“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.
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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.
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+