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Song Stories

“Don't Get Me Wrong”

The Pretenders | 1986

A lively, throbbing, insistent beat paced Chrissie Hynde's declaration of the thrilling sensations she felt when in someone's proximity, glowing interwoven guitar and keyboard riffs mirroring her mood. While it seemed on the surface to be a love song, if a somewhat indirect one, Hynde said that she had tennis star John McEnroe in mind when she wrote it. "He was always getting in trouble in those days, but was such a nice guy when you got to know him," she reflected. "I imagined him singing it."

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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