True living legends of country music… Alabama.
Recent Pinnacle Award winners, it is no secret that Alabama’s success is unmatched in the country music space. Alabama cracked the songwriting code with over 20 number-one hits, twelve top-ten albums, and many other accolades and awards to their names.
And back in 1990, on this day, the group released one of my favorite songs from their discography, which would later become their 28th number-one hit, “Jukebox In My Mind.”
The honky tonk heartbreaker was written by Dave Gibson and Ronnie Rogers and appeared on their album Pass It On Down.
While the song uses the jukebox as a metaphor for a record replaying memories or a ‘track’ of old memories, the song makes you feel as though you have taken a step back in time.
Lead singer, Randy Owens, has a twang on his vocals during this track that is reminiscent of Merle Haggard or Hank Williams Jr.
After the song peaked at number one later in 1990, becoming the group’s 28th number one single, “Jukebox In My Mind” would also be nominated for The Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year in 1991.
While Alabama has many notable songs, this tune’s opening lines set you up for a heartbreaking yet beautiful songwriting metaphor.
“In the corner of my mind stands a jukebox
It’s playing all my favorite memories
One by one, they take me back
To the days when you were mine.”
“Jukebox In My Mind” will always be among my favorite honky tonk classics.
