Mind = blown.
Tracy Lawrence is one of the most underrated artists of the ’90s, with a catalog that’s STACKED with hits like “Time Marches On,” “Alibis,” “Texas Tornado,” “If the Good Die Young,” and so many more.
One of his biggest hits, though, was his 2004 single “Paint Me a Birmingham.”
Written by Buck Moore and Gary Duffy, the song was surprisingly never a #1 single despite continuing to be one of Tracy’s signature songs even 20+ years after it was released. But every few months, people are shocked to find out that the song has nothing to do with the city of Birmingham, Alabama.
@kayla_may8 Wait, I didn’t know this song is about a style of Lakehouse… not Birmingham, AL. #fyp #tracylawrence #paintmeabirmingham #flabbergasted
Honestly, I had no idea either until a couple years ago when Tracy explained the real meaning on an episode of The Justin Moore Podcast:
“Birmingham is a style of lake house… it’s got the porch going all the way around, man. If you’ve listened to it since then, it makes more sense. That was one of the magical things about that song because it can have multiple meanings.
Obviously, the people living in Alabama though it was about Birmingham and the people that are architecturally knowledgeable know that it’s about a style of house.
But it was really about longing to be back with that person that you missed being with, and you know you messed up, and that time and place is gone forever… you just want that back.”
If you’re just learning this for the first time, don’t feel too bad: In fact, Tracy Lawrence himself didn’t even realize the song wasn’t about the city in Alabama when he recorded it.
During an interview with Whiskey Riff, we asked Tracy about his signature song, and he explained that it took him a while to learn the real meaning:
“I don’t think I really knew that full side of it. I kinda learned as I went through the process, but I wasn’t familiar with what a “Birmingham” was either.”
Regardless of its meaning though, he knew he had a hit on his hands:
“But I knew that was a big record. I knew that that lyric was really stout.”
And at the end of the day, Tracy says that’s part of the beauty of the song: It can mean anything you want it to mean.
“That’s the great thing about that song: Being able to write a lyric that can have multiple meanings, that just opens the interpretation up to your audience.
It can mean anything they want it to mean. Or they can argue about what it means. If one person disagrees, that song can mean anything you want it to mean.
It can be about living in Birmingham and wanting to get back there, it can be about that house and that situation that you left, it can mean anything you want it to.”
It’s also remained one of his biggest hits, despite never topping the charts:
“Of all the #1s that I had, “Paint Me a Birmingham” was probably the biggest impact record I ever had. That song by itself was massive.
And it was just top 5. It died at #4, it never got up there.
But it doesn’t matter. We close with that song every night, and the intensity from the crowd, it’s like what they wait for. It’s my closer and will be ’til I die.”
Amen, TL.
@whiskeyriff 😳 @tracy_lawrence
