Released November 8, 1993 Genre Country Label Epic | Recorded 1993 Length 4:35 (album version) | |
B-side "Somewhere Under the Rainbow" | ||
"John Deere Green" is a song written by Dennis Linde, and recorded by American country music artist Joe Diffie. It was released in November 1993 as the third single from his album Honky Tonk Attitude. The song peaked at number 5 on the country charts.
Contents
Content
The song is a moderate up-tempo describing a boy named Billy Bob, who is in love with a girl named Charlene, both of whom "met in high school in the (19)60s". One night, he hauls a can of "John Deere green" paint to the top of a water tower and paints the words "Billy Bob loves Charlene," as well as an outline of a heart, on the tower. The second verse describes the two of them raising a family on an 80-acre farm that they purchased, while the bridge reveals that the heart and words are still painted on the tower, despite efforts by the town to remove it.
Radio version
Diffie recorded a new version of "John Deere Green" for radio airplay. This version includes a more electronic-sounding drum track (it is unknown whether a drum machine or an electronic drum kit was used in this recording) as well as Diffie's vocal sounding slightly different from that of the album version. The radio version also eliminates the album version's second instrumental break and fourth refrain by immediately proceeding to the song's outro.
Cover versions
The most notable cover version is a Norwegian cover by the band "Hellbillies". Their version, "Bondeblå" (a light blue color named after the farmers' blue overalls) from the album Drag (1996) tells about a boy on his first time service in the Norwegian military who insists on wearing a blue knitted sweater and matching hat that his mother knitted for him over his uniform, and how the other soldiers mistreat him, making him do their chores and bugging him consistently. However, in time he turns out fine and ends up as a highly ranked officer in the Norwegian army.