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Tear Jerker / George Jones

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This legendary country singer has plenty of depressing songs.


  • "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is one of the saddest songs in country music, which is really saying something.
  • "Choices" is sung from the perspective of a man who has ruined his life through alcohol addiction, and begins to realize this his predicament is his own doing. Simply put, it is a heartrending tearjerker of a song about how we all must live with the consequences of the decisions we make in life, a sentiment that seems especially credible coming from a reformed hellraiser like George.
    • Fans consider "Choices" to be the equal of any of his classic hits, and certainly the best of the late phase of his career. So it's pretty sad that he was relegated to a minor appearance at an awards show to perform a truncated version. It bothered him so much that he eventually refused to do it at all. Although it did lead to a heartwarming moment when Alan Jackson sacrificed some of his own song on the show to perform "Choices" in honor of Jones and in protest of his treatment.
  • The narrator of "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)" is on the verge of drinking himself to death after realizing that he will never overcome the pain associated with his ex's memory.
  • The narrator of "The Grand Tour" takes his listener on a tour of his house, only for the listener to suspect something is amiss and for the narrator to reveal the truth in the startling climax.
  • "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes?" mourns the fact that the legends of country music are one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable.
  • His duet with Tammy Wynette, "Golden Ring", is a devastating account of a man and woman from engagement to marriage to divorce. Jones and Wynette being freshly divorced themselves when they recorded it just adds more layers of sadness to the song.
  • The podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones has dedicated the entire second season to George Jones' career, and has many sad stories related mostly to his substance abuse. Among such stories are his unrequited love for duet partner Melba Montgomery, which made the song "Walk Through This World With Me" miserable for him to sing because it felt like him hopelessly proposing to Melba when he knew she would never say yes. Then you get to the cocaine abuse years, and his absolutely pathetic life during that time. He was so out of control that he had developed two other personalities, the Old Man and Deedoodle the duck (who spoke and sang in a weird Donald Duck impression). Once he was given the opportunity to perform in New York in front of a crowd of important press and celebrities, and he actually showed up to perform. When he forgot the words to a song, he slipped into the Deedoodle personality and quacked his way through the set- and despite it sounding goofy, this was not funny in any way. Jones was helpless to stop it, and was weeping his way through the set as the audience slowly left. Probably the most heartbreaking part is that everybody still loved him and constantly forgave him, removing any incentive to dig himself out of the pit he had dug himself into.

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