Gretchen Wilson - "The Earrings Song"

[43dudleyvillas]

Gretchen Wilson's next single is either called "The Earrings Song" or "Don't Make Me Take My Earrings Out." I went with the former for now in the thread title because the latter wouldn't fit.

Nashville Gab has streaming audio of this song. I would say that if ever Gretchen is going to make a comeback, it will be with a song like this. It is straight-up honkytonk, but what makes me think it stands a chance at radio is that it is catchy as heck and evokes the persona of "Redneck Woman" without being totally copycat. My only complaint is the overpolishing of her vocal.

That this is the next single is confirmed by Edward Morris at CMT.com, who says:

When guests first seated themselves at their dinner tables, they saw at each place setting a pair of two-and-a-half inch hoop earrings attached to a card that read, "She's back."

The "she," it turned out, was Gretchen Wilson. When she came out to sing, the reason for the teaser gift became apparent. Her first song -- and next single -- was "Don't Make Me Take My Earrings Out," a combative song somewhat on the order of Loretta Lynn's "Fist City."

Wilson said she's been hard at work on her next album at the studio she built on her farm. This time around, she's working with producer Blake Chancey. Her final song was "As Far as You Know," a pulsating yowl, which she warned the radio programmers might be a bit too "heavy" for their purposes.

Lyrics:

Well, I finally found a sitter
Who'd stay late on Friday night.
So I could do some dancin'
Underneath the(m?) neon lights.
Get out of the kitchen
Do a little catchin' up with my old man.

And I couldn't help but notice, girl,
That you keep slinking by.
Stealing his attention with a twinkle in your eye.
You're causin' an involuntary clenching of the fingers on my hand.
So honey, move along and find a place to park yourself
While you still can.

Don't make me take my earrings out.
'Cause I'll show you what a cat fight's all about.
I'll throw you down and mop the floor.
A man like mine's worth fighting for.
Don't make me take my earrings out.

And I bet I spent an hour at the bathroom vanity,
Trying to turn a mom into a barroom beauty queen.
I don't want to mess it up but trust me, honey,
I ain't scared to break a nail
Yeah and I'd be glad to spend a night in jail (Aw hell!).

So don't make me take my earrings out,
'Cause I'll show you what a cat fight's all about/
If you come by waltzing by once more,
I'll drag your butt right out the door,
So don't make me take my earrings out.

So don't make me take my earrings out,
'Cause I'll show you what a cat fight's all about.
I'll throw you down and mop the floor.
A man like mine's worth fighting for.
Don't make me take my earrings out.

If you come waltzing by once more,
I'll throw you down and mop the floor,
And drag your butt right out the door.
A man like mine's worth fighting for,
So don't make me take my earrings out.

[Call Me Crazy]

How many singles does this make trying to get her 4th album out?

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Only two singles off I Got Your Country Right Here so far, with "Don't Do Me No Don't Don't Don't Do Me No Don't Don't Don't Do Me Don't Good at Don't" being the other. The lyrics sound like "Homewrecker" cranked up to 11, which is strange since lately, Gretchen seemed to be edging away from her ballsy side.

[muzik]

I think this is her come back song! I'm really digging this one!

Great song Gretchen!

[nncountrykid]

Where will this top out before it flops?

I'll say at 35.

[muzik]

Mar 8, 2009 15:08:37 GMT -5 nncountrykid said:

Where will this top out before it flops?

I'll say at 35.

Hummm.... Looking around this site, I don't find much of anything you like! I'll just keep that in mind, and discount your posts as worthless information

[rowdawg21]

Mar 8, 2009 15:31:40 GMT -5 muzik said:

Mar 8, 2009 15:08:37 GMT -5 nncountrykid said:

Where will this top out before it flops?

I'll say at 35.

Hummm.... Looking around this site, I don't find much of anything you like! I'll just keep that in mind, and discount your posts as worthless information

And all 14 of yours posts on this site have been in Gretchen threads, so I'm sure you won't mind if I "discount your posts as worthless information."

Anyway, I do think this is the kind of song Gretchen needs to make a comeback. Whether radio will play it or not remains to be seen.

[musicbuff78]

I'll have to say she looks mighty fine on the pic on that page.

