Music Friday: Tommy Proposes With a Class Ring in 1991's 'She's in Love With the Boy'
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In Trisha Yearwood's chart-topping single, "She's In Love With the Boy," the parking lot of a Tastee-Freez is the setting for the class-ring marriage proposal of a smitten teen. Written by Jon Ims and released on Yearwood's self-titled debut album in 1991, "She's In Love With the Boy" chronicles the love story of Katie and Tommy — teenage sweethearts living in a one-horse town. Tommy loves speeding around town in his beat-up pickup truck. Katie's dad isn't impressed by the young man's showboating, claiming, "When it comes to brains, he got the short end of the stick." Still, Katie doesn't care what her dad thinks. She'd follow Tommy anywhere. Even if they have to run away together, "she's going to marry that boy someday." Katie finally gets her wish when her lovestruck boyfriend proposes after a romantic evening at a drive-in movie. Yearwood sings, "Later on outside the Tastee-Freez / Tommy slips something on her hand / He says my high school ring will have to do / 'Til I can buy a wedding band." Katie's dad is furious when Tommy and Katie come sneaking up the walk at half past 12. He orders Katie to go to her room and is just about to give Tommy a piece of his mind when Katie's mom intervenes. She reminds her husband that he and Tommy are very much alike. Her own father disapproved of their relationship and mocked her then-boyfriend as a hay-seed plowboy who didn't have a row to hoe. "But he was wrong and, honey, you are too," Yearwood sings. "Katie looks at Tommy like I still look at you." When "She's In Love With the Boy" topped the U.S. Billboard Country chart, Yearwood became the first female singer to reach #1 with her debut single. The song would help rocket her to stardom. Patricia Lynn “Trisha” Yearwood was born in 1964 in Monticello, Ga., to a school teacher mom and a banker dad. She got her big break as a 21-year-old when she interned for — and was then hired by — MTM Records, which was founded by the late Mary Tyler Moore. While working for MTM, Yearwood sang background vocals for new artists, including Garth Brooks. “I got work based on the fact that I showed up on time, I worked cheap, I knew the songs when I got there and I sang on pitch,” Yearwood told People magazine in 2015. The 55-year-old Yearwood has been a cast member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1999. Her work has earned three Grammy Awards, three awards from the Academy of Country Music and three awards from the Country Music Association. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. In 2005, she married Brooks, her longtime friend and collaborator. Brooks admitted on The Ellen Show that there had always been an undeniable chemistry between the pair. Her Food Network cooking show, Trisha's Southern Kitchen, won a 2013 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Program and is now in its 12th season. Please check out Yearwood’s live performance of "She's In Love With the Boy." The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along… "She's In Love With the Boy" Written by Jon Ims. Performed by Trisha Yearwood. Katie's sittin' on the old front porch Watchin' the chickens peck the ground There ain't a whole lot goin' on tonight In this one-horse town Over yonder comin' up the road In a beat-up Chevy truck Her boyfriend Tommy, he's layin' on the horn Splashin' through the mud and the muck Her daddy says he ain't worth a lick When it comes to brains, he got the short end of the stick But Katie's young and man, she just don't care She'd follow Tommy anywhere She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy And even if they have to run away She's gonna marry that boy someday Katie and Tommy at the drive-in movie Parked in the very last row They're too busy holdin' on to one another To even care about the show Later on outside the Tastee-Freez Tommy slips something on her hand He says my high school ring will have to do 'Til I can buy a wedding band Her daddy says he ain't worth a lick When it comes to brains, he got the short end of the stick But Katie's young and man, she just don't care She'd follow Tommy anywhere She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy And even if they have to run away She's gonna marry that boy someday Her daddy's waitin' up 'til half past twelve When they come sneakin' up the walk He says young lady get on up to your room While me and Junior have a talk Mama breaks in, says don't lose your temper It wasn't very long ago When you yourself was just a hay-seed plowboy Who didn't have a row to hoe My daddy said you wasn't worth a lick When it came to brains you got the short end of the stick But he was wrong and, honey, you are too Katie looks at Tommy like I still look at you She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy What's meant to be will always find a way She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy She's in love with the boy What's meant to be will always find a way She's gonna marry that boy someday She's in love with the boy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfjzboZumS0&feature=emb_logo Credit: DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley / Public domain.
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