A Long Line Of Love

Album: Americana (1987)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Michael Martin Murphey sings about how he comes from a legacy of love that he's continuing with a wedding proposal. He tells her she can rest easy knowing he'll stay true because it runs in the family: his parents are still together, and his grandparents spent their lives together as well.
  • This was the second of two #1 Country hits for Michael Martin Murphey, following "What's Forever For" from 1982. It was written by the Nashville scribes Paul Overstreet and Thom Schuyler, who also teamed for "I Fell In Love Again Last Night," a #1 hit for The Forester Sisters in 1985 with a similar theme.
  • This is one of many songs written by Paul Overstreet about a deep commitment to marriage - another one is "Forever And Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis. Overstreet, though, doesn't come from such a long line of love, and his first marriage didn't work out. His father split when he was young, and Oversteet's first marriage - to Dolly Parton's sister Freida - ended after about a year and a half. He waited about eight years to get married again, and when he did, it took. He and his wife Julie got married in 1985 and raised six kids together.

    "A lot of those songs, I wrote them from what I wanted to experience with my kids," he told Songfacts. "That's what I was writing about more than what actually went on in my life."
  • The sepia-toned video, directed by Mike Merriman, was shot in Amarillo, Texas, where Murphey used to camp out (he lived in Dallas). It mixes performance footage with shots of Murphey looking through old photo albums with his wife Mary. There are also some shots of Murphey's brother, who portrays their grandfather plowing the fields in the 1800s. The wedding-band quilt pattern cut into the field was created by a "crop artist" named Stan Herd.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Peter Lord

Peter LordSongwriter Interviews

You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.

Psychedelic Lyrics

Psychedelic LyricsMusic Quiz

Whoa man! Do you know which band came up with these cosmic lyrics?

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.