Mercury Blues

Album: A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love) (1993)
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Songfacts®:

  • Chevy has a big edge on Ford when it comes to song lyrics, mainly because the name of their company and cars lend themselves to lyrics (you can't drive your Ford to a levee). Ford does have a songwriter following, however, and this song pays homage to Mercury automobiles, which were produced by the Ford Motor Company up until 2010: "Crazy 'bout a Mercury, Lord I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury. I'm gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road." This song was specifically influenced by the Mercury Eight model, which James Dean drives in Rebel Without a Cause.
  • Ford Motor Company introduced the Mercury division in 1939. The division is named after Mercury, the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology.
  • "Mercury Blues" was written by the Blues musicians K.C. Douglas and Robert Geddins in 1949. It was originally titled "Mercury Boogie." The song was popularized two generations later by Alan Jackson, whose 1993 cover peaked at #2 on the Country chart. The song has also been covered by the Steve Miller Band, David Lindley and Meat Loaf.
  • The music video, which was directed by Piers Plowden, features a cameo by Keith Urban.
  • Alan Jackson performed this song on the sitcom Home Improvement in 1996.
  • In 1999, Ford Motor Company used Jackson's version of the song in a commercial for Ford trucks, albeit with the lyrics changed to "Crazy 'bout a Ford truck." Jackson features in the commercial singing the track.
  • A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love), Alan Jackson's third studio album, was released in October 1992. The album peaked at #1 on the Country chart. In 1993, it was named Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

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