Golden Ring (song)
Encyclopedia
"Golden Ring" is a song made famous by country music
singers George Jones
and Tammy Wynette
. Originally released in 1976
, the song was the title track to their duet album released that same year. It was a Number One hit on the Billboard
country charts.
. The story showed the gun changing hands several times, with a hunter, police officer, criminal and a father of a 2-year-old child all owning the gun at one point, with the consequences played out in each segment.
Braddock applied the same concept to a song about the life of a wedding ring. Here, a young couple from Chicago - apparently very much in love - goes to a pawn shop to shop for a ring for their upcoming wedding. The man (both characters are unnamed in the song) laments that he is unable to pick out a more expensive band, but he's willing to buy it to show how much he loves his bride-to-be, whom - in the song's second verse - he marries in a hidden wedding chapel later on that afternoon.
In the third verse, the couple becomes embroiled in what is their final in what is obviously a long series of fights. The man accuses his wife of planning to leave town; the woman retorts by telling her husband she doesn't love him anymore, "and throws down the ring as she walks out the door." The ending features the ring, once again in a pawnshop waiting for its next buyer.
The refrain between each verse speaks about the different meanings of the ring at is stages in life. The first refrain speaks of the promise of lifelong love shown in the glittering ring; the second verse talks about how "at last, it's found a home," and the finale tells of how the ring has been cast aside "like the love that's dead and gone." Each refrain ends with the lyrics of how a wedding band is meaningless without true love (By itself, it's just a cold metallic thing/Only love can make a golden wedding ring).
- "Golden Ring" became the second George Jones-Tammy Wynette duet to reach No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles
chart that August.
as a duet with Pam Tillis
on Sellers' 1998 album A Matter of Time
.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singers George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
and Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
. Originally released in 1976
1976 in country music
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1976.-No dates:*The CB radio craze was sweeping country music, as no less than three No. 1 songs are about citizens-band radios. C. W. McCall's "Convoy" — about a band of truck drivers who fight back against redneck...
, the song was the title track to their duet album released that same year. It was a Number One hit on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
country charts.
Background
The song was conceived by songwriter Bobby Braddock, whom had seen a television drama about the life of a handgunHandgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
. The story showed the gun changing hands several times, with a hunter, police officer, criminal and a father of a 2-year-old child all owning the gun at one point, with the consequences played out in each segment.
Braddock applied the same concept to a song about the life of a wedding ring. Here, a young couple from Chicago - apparently very much in love - goes to a pawn shop to shop for a ring for their upcoming wedding. The man (both characters are unnamed in the song) laments that he is unable to pick out a more expensive band, but he's willing to buy it to show how much he loves his bride-to-be, whom - in the song's second verse - he marries in a hidden wedding chapel later on that afternoon.
In the third verse, the couple becomes embroiled in what is their final in what is obviously a long series of fights. The man accuses his wife of planning to leave town; the woman retorts by telling her husband she doesn't love him anymore, "and throws down the ring as she walks out the door." The ending features the ring, once again in a pawnshop waiting for its next buyer.
The refrain between each verse speaks about the different meanings of the ring at is stages in life. The first refrain speaks of the promise of lifelong love shown in the glittering ring; the second verse talks about how "at last, it's found a home," and the finale tells of how the ring has been cast aside "like the love that's dead and gone." Each refrain ends with the lyrics of how a wedding band is meaningless without true love (By itself, it's just a cold metallic thing/Only love can make a golden wedding ring).
Chart performance
Released in May 1976 – 14 months after their real-life divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
- "Golden Ring" became the second George Jones-Tammy Wynette duet to reach No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart that August.
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 5 |
Other versions
Jones and Wynette re-recorded the song on Jones's 1994 album The Bradley Barn Sessions, an album which comprised re-recordings of Jones's material in duet form. A cover version was recorded by Jason SellersJason Sellers
Jason Sellers is an American country music artist. After several years of touring the United States in his family's band, Sellers joined the road band of Ricky Skaggs. By 1997, he was signed to a recording contract with BNA Records, for whom he recorded two studio albums: 1997's I'm Your Man and...
as a duet with Pam Tillis
Pam Tillis
Pamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....
on Sellers' 1998 album A Matter of Time
A Matter of Time (Jason Sellers album)
A Matter of Time is the second and final album released by American country music artist Jason Sellers. Its title track was a Top 40 hit for him on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 1999...
.
See also
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.