Just started listening to it now...from what I've heard, not bad but not great and I agree if she were to get back on the charts, it would be with something like this.

[change4change]

I feel like she's too country for country radio, and that's unfortunate. Because she makes great country music.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Mar 8, 2009 21:09:44 GMT -5 change4change said:

I feel like she's too country for country radio, and that's unfortunate. Because she makes great country music.

I'm on the fence about her. Most of her "traditional" material seems artificial ("When I Think About Cheatin'", "Grammatically Politically Uncorrect"), and her less-serious songs are usually too over-the-top ("Here for the Party", "All Jacked Up") or so restrained that the lack the muscle to make them work ("One of the Boys"). None of her material is particularly bad to me, but I just don't think that she has much in the way of compelling material. Honestly, I'm surprised that Columbia didn't drop her after all three singles from One of the Boys tanked. Or after "Don't Do Me No Good" tanked. And yet it only took one misfire for Cole Deggs & the Lonesome to go bye-bye.

[kevin59]

Promo Website/Video for song

www.earringsout.com/

Single Release Date: APR 20

[rowdawg21]

I'm starting to wonder if this single has been scrapped. That earringsout.com website is now blank, and the song hasn't been sent out to radio even though it was supposed to go for adds last week. I also don't see any mention of the song on Gretchen's site.

[mairy]

Apr 26, 2009 13:50:46 GMT -5 rowdawg21 said:

I'm starting to wonder if this single has been scrapped. That earringsout.com website is now blank, and the song hasn't been sent out to radio even though it was supposed to go for adds last week. I also don't see any mention of the song on Gretchen's site.

Probably.

Actually there's a new song by her on the net called "If I Could Do It All Over Again". Could that be the "new new single" now?

You can hear it here:

[pipi]

Wow, what a mess. Her career really nosedived. I think rush-releasing a 2nd album was the first bad move, then releasing non-stop average singles hurt her. The Gretchn/Big & Rich sound is truly over, shame really, she can sing and has great potential. But she needs to just go away and get some good material together.
Her label sucks.

[pipi]

btw, her version of The Midnight Oil was amazing, and could certainly have revived her career had she released it.

[drock89]

Apr 26, 2009 16:45:51 GMT -5 pipi said:

btw, her version of The Midnight Oil was amazing, and could certainly have revived her career had she released it.

She has some stellar cuts - "Midnight Oil," her covers of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and "Good Morning, Heartache," as well as some of the songs on her albums.. I'm a big fan of the Tammy Wynette-like Gretchen instead of the redneck-like Gretchen.. here's to hoping she gets something going soon.

[joey2002]

she is one of the few country artists that drive me crazy...lol...every song seems to sound like "redneck woman".

[43dudleyvillas]

Apr 26, 2009 13:50:46 GMT -5 rowdawg21 said:

I'm starting to wonder if this single has been scrapped. That earringsout.com website is now blank, and the song hasn't been sent out to radio even though it was supposed to go for adds last week. I also don't see any mention of the song on Gretchen's site.

Yeah, you're probably right. Sony is currently testing "If I Could Do It All Again," the song which mairy linked above.

I'll keep this thread here for now, and move it to the Non-Singles/Album Tracks forum if/when a new single is announced.

[ClevelandRox]

I preferred this to If I Could Do It Again. :( I thought enough time had passed that people was wanting another song like this from her.

[mairy]

I haven't really like any of her singles since "Come To Bed". I still love that one.

[singingsparrow]

I thought her last album, "One Of The Boys", was her best album to date, and it is a crying shame it got lost in the shuffle. You can see how she has matured as an artist (besides co-writing most of the album's songs) on cuts like "To Tell You The Truth".

If Wilson can make a comeback at this point in time, it will be truly miraculous in my view. I think she has unfortunately pigeon-holed herself in this critically revered, commercially by-gone corner along with the likes of other Murder-On-Music-Row leaning artists, and it will be very difficult for her to re-surface from it.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[nncountrykid]

She's basically a female Billy Ray Cyrus. The ungodly, out of nowhere, huge success of the first single has made her a novelty act.

No matter what she does or sings or releases, she's always Redneck Woman: Gretchen Wilson.

