Opryland

Album: Tiny Televisions (2020)

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about iconic country music star Dottie West and the price that people pay for fame and fortune.

    West was born October 11, 1932, in Smithville, Tennessee. From 1963 to the early 1980s, West enjoyed massive success, first as a traditional country music singer and then as a country pop singer. Her career started to peter out in the mid-'80s as trouble entered her personal life and financial ruin descended upon her.

    By the time August 30, 1991 rolled around, she was broke and faded from the public eye but determined to mount a comeback. Part of that comeback was going to be a performance at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lived in an apartment in the Wessex Towers.

    West's car, which country music legend Kenny Rogers had given her after the IRS repossessed all her stuff, broke down. She got a ride from her neighbor, 81-year-old George Thackston.

    Thackston had been drinking. West urged him to drive as fast possible. Turning off the Briley Parkway onto the Opryland exit ramp, Thackston lost control of the car. The resulting crash left Thackston clearly injured but West seemingly OK, so much so that she initially refused treatment until Thackston was taken care of.

    As was soon discovered, West had actually suffered severe internal trauma. A series of operations failed to save her, and she died at 9:43 am on September 4, 1991.

    In West's death, Granville Automatic saw a story about the price people will pay for fame and fortune, something they both know well personally.
  • Vanessa Olivarez and Elizabeth Elkins (the two core members of Granville Automatic) wrote this song along with fiddle-player Bethany Dick-Olds. In their interview with Songfacts, Olivarez and Elkins called Dick-Olds their "honorary third member."

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