Vince Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music musician, son… Read Full Bio ↴Vince Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music musician, songwriter, singer and a member of the Country Music Hall Of Fame. He achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country-rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a vocalist and musician have placed him in high demand as a guest vocalist, and a duet partner (with artists including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Amy Grant and Barbra Streisand).

Gill was born in Norman, Oklahoma, the home of the University of Oklahoma Sooners and learned to play several instruments, including banjo and guitar before he started high school at Oklahoma City's Northwest Classen High School. After he graduated, he played in a number of bluegrass bands. He debuted on the national scene with the country-rock band Pure Prairie League in 1979, appearing on that band's album Can't Hold Back. Gill is the lead singer on their hit song, "Let Me Love You Tonight" (1980), which he was still performing in concert years later - thus, he said, confusing many fans who knew him only from his subsequent solo work. Gill appeared on two subsequent albums along with his then-wife Janis Oliver.

Departing Pure Prairie League in 1981, Gill joined Rodney Crowell’s backing band The Notorious Cherry Bombs, where he met and worked with Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr., both of whom would later produce many of his future solo albums.

Signing as a solo artist with RCA Records in 1983, he first charted while on that label. In 1989 he switched to MCA Records where he recorded his breakthrough hit "When I Call Your Name." His 1998 album The Key received great critical acclaim. His other albums include Next Big Thing (2003) and Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye (2000). The Guitar Slinger Songfacts says that Gill released his twelfth studio album, Guitar Slinger, on October 25, 2011 via MCA Nashville. It was his manager, Larry Fitzgerald, who came up with the title, as he felt there was something different the way Gill was playing the guitar on the record.

Gill hosted the CMA Awards every year from 1992 to 2003. In 2004 he received a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. In 1997, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

He married country singer Janis Oliver (of Sweethearts of the Rodeo fame) in 1980. The couple have one daughter, Jennifer Jerene Gill, born 5 May 1982. Vince and Janis separated in the mid-1990s and eventually divorced in June 1998. Vince later began dating and eventually married Christian/pop singer Amy Grant in March of 2000. They have one daughter, Corrina Grant Gill born 12 March 2001.

Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler was a fan of Gill's, and had asked Gill to join the band full time. Gill turned down the invitation but did sing backup on one song ("The Bug") from Dire Straits' album On Every Street.

Gill has also sung duets with numerous artists, including Dolly Parton ("I Will Always Love You"), Reba McEntire ("Oklahoma Swing," "The Heart Won't Lie," "It Just Has to Be That Way"), Amy Grant ("House of Love"), and Barbra Streisand ("If You Ever Leave Me"); his other credits as a backup vocalist have included "Girls With Guitars" by Wynonna Judd (written by Mary-Chapin Carpenter, who, coincidentally, had a country hit with her cover of "The Bug") and "Nothing Left Behind Us" by Richard Marx.

Sweet Thing
Vince Gill Lyrics

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I'd be out runnin' most every night
We'd always wind up in one hell of a fight
The end is comin' there ain't no doubt
But there's just that one thing I can't live without

I won't try to stop you
I can't change your mind
It's been nice to know you

Could you leave that sweet thing behind?

You take the dishes, the silverware
Well, I'll keep the hound dog and this easy chair
Keep the Ranchero but that TV is mine
She said, "You can stick that clicker where the sun don't shine"

I know you're leaving
I can't change your mind
It's been nice to know you
Could you leave that sweet thing behind?

Well, that woman was real mean
My trailer park drama queen
I'm gonna have bad dreams
About missing that sweet thing
Oh Lord, I don't know what I am gonna do

Why's a tornado like a redneck divorce?
Either way somebody's bound to lose a mobile home of course
Well, that's my story, it's sad but true
I've only got one request of you

I know you're leaving
I can't change your mind
It's been nice to know you
Could you leave that sweet thing behind

Well, I know you're leaving, baby
I can't change your mind

It's been nice to know you
Could you leave that sweet thing behind?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Sweet Thing by Vince Gill narrate the story of a man who is aware that his relationship is on the brink of collapse. He describes how he and his partner would often fight after coming home late at night, indicating the tension that existed between them. Despite acknowledging that the relationship is ending, he expresses a sense of desperation and begs his partner not to take away the "sweet thing" from him. He recognizes that the woman was mean and describes her as a "trailer park drama queen," but there's something about her that he can't let go of.

The singer is willing to part ways and notes that they could make the division of possessions easier. He’s willing to let her take the dishes and silverware, while he gets to keep the dog and his “easy chair.” Still, the woman refuses to allow him the TV, and in return, he slams her for being selfish. Despite their differences, the man knows that he will miss the woman dearly, and he wishes that she could leave him the "sweet thing" behind.

The song’s lyrics are punctuated with humor and sarcasm. The use of metaphors, such as comparing a tornado with a redneck divorce, adds a touch of lightness to an otherwise serious situation. At the same time, the lyrics reflect the complexity of human emotions, desperation, and grief at the end of a relationship.

Sweet ThingVince Gill Lyrics

Sweet Thing
Vince Gill Lyrics