Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Ruby "Don't Take Your Love To Town" (1969)
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran of a "crazy Asian war" (given the time of its release, widely assumed but never explicitly stated to be the Vietnam War) who lies helplessly in bed as his wife "paint[s herself] up" to go out for the evening without him; he believes she is going in search of a lover, and as he hears the door slam behind her, he pleads for her to reconsider. The song was made famous by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition in 1969. "Ruby" was originally recorded in 1967 by Johnny Darrell, who scored a number nine country hit with it that year.
Mel Tillis wrote this. He based the song on a couple who lived near his family in Florida. In real life, the man was wounded in Germany in World War II and sent to recuperate in England. There he married a nurse who took care of him at the hospital. The two of them moved to Florida shortly afterward, but he had periodic return trips to the hospital as problems with his wounds kept flaring up. His wife saw another man as the veteran lay in the hospital.
Tillis changed the war in the song to the Korean War, and left out the life ending: the man killed her in a murder-suicide. In the song, the man says he would killer if he could move to get his gun.
This was originally recorded by Johnny Darrell, whose version was a Country hit in 1967. Rogers had the biggest hit with the song, but it was also recorded by Waylon Jennings and Roger Miller.
A lot of controversy surrounded this song when it became a hit for Kenny Rogers in 1969, as the Vietnam War was raging and the song was often assumed to be about a man who came home crippled from that war. Rogers would perform the song in a jovial manner, and the crowd would often clap and sing along, so to some it was seen as disrespectful to veterans. In a 1970 interview with Beat Instrumental, Rogers defended the song, saying: "Look, we don’t see ourselves as politicians, even if a lot of pop groups think they are in the running for a Presidential nomination. We are there, primarily, to entertain. Now if we can entertain by providing thought-provoking songs, then that’s all to the good. But the guys who said 'Ruby' was about Vietnam were way off target – it was about Korea. But whatever the message, and however you interpret it, fact is that we wouldn’t have looked at it if it hadn’t been a GOOD song. Just wanna make good records, that’s all."
Covers
The song has been recorded many times by various artists. The Statler Brothers had perhaps the first cover in 1967 on their album, Big Country Hits. Other artists who have recorded versions cover the modern pop-music gamut, including Roger Miller, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Dale Hawkins, Carl Perkins, Cake, Leonard Nimoy, Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, Sort Sol, Wolfsheim, The Killers and Right Said Fred.
Several foreign-language versions have been recorded: Greek singer Nana Mouskouri recorded a French version entitled "Ruby, garde ton cœur ici" for her 1970 album Dans le soleil et dans le vent; Pavel Bobek, Czech country singer, recorded "Oh Ruby, nechtěj mi lásku brát" in 1981; Gary Holton and Casino Steel's English-language version was a number one hit in Norway at the beginning of 1982. French singer Eddy Mitchell recorded a French version entitled "Ruby tu reviens au pays" for his 1974 album Rocking in Nashville. His lyrics are much softer than the original ones, though sad. Ruby is the girl he has always loved. She left her home town to go to college. He always dreamed he would marry her but when she comes back, he understands there is now a gap between them."Elle a changé, elle a appris; moi je n' ai jamais lu" (translation: She changed, she learned, I never read anything). He ends the song with a prayer "Ruby, you are coming back home; Ruby, just stay home a while". The only sentence of the original song he keeps is "Les ombres sur le mur me disent que le soleil rougit" (translation: The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is turning red).
ANSWER SONG.
An answer song to "Ruby," entitled "Billy, I've Got To Go To Town," was released in 1969 by Geraldine Stevens who had previously recorded successfully under the name Dodie Stevens. Sung to the same melody with an arrangement quite similar to the First Edition version, "Billy" peaked at #117 pop, #57 country.
In Stevens' song, Ruby affirms her love for her disabled husband ("Billy" in her song; in "Ruby," he is not named) and pleads in turn for her man to have faith in her fidelity and her commitment to him, even in his crippled condition.
The lyrics:
You've painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair,
Ruby are you contemplating going out somewhere?
The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is going down,
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.
It wasn't me that started that old crazy Asian war,
But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore,
And yes, it's true that I'm not the man I used to be,
Oh Ruby, I still need some company.
It's hard to love a man whose legs are bent and paralyzed,
And the wants and needs of a woman your age really I realize,
But it won't be long, I've heard them say, until I'm not around,
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.
She's leaving now cause I just heard the slamming of the door,
The way I know I heard its slams one hundred times before,
And if I could move I'd get my gun and put her in the ground,
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.
Oh Ruby, for God's sake, turn around
