3 Heartbreaking George Jones Songs That Feel Autobiographical

The mid-70s were a great time for George Jones creatively, but personally, he was on the struggle bus. Here are a few songs released during that time that sound like reflections on things that he was dealing with then.

“The Grand Tour”

Many listeners have interpreted this song as a song about divorce. This take is interesting, considering it was released right in the middle of Jones’ marital troubles with singer Tammy Wynette.

The first time that Wynette filed for divorce from Jones was in 1973, as an attempt to motivate him to stop drinking. In 1974, “The Grand Tour” was released as the title track to his album and became his sixth No. 1. The couple divorced the year after that, officially.

“The Grand Tour” describes a house in great detail, where love was once at the center. It’s really pretty chilling if you pay attention to the lyrics.

Straight ahead, that’s the bed
Where we’d lay in love together
And Lord knows we had a good thing going here
See her picture on the table
Don’t it look like she’d be able
Just to touch me and say good morning dear.

“The Door”

Similar to “The Grand Tour”, “The Door” sings of a man who is scarred after being left by his love. This one was also released in 1974. “The Door” sings about a former soldier who is likely traumatized from the vulgarities of war. He finds the sound of his lover leaving him, a.k.a., the sound of “the door” closing, all the more traumatizing.

“And the earthquake, storms and guns and wars / Lord, nothing has ever hurt me more / Than that lonely sound the closing of the door.”

“These Days (I Barely Get By)”

“These Days (I Barely Get By)” is a ridiculously sad song, even for Jones.

In fact, according to Rich Kienzel, this one actually does mirror Jones’ divorce from Wynette quite a bit.

“Two days after he recorded it on December 11, 1974, he left Tammy,” Kienzel explains in The Essential George Jones: The Spirit Of Country. “This time she didn’t withdraw her divorce petition. The divorce was granted, property divided, and George was left as one of those mournful souls he sang about in ‘The Grand Tour.’”

Photo by: David Redfern/Redferns

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