Come to bed
Let's just lay down
There's just one way
We're gonna work this out
Forget what I did
Forget what you said
Oh, darlin' (darlin')
Come to bed
[Bridge]
(And let's put aside our pride
For feelings for tonight)
In the mornin' we'll see things
In a different light
Just come to bed
Let's just lay down
There's just one way
We're gonna work it out
Forget what I did
Forget what you said
Oh, darlin' (darlin')
Come to bed
The lyrics of Gretchen Wilson's "Come to Bed" depict a relationship that is going through some troubles. The song communicates the impact of constant fighting and not listening to each other; however, there is still a deep love between the two individuals. Despite all the arguments, love remains, and the relationship can still work out.
The opening lines of the song suggest that the couple argues about who is right and wrong, leading to sleepless nights. They drink and say hurtful things to each other that they do not mean giving each other emotional wounds that will take longer to heal. In the chorus, the lyrics advise the partner to come to bed; the couple can forget about the ongoing arguments, recall the love that they have, and reconcile. In the bridge, the song implores the couple to put their pride aside and be together for that night. A new day will come, and they will have a broader perspective and be able to handle things better.
Overall, the song highlights the need to work on a relationship, to understand and communicate better, to compromise, and forgive mistakes. It advocates for putting love first, despite the challenges that the couples may face. The song's lyrics remind people that when love exists, everything else can be overcome, and the relationship can still work out.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes we fight
Occasionally, we get into arguments
'Bout who's wrong and right
We argue about who is right and who is wrong
And stay up all night
We continue arguing until the wee hours of the morning
Sometimes we drink
On some occasions, we consume alcohol
And say hurtful things
We end up saying things that are offensive and mean
We don't mean
We don't actually mean the hurtful things we say
Yeah, we're both screamin'
We are both yelling
But nobody's listenin'
Neither of us are listening to the other
Let's take this madness
Let's end this craziness
Out of the kitchen
Let's take our argument somewhere else
Come to bed
Let's go to bed
Let's just lay down
Let's just lie down
There's just one way
There's only one solution
We're gonna work this out
We'll figure this out together
Forget what I did
Let's forget our past mistakes
Forget what you said
Let's forget things we said to each other during our fight
Oh, darlin'
Expressing affection to the partner
Well, I love you
Telling partner about the love they have
You know I do
Assuming the partner already knows about their love
You love me too
Believing the partner loves them too
So let's just stop
Let's end the argument
Remember what we've got
Let's remember what's important to us
Before it all gets lost
Before we lose what we have
Just take my hand
Let's hold hands
It's been way too long
It's been a while since we felt close to each other
Turn out the lights
Turning off the lights to sleep
And turn each other on
Rekindling the physical intimacy
[Bridge]
The bridge of the song
(And let's put aside our pride
Let's ignore our egos
For feelings for tonight)
In favor of our emotional connection tonight
In the mornin' we'll see things
Tomorrow morning, things will seem different
In a different light
In a new perspective
Just come to bed
Let's just sleep together
Let's just lay down
Let's lie down next to each other
There's just one way
There's only one solution
We're gonna work it out
We'll figure this out together
Forget what I did
Let's forget our past mistakes
Forget what you said
Let's forget things we said to each other during our fight
Oh, darlin'
Expressing affection to the partner
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: VICKY MC GEHEE, JOHN D. RICH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Basket Case Bob
We need more music like this in the world.
mralapenosarespicy
No we dont
Shannon Mallory
Yes we do!!!!!
Carolyn Brooks
This weekend, my husband and I were able to truly spend quality time together. As I lay in bed this song kept playing in my head. Life has a way of knocking everything off balance. We were able to rediscover us.
Ramona Koch
when she sings songs like this, u can hear how beautiful her voice really is. I hope she comes back
Michelle Branson-Klaassens
Love this song! Sometimes you just gotta forget about why you're fighting and remember the love.
Dave Lamore
Hello
Thomas’s Toy Time
this song saved my relationship. we always go to bed together no matter how mad we r. and when we almost split we went to bed and relized what we had. a great life and wonderful family and how much we love eachother
David William
Hello 👋 Laura. How are you doing? Hope you are fine. I'm David William from Denver Colorado. Where are you from? You seem like a real country girl, Merry Christmas to you
robert peters
Gretchen was so talented, she was THE reason I got into country music in June 2004. Loved her style.