B-side "Hold On" Genre Country Label ABC | Released February 1979 Length 2:33 Writer(s) John Conlee | |
"Backside of Thirty" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist John Conlee. It was released in February 1979 as the third single from the album Rose Colored Glasses. "Backside of Thirty" was John Conlee's third country hit and second number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of eleven weeks on the country chart.
Content
The song is about a working man whose dreams of family life and the American dream come undone after a particularly acrimonious divorce. With his ex-wife and young son having left him, the man bemoans his brokeness, despair and solace in the bottle. When friends ask him about how things are going, he puts up his bravado, saying things are fine, although he admits "my eyes tell a story that my lies can't hide."