Jackson was still in high school when country singer Hank Thompson heard her sing on an Oklahoma City radio show and asked her to record with his band in 1954. She dated Elvis Presley, who encouraged her to step away from the country-tinged gospel she had been performing since childhood and try her hand at rock and roll. She developed her own distinctive voice and performed in a variety of styles, from folksy traditional tunes to country twang and high yodels to throaty, suggestive ballads. She was a prolific singer of songs with wry lyrics such as "Fujiyama Mama," which contained many references to the World War II bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; ironically, it became a #1 hit in Japan. Her biggest hit was 1959's "Let's Have a Party."
Jackson achieved great and continuing success throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia, but has never found the same level of fame in her native United States. She toured with rock and roll pioneers such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly. She has been nominated for two Grammys, and has been awarded the Oklahoma Native Daughter Award. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the International Hall of Fame, the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and the German Country Music Hall of Fame, and in 2009 was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Early Influence.
A born-again Christian, Jackson and her husband/manager Wendell Goodman abandoned rock and roll in 1971 and spent the next 25 years performing gospel in churches.
In 1996, Jackson was invited by alt-country singer Rosie Flores to duet with her on an upcoming album. The two were so pleased with the results that Jackson joined Flores on a handful of promotional club dates which were soon extended into a five-week North American tour. Jackson, plesantly surprised to discover that she and her songs were known by a generation of rockabilly fans her grandchildren's age, soon assembled her own band and returned to clubs and festivals, where she continues to perform.
In recent years Jackson has recorded with such artists as The Cramps, Lee Rocker, Dave Alvin, and Elvis Costello. 2006 saw the release of a new Jackson album, I Remember Elvis.
In 2009, it was announced that Jackson would start work on new recordings with Jack White. The resulting album, The Party Ain't Over, was released on January 25, 2011. It included a cover of the Bob Dylan rockabilly song, "Thunder on the Mountain" and the Amy Winehouse song "You Know I'm No Good". On January 20, 2011, she performed with Jack White on The Late Show With David Letterman and again on January 25, 2011, on Conan.
I Wore Elvis Ring
Wanda Jackson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't seem to get her from my mind.
I thought I'd never miss her,
But I found out somehow
I think about her almost all the time.
The day she went away
I made myself a promise
That I'd soon forget we ever met.
Cause I'm so blue and lonely.
I forgot to remember to forget.
The day she went away
I made myself a promise
That I'd soon forget we ever met,
Well, but something sure is wrong,
Cause I'm so blue and lonely.
I forgot to remember to forget.
The lyrics to Wanda Jackson's song "I Forgot To Remember To Forget Him" tells a story of a person who is struggling to move on from someone they once loved. Despite trying to forget about this person, they cannot seem to get them out of their mind. The singer admits that they thought they would never miss this person, but they find themselves thinking about them almost all the time. They made a promise to themselves to forget about this person when they left, but they are unable to keep this promise. The singer is left feeling blue and lonely. The repetition of the phrase "I forgot to remember to forget" emphasizes the internal conflict of the singer and how they are caught between forgetting and remembering.
At the core of this song is the universal theme of heartbreak and the difficulty of moving on from a past relationship. The song conveys the emotional turmoil that occurs after a breakup and how it can be challenging to let go of someone you once loved. The lyrics are relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak and the struggle to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
I forgot to remember to forget her,
I failed to intentionally forget the memories of my ex-lover, which I thought I had already deleted from my mind.
I can't seem to get her from my mind.
I find it difficult to not think about her and remove her presence from my thoughts.
I thought I'd never miss her,
I believed that I would not feel any sadness or yearning for my ex-lover.
But I found out somehow
I realized eventually that I couldn't control my emotions and that my feelings for her still exist.
I think about her almost all the time.
She continuously occupies my thoughts and I can't seem to move on from her presence.
The day she went away
The day when my ex-lover left me or moved on from our relationship.
I made myself a promise
I decided to commit to an agreement with myself regarding moving on from the relationship.
That I'd soon forget we ever met.
I planned to erase all memories and forget that we ever had any connection or relationship.
But something sure is wrong,
I sense that there is an issue or problem with the plan I made for myself.
Cause I'm so blue and lonely.
I feel sad and constantly alone, which shows that my plan to forget my ex-lover didn't work as intended.
I forgot to remember to forget.
The repetition of forgetting to remember to forget is a paradoxical statement that highlights the singer's struggle to forget the memories of their ex-lover.
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, RECORDS ON THE WALL, INC
Written by: Charlie Feathers, Stanley A Kesler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind