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.
Don't Do Me No Good
Gretchen Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good to sit around and cry
That's just wasted time
Cause I know it ain't right
Yeah I know it ain't right
To sit around all night and let your memory
I could dig a hole and crawl inside
Where the hurt won't show and the sun won't shine
But that won't help my heart to heal
Or take away this pain I feel
Lord knows I'd keep digging if it would
But it
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good at all
Well I'm thinking I might
Yeah you know I just might
Get out tonight and tear up this old town
Burn Mr.A down
I could drown myself in misery
Swallow all that's left of you and me
But that won't help me say goodbye
To all these long and lonely nights
Wash 'em down with whiskey if it would
But it
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good at all
Oh I could roll I know
Tryin' to let you go
Come on
Don't do me no don't don't don't
Don't do me no don't don't don't
Don't do me no good at all
Don't do me no don't don't don't
Don't do me no don't don't don't
Don't do me no good at all
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good at all
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good
Don't do me no good at all
In Gretchen Wilson's song Don't Do Me No Good, the singer contrasts between two competing impulses she has after a breakup. One is to give in to her despair and remain isolated, crying and immersing herself in the memory of the relationship. The other is to externalize her pain by engaging in destructive behavior, such as picking fights or getting drunk. She acknowledges that both responses are ultimately futile and unproductive, as they cannot heal her broken heart or ease her pain. Instead, she resolves to resist both impulses and find a better way to move forward.
The lyrics convey a sense of dejection and frustration while also expressing an awareness of the futility of wallowing in pain. The line "I could dig a hole and crawl inside / Where the hurt won't show and the sun won't shine" speaks to the desire to retreat from the world and hide one's pain, while the line "I could drown myself in misery / Swallow all that's left of you and me" suggests that the singer is aware of the self-destructive nature of her thoughts. However, the singer ultimately refuses to give in to these impulses and recognizes that they will not help her move on from the relationship.
Overall, the song captures the complexity of the emotions that come with heartbreak and how difficult it can be to resist self-destructive tendencies in the face of intense pain.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't do me no good
This situation is not helpful to me at all.
Don't do me no good to sit around and cry
It is not productive for me to just sit and be sad.
That's just wasted time
It is not worth my time to be upset over this.
Cause I know it ain't right
I recognize that this is not the right way to handle things.
To sit around all night and let your memory
It is not useful to dwell on memories of you.
Get the best of me
I don't want to let memories of you control my emotions.
I could dig a hole and crawl inside
I could hide from my emotions and isolate myself.
Where the hurt won't show and the sun won't shine
I could try to escape my pain in a dark and secluded place.
But that won't help my heart to heal
Avoiding my emotions won't help me move on and heal.
Or take away this pain I feel
Hiding from my feelings won't make them go away.
Lord knows I'd keep digging if it would
I might even continue trying to hide if it would help, but it won't.
But it
Unfortunately, that won't work.
Well I'm thinking I might
I'm considering doing something else instead.
Get out tonight and tear up this old town
I might go out and have a wild night out to distract myself.
Burn Mr.A down
I might even feel like getting into some trouble.
I could drown myself in misery
I could try to cope by excessively indulging in my sadness.
Swallow all that's left of you and me
I might even try to hold on to these feelings and memories in a harmful way.
But that won't help me say goodbye
These self-destructive behaviors won't help me move on and say goodbye.
To all these long and lonely nights
I'm tired of feeling lonely and sad every night.
Wash 'em down with whiskey if it would
I might even try drinking to numb my feelings, but it won't work.
Don't do me no don't don't don't
This won't help me at all.
Oh I could roll I know
I might even try to distract myself with something else.
Tryin' to let you go
I'm trying to get over you and move on.
Don't do me no don't don't don't
These behaviors won't actually help me move on.
Don't do me no good at all
None of these behaviors will help me in the long run.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., OLE MM, OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: WADE KIRBY, ASHLEY GORLEY, GRETCHEN WILSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind