Music With A Message Billy Yates’ New Song About A Recovering Alcoholic’s Apology To His Wife Has People Listening
You’ve heard the current buzz song, Bob Carlisle’s father-daughter ode, “Butterfly Kisses,” and about how people have responded to it emotionally.
But there’s another song that might be poised to take over as the talk song of the moment.
It’s “Flowers,” by country singer/songwriter Billy Yates, an artist who has waited 10 years to land his first hit since leaving his Missouri home for Nashville. “Flowers” introduces a recovering alcoholic who apologizes to his wife for all the things he overlooked because of the bottle.
“I should’ve took you dancin’/A little candlelight romancin’ with roses/But I was high upon a bar stool.”
We then learn that the wife has left the husband, and he’s eager to bring her up to date on his sobriety:
“Oh, I wish that you could see me/Steady hands without the whiskey, you’d be so proud/Got that job down at the factory/A brand new suit for Sundays, I’m in church now.”
Then, halfway through, the “wow” part hits. It’s when we find out just how she has left him:
“I still see you on your knees/Beggin’ me not to drive/But I took away the keys/And made you climb inside/I’d take your place in this field of stone/If I only had the power.
“Look what it took for me to finally bring you flowers.”
Powerful stuff, and people are listening. After four weeks, the ballad has climbed to No. 41 on Billboard’s Country Tracks chart - the kind of leap usually reserved for major stars, or at the very least, for novelty up-tempo hits.
“Flowers,” from Yates’ self-titled debut CD, was not seriously considered until radio programmers demanded its early release. Yates, 34, said he knew he had a special song as soon as he and co-songwriter Monty Criswell finished composing it last year.
“We were in the middle of writing another song for the album, ‘When the Walls Come Tumblin’ Down,’ and we were taking a break. He ran this idea by me and it blew me away,” Yates said from his Nashville home. “I love songs that say something, and this had the potential to have a great message. What could have been a typical writing session turned into an emotional journey.”
Like “Butterfly Kisses,” “Flowers” strikes a nerve.
“At the time we were writing ‘Flowers,’ I didn’t know of anybody (who had lost a spouse to drunken driving),” Yates says. “After the single came out I’ve gotten to know some people that have been there and became even closer to (the song). You realize what a terrible thing (drunken driving) is.”
Of course, this leads you to wonder if Yates is listening to the other part of his message and showering his wife, Nancy, with flowers. You bet.
“She’s real excited and hugely supportive,” Yates says. “Last fall we decided to go after another record deal - we decided to give it another shot. As it turned out, it worked.”
xxxx ‘Flowers’ has company in sentimental category By Howard Cohen Miami Herald “Flowers” isn’t the first contemporary song to feature a surprise ending that’s either moving or maudlin, depending on how cynical you are. Here’s a few: “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast,” Wayne Newton (1972): Before we learned it isn’t always best to stay together for the kids, Newton sang about a father leaving his wife. Young daughter runs after him sobbing, “Daddy, don’t you walk so fast!” and he has a change of heart. “The Last Game of the Season (A Blind Man in the Bleachers),” David Geddes (1975): A mediocre young football player does more benchwarming than scoring, but his proud and blind dad sits in the stands at every game just waiting to hear his son’s name. One day dad’s not there and the son scores the winning touchdown when he steps in for a hurt player. Coach asks what got into him, and we find out his father had just died. “It’s the first time he’s seen me play,” he tells his coach. “She Thinks His Name Was John,” Reba McEntire (1994): A woman engages in a one-night-stand with a stranger who ends up “killing her hopes and dreams” by giving her HIV. “Independence Day,” Martina McBride (1994): A wife’s only way out of a domestic violence situation is to burn down her house with her husband trapped inside. The song’s narrator, standing outside the burning house, is the couple’s young daughter. “Don’t Take the Girl,” Tim McGraw (1994): A boy’s father wants to take the neighborhood girl on their fishing trip. “Don’t take the girl,” son pleads. Cooties and all that. He later falls in love with the girl and we follow them through adulthood to the time she’s dying, and he pleads with God, “Don’t take the girl.” This one really works your gag reflex.