A Jukebox With A Country Song by Doug Stone is one of those songs that checks a lot of the boxes when it comes to a stereotypical country song. This song’s got fights with your wife, old honky tonks, drinking beer, and jukeboxes.
The story to the song is that the singer, Doug Stone, got in a fight with his old lady, so he took off to his favorite bar that he hadn’t been to in years:
After three good years together
We had our first big fight
So she went to her mother's
And I went for a drive
Down an old familiar highway
Just a few miles out of town
To that run down, one room tavern
That used to be my stompin' ground
When Doug arrived, he realized the place had been totally remodeled and turned into a hoyty toyty country club type place:
Well I pulled in the driveway
You know it all still looked the same
And I couldn't wait to down a few
And hear that jukebox strain
But as I walked in through the doorway
Well there stood some kind of matra'd
Well he looked me up and he looked me
Down and said can I help you please
And I said what'd you do with those swingin' doors
And where's the sawdust on the floor
Why's everybody wearin' suits and ties
From where I stand I can't believe my eyes
And who's idea was it to hang these ferns
This brand new bar don't have a single burn
I guess I'm somewhere that I don't belong
I need a jukebox with a country song
After ranting about the new look of the place, Doug looked around to where the jukebox used to play country songs, to find someone playing new music he wasn’t a fan of. Once Doug voiced his opinion on the matter, he was asked to leave. He yells his opinions again as the chorus comes back around. The last line of the song is Doug confessing he doesn’t belong anywhere without a jukebox with a country song:
Well I looked back to the corner
Where the jukebox once stood proud
Some clown was playing records
Too fast, too long and too loud
And it must have been a big mistake
To try and speak my mind
So as they were asking me to leave
I cried out one more time
What'd you do with those swingin' doors
And where's the sawdust on the floor
Why's everybody wearin' suits and ties
From where I stand I can't believe my eyes
And who's idea was it to hang these ferns
This brand new bar don't have a single burn
I guess I'm somewhere that I don't belong
I need a jukebox with a country song
I guess I don't belong
Without a jukebox
And a country song...
My dad loves this song and sings it at the top of his lungs all the time. I’ve grown up belting it out too whenever it comes on! Listen to A Jukebox with a Country Song below, and let me know what you think!
Jack Wilkinson