By the middle of the 1960s, country music was growing in popularity, while also expanding the sounds and styles of the genre. These are three of the best country songs that came out in 1965, songs that still make me smile when I hear them today.
“May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” by Little Jimmy Dickens
How can you not smile listening to “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” by Little Jimmy Dickens? This is the title track of Dickens’ fifth studio album. Written by Neal Merritt, this is Dickens’ only No. 1 single. “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks.
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“May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” is a humorous song about wishing ill on someone for various reasons. The chorus says, “May the bird of paradise fly up your nose / May an elephant caress you with his toes / May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose / May the bird of paradise fly up your nose.”
Dickens did not have another Top 20 hit after this song.
“Our Hearts Are Holding Hands” by Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb
Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb team up for “Our Hearts Are Holding Hands”. It is part of their collaborative Mr. And Mrs. Used To Be album. The song, about missing the person you love, was written by Bill Anderson.
“Our Hearts Are Holding Hands” says in part, “‘Cause our hearts are holding hands across the miles / Even though we’re lonely, we can smile /’Cause I know you’re my woman and I know you’re my man / We’re far apart, but our hearts are holding hands.“
This is Lynn and Tubb’s second duet. In 1964, the two released their first duet, the title track of Mr. And Mrs. Used To Be.
“Giddyup Go” by Red Sovine
“Giddyup Go” is the first of several songs Red Sovine released as an homage to truck drivers. Written by Sovine and Tommy Hill, “Giddyup Go” is the title track of a record Sovine also released in 1965.
A song about the highs and lows of life as a truck driver on the road, “Giddyup Go” says in part, “I got home one day and found my wife and little boy gone / And I couldn’t find out what happened, nobody seemed to know / So, from that day on, it’s just been me and ol’ Giddyup Go.”
Interestingly, after “Giddyup Go”, Sovine didn’t have another No. 1 hit for 11 years. In 1976, he returned to the top of the charts for the third and final time, with “Teddy Bear”. “Teddy Bear is another one of Sovine’s trucking songs.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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