Ballad of Forty Dollars explained

Ballad of Forty Dollars
Type:single
Artist:Tom T. Hall
Album:Ballad of Forty Dollars and His Other Great Songs
B-Side:Highways
Released:October 28, 1968
Recorded:September 1, 1968
Columbia Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre:Country
Length:3:09
Label:Mercury 72863
Producer:Jerry Kennedy
Prev Title:I Ain't Got the Time
Prev Year:1968
Next Title:Strawberry Farms
Next Year:1969

"Ballad of Forty Dollars" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Tom T. Hall. It was released in October 1968 as the fourth and final single from the album of the same name, Ballad of Forty Dollars. The song was Hall's first top 10 on the U.S. country singles chart, peaking at number 4 on both the U.S. chart and the Canadian country singles chart.[1]

Content

The song is narrated by a cemetery caretaker. He observes the funeral of a man and the people coming bid him farewell, the preacher, the great-uncle’s limousine, his grieving wife, the military "Taps" (as he probably was a war veteran), and the gossip about his estate.

Background

Hall took this song, as many of his hits, from personal experience; he was working with his aunt on a cemetery and was observing many funerals and the people coming, then talking about the guy who owed him 40 dollars. He said: "You're certainly not going to go to the widow and collect it. I guess it's lost."[2]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 149.
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20130322035350/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1506920/in-the-words-of-tom-t-hall.jhtml In the Words of Tom T. Hall ...