Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973 in Pocahontas, Illinois) is a G… Read Full Bio ↴Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973 in Pocahontas, Illinois) is a Grammy award-winning American country music singer-songwriter.

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.

The Gypsy In Me
Gretchen Wilson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mmm yeah
You're disappearing, that's all there is to it
Yeah, that's the long and the short of it all
Drifting on that ol' wind like leaves in the fall
It comes down to a whole lot of nothing
No matter how hard I try
You were meant to go down the winding road
And leave me behind

So, if I can't win for losing
If there's nothing left, and you wanna go free
Just give me tonight and I'll be alright
Cause all that I need is a little time
And I'll find the gypsy in me

Oh yeah

So I'll ride down that long stretch of lonely
Wrapped in my blanket of stars
This will end to nothing, but it will end in my heart

So if I can't win for losing
If there's nothing left, and you wanna go free
Just give me tonight and I'll be alright
Cause all that I need is a little time
And I'll find the gypsy in me

Oh yeah

(Woah woah woah woah
The gypsy in me)
So I'll miss you tonight

Ohh I love you, babe
I wish you well

Overall Meaning

In Gretchen Wilson's song, The Gypsy in Me, the lyrics convey a sense of acceptance and letting go. The singer recognizes that her loved one is disappearing and there is nothing she can do to change it. She acknowledges that the relationship has come to nothing and that her partner is meant to hit the road and leave her behind. Despite feeling like a loser who can't seem to win, she asks for one more night for herself to be all right. She takes solace in the fact that she still has time and that she'll find the gypsy in her. In this sense, the singer is alluding to her own unfulfilled desires to travel and be free, to emulate the spirit of a gypsy.

Line by Line Meaning

Mmm yeah
Expression of agreement or acceptance

You're disappearing, that's all there is to it
You are fading away from my life, and that is the fact

Yeah, that's the long and the short of it all
Yes, that is the complete summary of the situation

Drifting on that ol' wind like leaves in the fall
Moving aimlessly like falling autumn leaves carried by the wind

It comes down to a whole lot of nothing
The result is a big disappointment

No matter how hard I try
Despite putting in a lot of effort

You were meant to go down the winding road
It was your fate to choose the uncertain path

And leave me behind
Abandoning me in the process

So, if I can't win for losing
If I can't achieve success even after trying

If there's nothing left, and you wanna go free
If there's nothing holding you back and you want to move on

Just give me tonight and I'll be alright
Give me some time to cope, and I will be fine