Released September 1970 Recorded 1969 Length 2:37 | Format 7" Genre Country Label Dot Records | |
"Thank God and Greyhound" is a song made famous by country music singer Roy Clark. Written by Larry Kingston and Earl Nix, the song was released in 1970 as the second single to the album I Never Picked Cotton. The song was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that November and reached the lower ends of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #90.
Song plot
"Thank God and Greyhound" is a twin-tempoed song, the tempo reflecting the man's emotions as the story plays out. The lyrics are told in first person by the protagonist, and tell of a relationship recently ended.
In the first part of the song, the tempo is notably depressing. The singer tells how a woman — the apparent dominant one in the relationship — squandered his finances and belittled him to the point of humiliation, yet he puts up with her antagonistic behavior in the vain hope that she may change. One day, after three years in the relationship, the woman announces to the singer that she is leaving and refuses to explain. The singer watches her board a Greyhound bus which pulls away from the station.
Following the line "... all I can think of ... is ...," the song's tempo changes to an ironically more upbeat one, and completes the verse ("thank God and Greyhound you're gone!"). At this point, the man is overjoyed and utterly relieved that his now ex-girlfriend is finally out of his life. Imagery of the bus pulling away (the engine hum and the black exhaust cloud) is used to underscore the man's ecstasy over the now-ended relationship, rationalizing his feelings in this way: "it may be kind of cruel, but I've been silent too long."