Jamey Johnson helped pen one of the great country songs that will stand the test of time, and he wants people to know what one of the lines towards the end of “In Color” really means.
Johnson is one of the most respected singers and songwriters in all of country music. Jamey is behind countless hits (even a Trace Adkins one you wouldn’t think would be Jamey’s) across the decades, and he’s acted as a mentor for many of the up and coming names of the industry.
All that to say… Jamey Johnson is truly one of one, and he proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt with his 2008 track “In Color.”
Johnson has discussed the song plenty since it was released almost 20 years ago. But it was only in a recent interview with The Justin “Danger” Nunley Podcast, alongside his wife that he shared some of the specifics about the origin of “In Color.”
Obviously, the main premise of the song and its emotional storytelling leans on the progression of photos and cameras, as Johnson explained:
“We were talking about our own grandfathers. Lee Thomas Miller, James Otto and I. You know, the premise of the song is sitting there looking through an old photo album. Well, our photo albums that went back that far we’re all in black and white.
But if you looked at them as they progressed through the years, you could see the color chrome pictures come in, and then you can see the nice new pictures from the 80s. You could watch the technology of photography change from decade to decade.”
There’s just something special about thumbing through an old, physical photo album.
The idea for the song quickly sprung right out of the pages of the old album, and the opening lyric was one of the first that Johnson and his co-writers put together. Johnson was asked if they knew what they had instantaneously when “In Color” was written down in its entirety, and he admitted they knew it was special… but had no idea it was that special:
“That’s where we began with the lyric. ‘Grandpa what’s this picture here? It’s all black and white and ain’t real clear.’ We weren’t celebrating the song like we had accomplished some feat that day. We just wrote a song.
I think all three of us, when we got done, we knew we had written a good song. We weren’t completely blind to it. But we also by no means thought we had just written the greatest song of any of our three careers, let alone something that was going to sustain itself through time in country music.”
And the country singer went on to say that a lot of people misinterpret the third verse of “In Color.”
Like I said earlier, Johnson was really providing specifics about the hit track in this interview. He explained that a real photo of his grandparents inspired the third verse, and that some listeners get one little detail of the lyrics confused:
“The whole third verse of that song came from this picture that I have of my grandparents on their wedding day. You’d have to understand my pawpaw’s sense of humor when the line says, ‘Look at that smile, boy I was so proud.’ Because in that picture from their wedding, he’s 19 and I think my meemaw at the time was 14.
He is not grinning at all. He’s all business. She’s got a sweet smile on her face. In the line, you think he’s talking about himself. ‘Boy I was so proud. Look at me smile’ right? But it’s not. It’s her. ‘Look at that smile. Boy I was so proud.’ It’s little things like that.”
