A country duo formed when Grammy Award Winner Michelle Branch recruited fan… Read Full Bio ↴A country duo formed when Grammy Award Winner Michelle Branch recruited fan and later, backing singer, Jessica Harp — who, at the time, was en route to signing a record deal of her own — on a new musical venture, incorporating elements from both Michelle's pop-rock style and Jessica's classical style into a unique-sounding amalgamation.

Soon, their song, The Good Kind — originally recorded solely by Jessica — was featured on the hit teen soap opera One Tree Hill. They performed this song on the show on February 8, 2005. Later that month, the duo embarked on the month-long, nation-wide One Tree Hill Tour along with Gavin DeGraw, Tyler Hilton, and Bethany Joy Lenz. Michelle later expressed her dislike of going on tour without releasing an album first. "Stand Still, Look Pretty" became that album. It was released on May 23, 2006, debuting at number fourteen on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 44,000 copies sold in its first week. Though the market for country music is generally smaller in the UK compared to the United States, the album reached number one on the country chart on that side of the Atlantic.

The Wreckers broke up in 2008

Tennessee
The Wreckers Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I never had all the answers
I never had enough time
But I sure had all the reasons
Why you weren't what I wanted to find

I never laid all my cards out
You just wanted to play
The king, he waited on my door's steps

While the joker and me went on our way

[Chorus]
Maybe I was much too selfish
But, baby, you're still on my mind
Now I'm grown and all alone
And wishing I was with you tonight
'Cause I can guarantee
Things are sweeter in Tennessee

These days everything is all business
Never in one place for too long
And there's no lack of arms around me
But I still wonder if somewhere I went wrong

[Chorus]

And I'd wish on every star in the
Southern sky
For that man and our life
If I did not think that

[Chorus]

Overall Meaning

The Wreckers's song Tennessee is a beautifully poignant ballad about a past love that still lingers in the singer's mind. The song has a wistful quality that suggests the singer's feelings of regret about the choices she made in the past. She sings about how she never had all the answers, but she had all the reasons for why her past lover wasn't what she wanted to find. The singer never laid all her cards out, and her lover simply wanted to play. She likens their relationship to a game of cards, with the king waiting at her doorsteps while the joker and she went on their way.

The chorus emphasizes her regret and longing for her past love. She acknowledges that she might have been too selfish, but her lover is still on her mind. Despite growing up and being all alone now, she wishes she was with him tonight. Throughout the song, there is a recurring theme of nostalgia, harking back to what she believes were sweeter times in Tennessee. She wishes on every star in the southern sky for that man and their life. Maybe if she hadn't thought it wouldn't make any difference, they would have still been together.

Line by Line Meaning

I never had all the answers
I never knew everything

I never had enough time
I never had sufficient time

But I sure had all the reasons
But I had reasons for everything

Why you weren't what I wanted to find
Why you weren't the one I was looking for

I never laid all my cards out
I never revealed everything about myself

You just wanted to play
You only wanted to have fun

The king, he waited on my door's steps
A potential lover waited for me, hoping to be with me

While the joker and me went on our way
But I chose to be with someone else instead

Maybe I was much too selfish
Maybe I was too self-centered

But, baby, you're still on my mind
But I still think about you

Now I'm grown and all alone
Now that I'm older and single