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"Friends In Low Places" by Garth Brooks (No Fences, 1990)

Grooves of Change: Digital Art by Shawn Michel de Montaigne





Friends in Low Places

Garth Brooks




~~*~~




Blame it all on my roots

I showed up in boots

And ruined your black-tie affair

The last one to know

The last one to show

I was the last one you thought you'd see there

And I saw the surprise

And the fear in his eyes

When I took his glass of champagne

And I toasted you

Said, "Honey, we may be through"

But you'll never hear me complain


'Cause I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

And I'll be okay

I'm not big on social graces

Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis

So I've got friends in low places


Well I guess I was wrong

I just don't belong

But then, I've been there before

Everything's all right

I'll just say goodnight

And I'll show myself to the door

Hey, I didn't mean

To cause a big scene

Just give me an hour and then

Well I'll be as high as that ivory tower

That you're livin' in


'Cause I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

And I'll be okay

Yeah, I'm not big on social graces

Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis

So I've got friends in low places


I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

And I'll be okay

Yeah, I'm not big on social graces

Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis

So I've got friends in low places


I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

And I'll be okay

I'm not big on social graces

Think I'll slip on down to the Oasis

So I've got friends in low places


Yeah, I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

And I'll be okay




~~*~~

In 1981 I was invited to a wedding.

My ex-girlfriend's wedding.

The very girl I had broken up with barely

a year earlier.


I broke up with her because, on a trip

to Hawai'i with her BYU swimming team,

she had, let's say, made herself

very familiar with lots of guys.

I know this because on a recruiting trip

to the University of Wyoming

the boys and I got very drunk.

They started talking.

They started talking about their trip

to Hawai'i for that same invitational,

and the "hot" BYU chick who was just

"giving it away."

Something like four of them had "gotten some."


They described her in ... intimate detail.

They had no idea I had been dating that same girl

most of my high-school years.

None at all, as a matter of fact.

When it became clear that they were

talking about her, I remember sobering up

really fast. Almost instantly, actually.

They were trying to remember her name.

And then one of them blurted it out.

The others laughed and said,

"Yeah! That's right! That's her!"


I went home, and a day later dumped her ass long distance.


I thought that was the end of her, that I wouldn't

have to think of her ever again.

But there it was--a wedding invitation.


"She's trying to rub it in your face," my mom muttered angrily.

"She doesn't think in a million years that you'll show up."


So that's what I did.


You should've seen her face as she walked up the aisle

and saw me sitting there.

I'll never forget it.

Later, in the reception line--

and this is true, every fucking word--

she grabbed me when I got to her and

laid one on me. No shit.

Open mouth, tongue, the works.

Her brand spankin' new husband was right next to her.

Lucky guy.

I actually remember feeling sorry for him.


To finish this tale,

as I was leaving,

her mother came up to me and grabbed me

and bear hugged me and cried:

"How I wish it was you! How I wish it was you!"


I think of her every now and then

and thank Fuck and his Glittering Golden Calf

that it wasn't me.






~~*~~


Digital Art: Grooves of Change by yours truly





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