“Where I Come From”
Alan Jackson
Written by Alan Jackson
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
October 5 – October 12, 2001
Billboard
#1 (3 weeks)
October 13 – October 20, 2001
November 3, 2001
Alan Jackson once told a story about how his dad spoke of relatives who’d moved a few counties north in Georgia had basically left the country. His dad didn’t like to wander too far from home, and that was simply too far from home for him to visit.
It felt like Jackson was channeling his dad on “Where I Come From,” a raucous fish out of water tale that has Jackson suffering indignities from coast to coast. Each time fate strikes against him, whether it’s in New Jersey, Detroit, Ventura, or Tulsa, he does a redneck spin on “There’s no place like home,” as if evoking the following can transport him back to Georgia:
‘Cause where I come from, it’s cornbread and chickenWhere I come from, a lotta front porch pickin’Where I come from, tryin’ to make a livin’And workin’ hard to get to heavenWhere I come from
Are the folks he met in other parts of the country any different? Of course not. But the dude’s homesick, and he makes a hell of a case for taking a staycation next time.
Jackson’s dad would certainly agree.
“Where I Come From” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
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I always thought that the second verse was oddly rude. Dude, she just asked how your food was; no need to insult her.
The third verse is even worse. Why does he reject the woman because she doesn’t “sing soprano”? Is that a tacit admission that women who aren’t conventionally feminine? A tasteless “California is full of queers” joke?
The slant rhymes are horrendous here too. Rhyming “Ventura” with “had to use my finger”, whatever that means, is awful writing imo.
I also feel this song is too long. I’d have no problem if it were just verses one and four, as the groove is pretty solid even if it over stays its welcome.
Accidentally ended the sentence too soon. I meant to write “that women who aren’t conventionally feminine aren’t worth his time”.
I seriously doubt that he intended to be misogynistic or LGBT-phobic in that line, but it’s just a singularly puzzling line to me that I can’t come up with a more charitable read.
I’m not sure if it was meant to be LGBT-phobic but when I heard the song for the first time, I did think it sounded like the woman was trans or even a drag queen.
That said, I do like the song overall. But that line did give me pause.
After an oddly extended stretch of covers in the previous two or three years, Alan Jackson finally returns to form with an excellent song that was right in his creative wheelhouse yet still managing to sound fresh and vibrant. Just as Brooks and Dunn and Travis Tritt were having a renaissance, so was Alan Jackson….and I loved it. This song would be an easy A based on its groove and mostly clever lyrics, but I agree with Bobby here. When I teased last week about upcoming #1s from 2001 that were stymied by a single problematic lyric or verse, this was one I was talking about….
Was the third verse intended to be transphobic or simply brutishly insulting to a tall or unattractive woman? And one who stopped to help him with his broken-down car for that matter?!?! Either way, it left a really bad taste in my mouth and still does. Unlike Bobby, I don’t have a problem with the second verse. Conveying to a waitress that the diner’s biscuits aren’t as good as his mama’s comes with the territory of running an eating establishment. As a listener, hearing that the biscuits are better than the “finger-licking” commercial establishment makes me want to experience life “where he comes from”. But listening to him insult the appearance of a complete stranger trying to be friendly to him makes me want no part of where he came from! It’s still a great song, but I tend to do a “la-la-la-la” in my head for that third verse.
Grade: B+
Trying again because my last comment didnt go through.
Solid single, its got a good groove and instrumentation, with all the fiddle and dashes of harmonica (or jaw harp im not sure), and those guitar solos are smokin. Questionabkle thiord verse I got no complaints
But the third verse really does make me think…
…guess with mama’s bisquit filling his cheeks already, there just wasn’t any room left for a little bit of tongue. one of the few examples where aj’s obnoxious side shines through.
This is a song I have always loved at the same time I know I shouldn’t. Yes, it’s infectious, but it’s insulting in more ways than one.
I hate political correctness but that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize offensive statements. The 3rd verse is a least a tad homophobic (although we can never know the true intent). I also hate the sentiment of the South that they are better than everyone else. I grew up in the mid-west but lived for over 20 years in Nashville. It’s no friendlier than anywhere else but yet the constantly brag on how great they are. To me that’s the opposite of hospitality. I have never liked bragging. This song does a bit too much of where I come from is simply the best.
In having to weigh the song’s infectious production and fun play on words with the insulting lyrics is hard. I will give it a “C+”
Between business travels, frequent moves as a military brat and some vacations I’ve taken, I’ve been in 48 of the states missing only Maine and Alaska. As a generalization I’ve found folks friendlier in the “flyover states” than in the coastal states; however, that is only a broad generalization. I have met plenty of nice people and some jerks everywhere.
Back when this song was new, I did not pay much attention to the third verse, but I can see where more would find it troubling today. It is not my favorite Alan Jackson song – I would give it a “B”
Not to risk a full-on pile-on here, but I’m aligned with most of the commenters on this. The overall tone of this song struck me as one of claiming moral superiority from the first time I heard it. And I’ve shared a few stories about my drag-performing uncle here over the years, and that third verse was and is homophobic. This is the Alan Jackson who walked his ass out of the CMAs when Beyonce and The Chicks were on stage.
He’s a legend and rightfully so– even this smug bit of cultural warfare showcases his gifts for a melody and a hook– but, like many other genre heroes, there are elements of his persona and his work that are very troublesome. This was the single where that started to become clear.
I think verses one and four don’t bother me as much because the other characters are making comments at him and not vice-versa.
I’ve had some… bizarre interpretations of song lyrics before, so I worried my interpretation of the third verse might be way off base. So it’s heartening to see that others agree with the nature of that verse. It’s probably the first single in his career where an individual lyric gave me pause, and sadly it’s not the last.
Also, your uncle sounds badass.
Eh, I don’t here the moral superiority Jonathan is claiming. The narrator is obviously a trucker, so I just see it as someone whose homesickness is rubbing off on him. I’ve always liked this one, but it’s not high on my list of Alan Jackson favorites. But that’s a very high bar to clear regardless.
I’m with the majority of the commenters. This has never been one of my favorite Alan Jackson songs, though I’ve been known to sometimes enjoy it depending on my mood because of its fun groove. The problematic third verse does keeps me from fully enjoying it, though.
Like Toby Keith’s “I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight,” the first time I ever heard “Where I Come From” was when Alan performed it on the 2001 ACM awards when my step dad and I were watching it that night. While Toby’s song provided a pretty country sounding introduction to the show, my step dad wasn’t very impressed with most of the other performances, so far, and was complaining that a lot of them weren’t very country sounding. When we saw that Alan Jackson was coming up next, I was sure we’d both get to enjoy his performance, since he always liked “AJ”, which was what he always called him. I was hoping he would be performing his then still current hit “When Somebody Loves You,” which I loved. However, as soon as he got to the first chorus of “Where I Come From,” I remember not being very impressed so far, which was disappointing since it was Alan who I’d had high expectations from by then. It was pretty different than what I was used to hearing from him up to that point, and the song’s melody just wasn’t doing it for me, and neither was the repetitive, uninteresting listy chorus. It was also missing the signature steel guitar, which I’d come to love and expect from AJ. Even my step dad seemed mostly “so so” about it.
Once again, I was obviously in the minority at the time, because almost as soon as I started hearing “Where I Come From” on the radio, there was almost no getting away from it. It was HUGE in our area. It even had the honor of winning the Smackdown Rodeo Champion title on WMZQ, and I remember after the station played “Where I Come From” while listeners were busy voting on a different round of the “smackdown,” the DJ reminded everyone that the song was a previous champion earlier in the summer. I remember every time it came on the radio in the car while my mom was riding with us, she would always complain about him repeating “where I come from” at the end, lol.
“Where I Come From” mainly reminds me of when my biological dad and I often went to the barbeque restaurant, Famous Dave’s, for dinner, which we had been doing ever since that place opened in our area in 2000. I especially remember the “cornbread and chicken” line in the chorus always reminding me of the cornbread muffin and barbeque chicken I’d often get at Dave’s, lol. I also remember around the time the song was still fairly new on the radio, one of the DJs was talking about some sort of meeting or get together that Alan was hosting, and the event featured food that was mentioned in his songs, such as cornbread and chicken and grape snow cones. When I heard that, I pictured the cornbread muffins and barbeque chicken at Famous Dave’s, lol. And each time I’d hear that part of the chorus in the song, it would often make me hungry for barbeque, lol.
Despite it still not being one of my favorite AJ songs at the time, I would occasionally enjoy it for its fun groove, and it at least stood out in his discography since it was the first time I heard him take on the role as a trucker in a song, and the fast paced conversational style of the verses was also something different for him. Whenever I’d hear the verse that talks about his biscuit at the restaurant not being “like Mama fixed it,” it made me think of a mini biography I read on Lee Ann Womack in which she said one of her favorite foods was her mom’s biscuits and her least favorite food being her own biscuits, lol. And for some reason, the final verse about him being asked if he was from Tulsa and then he answers “Naw, but you might’ve seen me there. Just dropped a load of salsa” would always make me laugh, lol. When I hear those slide guitar solos throughout the song, it makes me picture him driving all over the country in his semi. And am I the only one who always thought it sounded a like a low pitched horn/saxophone was playing in the intro?
As for that third verse, at the time in 2001, with my still pretty naive mind, I simply thought he was actually referring to a tall woman who had a deep alto voice. And it never made sense to me why he rejected her because of that, nor did I know what he meant by “back home we like the girls who sing soprano.” I mostly just shrugged it off as an awkwardly written verse. But now, ever since I’ve become much more aware and knowledgeable about the transgender community and the LGBTQ folks in general (I’m one of them myself) in the last 15 years, and how much respect I have for that community, I’m afraid that verse just doesn’t sit too well with me these days. While I’m still not sure if it was actually meant to be written in an intentionally hateful way, since the song generally comes off as lighthearted to me in its approach, the “back home we like the girls who sing soprano” line does read like a slap in the face to me. And especially with the transgender community receiving as much backlash and hate as it has been in more recent times, I can honestly say that part of the song makes me uncomfortable. Heck, no matter if she was trans or not, that still would’ve been a rude reply, anyway. A simple “No thank you, Mam” would’ve been fine.
I do like and respect Kevin’s and CJ’s take on the song with the narrator simply being a fish out of water and being homesick, which is likely what Alan was going for in this song. Still doesn’t make that third verse less problematic for me though, unfortunately.
On the other hand, this song’s parent album, When Somebody Loves You, is another solid album from Alan during the late 90s/early 2000s period. I especially always loved the title track, which I wish went to number one. It’s definitely one of his best Don Williams influenced ballads, imo, and it always brings back great memories from the Spring of 2001. From that album I also love: “I Still Love You,” “Maybe I Should Stay Here,” “Life Or Love,” “The Thrill Is Back,” and “A Love Like That.” I even enjoy the late 2000 single “www.memory.” While it’s a bit gimmicy lyrically, I’ve always loved it’s melody and very traditional sounding style.
2000s Alan Jackson, as far as singles go, is pretty much a mixed bag for me, and this song is the start of when the singles he released to radio started becoming either hit or miss for me, as opposed to the 90s when nearly everything he sent to radio was gold. As the decade went on, especially by the mid-late 2000s, I started growing weary of the novelty ditties he was seemingly relying on too often to keep him relevant on the radio, with “Country Boy” and “Good Time” being two of the worst offenders off the top of my head. That being said, the albums themselves mostly remained high quality, with plenty of great non-singles to be found on them.
You mention Famous Dave’s. I went to college with the son of “Famous Dave”, whose restaurant chain was really start to take off in 1996 when I was in school with him. I knew the guy a fair bit as he was in a couple of highly interactive classes with him, but he ended up as the best man at the wedding of a buddy of mine from college. Just a quick little interesting anecdote.
That’s pretty neat! :) I love that restaurant, though unfortunately we haven’t been able to go there in a while. There are/were pictures of “Famous Dave” all over the walls in the waiting area. Always liked the blues and Cajun music they usually played inside.
Compared to some of the hopefully #1 songs Alan Jackson had in the 2000’s this doesn’t hold up. I would give it a B and I never really noticed the lyrics in this song but it’s not his best lyric.
It is comforting to know I was not alone at how poorly the lyrics from this hit landed with me at the time.
The lyrics sounded falsely modest and humble, with an uncomfortable sharp edge to them intended to draw blood and hurt.
Jackson was country royalty at the time so he was almost above criticism, even when he went wrong as badly as he does here.
One of the powers of retrospection is the ability to call bullshit the second time around.
This wasn’t cool, and it is even grosser for how subtly cruel it actually is.
It is sort of yucky.