Paint Me A Birmingham
"Paint Me A Birmingham" is a hit country song written by Buck Moore and Gary Duffey.
The song was first recorded in 2003 by Tracy Lawrence for a planned album on Warner Brothers. That album was never released and the opportunity passed to Ken Mellons. He collaborated with Vince Gill on a single which was released on August 7 of that same year and later appeared on his 2004 album Sweet. The single peaked at #54 in the Billboard Hot Country list.
Based on the popularity of Mellons' version the earlier Tracy Lawrence recording was dusted off for his 2004 Dreamworks album Strong. Lawrence's version reached #4 on the Hot Country list and #42 on Billboard's Hot 100. It was his first Top 5 hit since 2000's "Lessons Learned".
In the song, the narrator meets an artist painting ocean scenes on the beach. He asks the artist to compose a scene based on his mental picture of plans that he and a former lover had made, but never realized. The chorus is:
- "Paint me a Birmingham
- Make it look just the way I planned
- A little house on the edge of town
- Porch goin' all the way around
- Put her there in the front yard swing
- Cotton dress, make it early spring
- For awhile she'll be mine again
- If you can paint me a Birmingham."
The competing singles prompted some press comparing the two, with most critics favoring Mellons' more emotion-filled performance. The song was parodied as "Bake Me a Country Ham" in Cledus T. Judd's 2005 album Bipolar and Proud.
References
- Allison, Michael (n.d.) "Battle for Birmingham: Ken Mellons or Tracy Lawrence? Who will win?" About.com - accessed May 6, 2009