There's no turning back.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Apr 28, 2009 13:14:08 GMT -5 nncountrykid said:

She's basically a female Billy Ray Cyrus. The ungodly, out of nowhere, huge success of the first single has made her a novelty act.

No matter what she does or sings or releases, she's always Redneck Woman: Gretchen Wilson.

There's no turning back.

I believe I said the exact same thing once. All she needs is a mediocre-talented kid with a show on the Disney channel to get her back in the running.

[Uncle Lumpy]

I "get" that Gretchen was pigeon-holed with Redneck Woman being such a massive hit. What I don't understand, is how some claim that all of her material sounds like RW. To my ears anyways ,The Earrings Song Is the first thing that's been released as a single since RW that overtly sounds like RW. Gretchen is probably my favorite female singer to come out of Nashville this decade. And I'll always believe her career was cut short not because her material was too much alike, but because she surfaced when Nashville really wanted to forget its past and chase down reality stars and the teen market. I wish her the best , but I'm afraid her chances of a comeback are very slim. In any case ,I'll be the first in line IF this record ever sees the light of day......

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Apr 28, 2009 13:47:05 GMT -5 Uncle Lumpy said:

I "get" that Gretchen was pigeon-holed with Redneck Woman being such a massive hit. What I don't understand, is how some claim that all of her material sounds like RW.

I agree. None of her material really sounds that much like "Redneck Woman" except for "Here for the Party", which I thought sounded like "Redneck Woman" meets Shania. As I've said before, she's been hit and miss with me. She has the talent, I just don't think that she's quite hit on it yet. Most of her songs seem detached and insincere (especially her ballads, except "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" and "Come to Bed").

[nncountrykid]

Apr 28, 2009 14:01:58 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Apr 28, 2009 13:47:05 GMT -5 Uncle Lumpy said:

I "get" that Gretchen was pigeon-holed with Redneck Woman being such a massive hit. What I don't understand, is how some claim that all of her material sounds like RW.

I agree. None of her material really sounds that much like "Redneck Woman" except for "Here for the Party", which I thought sounded like "Redneck Woman" meets Shania. As I've said before, she's been hit and miss with me. She has the talent, I just don't think that she's quite hit on it yet. Most of her songs seem detached and insincere (especially her ballads, except "I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today" and "Come to Bed").

Agreed.

She's had some good stuff.

My problem is that when she hits on a good song that's not like Redneck Woman, it's like they're practically screaming "HEY. LOOK AT HOW DIFFERENT THIS SONG IS FROM REDNECK WOMAN!" which kind of ruins any effect it has.

Maybe that's just me, but she needs to be different for the sake of being better, not different for the sake of being different.

[jessy89]

Mar 8, 2009 21:09:44 GMT -5 change4change said:

I feel like she's too country for country radio, and that's unfortunate. Because she makes great country music.

Well yeah your right she does make great music and actually she shows people what country is suppose to be Plus she never lets anybody change her she don't give a damn what people think of her n that is why she is better than any artist on the country radio!!!!!!!

[jessy89]

Apr 26, 2009 16:45:51 GMT -5 pipi said:

btw, her version of The Midnight Oil was amazing, and could certainly have revived her career had she released it.

Her label does not suck, people like you do! THat is why gretchen makes songs like she does because she don't care what anybody has to say about her that is why she is a good artist woman and person so don't bullshit her.

[jessy89]

Apr 26, 2009 19:45:13 GMT -5 joey2002 said:

she is one of the few country artists that drive me crazy...lol...every song seems to sound like "redneck woman".

That is because she don't let anyone change who she is. She stays the same person but everybody else makes music just to get on top she makes music to prove a point that by being yourself you can still be somebody. So if she drives you crazy don't listen to her and their won't be a problem but she is still going to make it big because she has fans all over the world.

[jessy89]

Apr 27, 2009 11:02:26 GMT -5 mairy said:

I haven't really like any of her singles since "Come To Bed". I still love that one.

Maybe because you need to stay in the bed n never come out because blondes like you don't understand her songs its nobodys fault but yours I mean gretchen had an eigth grade education and is smarter than u!( which now she has her GED)