Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you classic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Patsy Cline plays the role of a jilted lover who reminisces about a special class ring and other cherished mementos of a relationship gone bad in her 1962 chart-topper, “She’s Got You.”
She sings, “I’ve got your class ring that proved you cared / And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear / The only thing different, the only thing new / I’ve got these little things, she’s got you.”
Songwriter Hank Cochran told Cline biographer Ellis Nassour that in 1961 he called the country star and told her he’d just written her next #1 hit. Cline invited Cochran to come over to her house and play the song on guitar.
She immediately fell in love with the song and learned it that same night. Excitedly, she called her producer, Owen Bradley, and sang it to him on the phone. At that point, Cline and Bradley were certain they had a winner — and they did.
Originally a #1 country hit for Cline in 1962, “She’s Got You” has been covered by an all-star group of music artists, including Rosanne Cash, LeAnn Rimes, Timi Yuro, Jimmy Buffet, Lee Ann Womack and Loretta Lynn.
And the song still has legs.
A 17-year-old Emily Ann Roberts sang “She’s Got You” on The Voice in September of 2015. The Season 9 finalist’s rousing rendition earned accolades from coach Blake Shelton and helped launch her career. “She’s Got You” was so well received by the viewers of The Voice that the song made it into the iTunes Top 10 and ascended to #21 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley in 1932, Cline is often cited as one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and the first country music artist to cross over to pop. Just one year after “She’s Got You” was released, Cline tragically died in an airplane crash near Camden, TN. She was 30 years old.
We know you will enjoy the audio track of Cline’s performance of “She’s Got You.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“She’s Got You”
Written by Hank Cochran. Performed by Patsy Cline.
I’ve got your picture that you gave to me
And it’s signed with love, just like it used to be
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got your picture, she’s got you
I’ve got the records that we used to share
And they still sound the same as when you were here
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got the records, she’s got you
I’ve got your memory, or has it got me
I really don’t know, but I know it won’t let me be
I’ve got your class ring that proved you cared
And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got these little things, she’s got you
I’ve got your memory, or has it got me
I really don’t know, but I know it won’t let me be
I’ve got your class ring that proved you cared
And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got these little things, she’s got you
Credit: Image by Shanecollinswiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
