Anyone who has watched the Showtime series, George and Tammy had to be moved by the poignancy of their deep running yet chaotic love affair that lasted until both of them passed away. As a songwriter, I was inspired to write the story in song.  I produced two videos, part 1 and Part 2, that can be seen on YouTube, but the full lyrics are as follows;

“The World Called Him George” Words and Music by Lloyd Tosoff
Lyrics from “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
by Bobby Braddock
Verse 1
90 proof liquor fueled the trouble he made,
Flat broke, drunk, and busted was a small price to pay,
Cause the money flowed like water that he flushed down the drain,
But when he sang you could feel every word,
Like it was your own pain.

Chorus
The world called him George,
But his friends called him Jones,
The best country singer that the world’s ever known,
He could laugh at the devil when there was whiskey in his veins,
Drove everyone crazy getting wild and living hard in the fast lane.

Verse 2
When he met Tammy, we all thought he’d settle down,
When they sang together, Dear Lord they were the talk of the town,
But he never lived it down when he let their love die,
At the bottom of a bottle
Where the devil wouldn’t let him go dry.

Verse 3
George never recovered from his greatest loss,
But Tammy couldn’t help but grow tired of the line he wouldn’t walk,
She loved him through it all till she passed away,
Though they laid her in the ground
They couldn’t bury what was left of love’s last remains.

Part 2

Verse 4
Cocaine, fast cars, and guns nearly took old George down,
And even though they called him no show Jones still held the crown,
Everyone loved him though they didn’t hold a clue on his pain,
He’d show up stone drunk set down a half empty bottle,
Take the stage with a guitar and sing.
.
Bridge
Though he’d always love Tammy,
Old George finally turned a new page,
Though troubled he walked a straight line till his dying day,
We all wondered was it Tammy that he saw when he opened up his eyes,
As he stared up at the ceiling for one last time.

Breakdown Finale
“Well, hello there, I’m George Jones I’ve been looking for you,”
With one goodbye from gone from this earthly throng he passed through,
Thank the good Lord above that Old George made his final show,
Before he closed his eyes one last time and the Possum let go,

“He stopped loving her today,
The placed a wreath upon his door,
And soon they carried him away,
He stopped loving her, today.”

® ©Lloyd Tosoff