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Paint Me a Birmingham

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"Paint Me a Birmingham"
Single by Tracy Lawrence
from the album Strong
ReleasedOctober 13, 2003
GenreCountry
Length3:47
LabelDreamWorks Nashville 14205
Songwriter(s)Buck Moore
Gary Duffy
Producer(s)James Stroud
Tracy Lawrence singles chronology
"What a Memory"
(2002)
"Paint Me a Birmingham"
(2003)
"It's All How You Look at It"
(2004)

"Paint Me a Birmingham" is a song written by Buck Moore and Gary Duffy. It was concurrently released by American country music artists Ken Mellons and Tracy Lawrence, whose versions entered the country charts within one week of each other. Lawrence's was the more successful of the two, reaching #4 in May 2004 and becoming his first Top 5 country hit since "Lessons Learned" in April 2000.[1]

Content

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The narrator/singer describes an encounter with an artist who is painting ocean scenes. The singer asks the painter to paint a picture of the life the man had planned, or imagined, before losing the woman he loved. Specifically, he describes the house, a Birmingham-style house,[2] and a scene where he and his love are together again. The song is in the key of G-flat major, modulating up to A-flat major at the last chorus, with a vocal range from A3 to D5.[3]

Music video

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The music video was filmed live in concert.

Chart positions

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Ken Mellons

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Chart (2003) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4] 54

Tracy Lawrence

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Chart (2003-2004) Peak
position
Canada Country (Radio & Records)[5] 10
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[6] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 42

Year-end charts

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Chart (2004) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 28

Parodies

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On his 2004 album Bipolar and Proud, country music parodist and comedian Cledus T. Judd parodied the song as "Bake Me a Country Ham", featuring guest vocals from Tracy Lawrence. Judd's parody reached #58 on the country music charts.

References

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  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. ^ "I Just Found Out That Tracy Lawrence's "Paint Me a Birmingham" Isn't About the City in Alabama". 24 November 2020.
  3. ^ "'Paint Me a Birmingham' sheet music". Musicnotes.com. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Ken Mellons Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  5. ^ Radio & Records: June 4, 2004, page 49 worldradiohistory.com
  6. ^ "Tracy Lawrence Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  7. ^ "Tracy Lawrence Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  8. ^ "Best of 2004: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2012.