Did you guys know Achy Breaky Heart is a cover?!
Posted by SonnyRane@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 74 comments
So I write these silly pieces on Substack on music from our generation. I was prepping a post on 'Achy Breaky Heart' and was susprised to learn that it was actually released the year before (1991) as 'Don't Tell My Heart' by The Marcy Brothers!
Here's the original song in case you're like me and had no clue.
And here's my snarky take on Billy Ray's version in case you have nothing else to read today.
Fair warning: If you like Billy Ray or Achy Breaky Heart, you might not want to read my piece lol.
RedditSkippy@reddit
God I HATED this song. At the time, I was working in a pharmacy where the owners LOVED the local country station. Achy Breaky was on at least hourly in the summer of 1992, if not more often.
neonturbo@reddit
Achy Breaky Heart and All My Exes Live in Texas nearly drove me insane. Same deal, the radio station which must not be touched played these over and over and over and over again.
RedditSkippy@reddit
Forgot about Texas Exes….
TheOtherDougT@reddit
Read this on your Substack yesterday with my morning coffee, coincidentally! I enjoy reading your stuff.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Wow, what a coincidence! Thank you so much for the kind words!
eggbean@reddit
Why would anybody want to know this?
JoeyDawsonJenPacey@reddit
They say Achy Breakin’ Heart. Interesting.
BaronNeutron@reddit
No thank you
tkwh@reddit
There are exceptions, but in general, popular country music is a genre I avoid like I did COVID. Especially THAT song.
Awellknownstick@reddit
Yeah same as half the tracks on Nirvanas Nevermind album. That's why Curt was so salty about it.
conspiracy_troll@reddit
I had successfully blocked that song from my consciousness, dangit.
TakeTheThirdStep@reddit
Ok I read your piece and now I have a major bone to pick with this Achy Breaky song. I was entering college at Texas A&M when this song came out and down there we went 2-Stepping instead of clubbing. It was a fantastic way to partner up for a few minutes and meet your way around the room before zeroing in on who you wanted to "get to know" better.
Then the line dance craze hit the floors. Before this song, line dancing was a nice occasional diversion played every 10th song or so to help the wallflowers break the seal and get out in the dance floor. It was usually Cotton Eyed Joe (traditional, fuck the Rednex techno bullshit) or The Electric Slide. Pretty rapidly the 2-Step crowd started transitioning over to mostly line dances and EVERY new song came with its own unique line dance. It became harder to find a partner to couple up with for 2-stepping and then once you got out on the floor you had to orbit the edges to avoid the mass of line dancers who invaded and never surrendered the prime middle ground.
Fuck you Billy Ray.
2cats2hats@reddit
What is considered the 'official' traditional version? I don't recall anything else but the Rednexx cover. Yes I know they didn't write it.
TakeTheThirdStep@reddit
Here's a couple of versions that were either played or close to what we danced to back before the Rednex version.
Instrumental: https://youtu.be/MA85NPz-40w?si=8LXIL-q-x9l18H1s
Chieftains (I think the Rednex sampled this one for their abomination version): https://youtu.be/jSMbH2mQ4d8?si=UZ6DIFX6oSNM8ha7
dustymag@reddit
There are a lot of versions, but here's one I found from Willie Nelson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlK_VWv_bPU
BizzarduousTask@reddit
Oh hell yeah! Was this down at the SPJST?! Oh that brings back memories…
TakeTheThirdStep@reddit
No, I don't think I ever went there. I think it was a place in Bryan that doesn't exist anymore.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Hey, thanks for reading, and even more so for sharing. And yes, it cannot be stressed enough: Fuck Billy Ray Cyrus.
jessek@reddit
Most country songs aren’t written by the artist
kalelopaka@reddit
Billy Ray Cyrus has never had any original music. I took a girl to a concert and she was no longer a fan afterwards, he murdered covers of songs by others and he was awful.
airwalker08@reddit
This song is a dark mark in our generation's history. We are better off not being reminded of existed.
fakeaccount572@reddit
Ice Ice Baby would like to have a word
airwalker08@reddit
I never said there was only one dark mark. The are many.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
We must remember, lest we repeat the douchebaggery.
MalsPrettyBonnet@reddit
I was performing (not a singer) at the KY state fair the year that song came out. Every. Effing. Band did a cover of Achy-breaky. My ears are STILL sad.
2cats2hats@reddit
Don't play that song.
That stupid stinkin' song.
I don't know how much more that I can stand......
Avasia1717@reddit
don’t play that song, that achy breaky song, the most annoying song i know and if you play that song, that achy breaky song, i might blow up my radio, wooo!
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
You're a natural, kid. Drop everything and get yer butt to Nashville!
themisprintguy@reddit
There’s SO MANY songs out there that are covers and most people are unaware. Probably the first song I’d bring up for this group is I Love Rock and Roll. Joan Jett’s version is a cover.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
You're absolutely right. I posted in this sub some months ago about Bette Davis Eyes being a cover as well. Crazy how many of them exist!
AzraelsTouch@reddit
Funny enough, my son’s best friend’s father was in the backing band for that album and it’s his big claim to fame. They did a re-make of it some years ago for a show Billy Ray was doing and he was invited to be in on those sessions. We got to hear some of the raw tracks from that.
He is a really cool guy and a talented studio player / song writer. Never made the big big time but does have a few decent credits.
Was never a fan, but it was cool to hear some of the stories and, at the end of the day, a paycheck is a paycheck. He had a decent, old school style garage studio that I absolutely loved, having started my career as a recording engineer back in the early 90s.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Every single word of your comment is awesome.
HPIndifferenceCraft@reddit
And here I was thinking Billy Ray at least co-wrote the worst country song of the 90’s.
Turns out, he’s so untalented that his biggest hit was a cover.
Today I learned…
DaGeekGamer@reddit
Umm. You know there are a lot of singers that aren't songwriters, right? I've never liked. Billy Ray and his Ego, but I hadda say that.
Elvis never wrote a song.
HPIndifferenceCraft@reddit
Yes, I am aware. I just made the assumption that he was involved in the writing of that turd.
DaGeekGamer@reddit
Yeah, if I never hear that earworm again, it'll be too soon.
torknorggren@reddit
That's been pretty much the Nashville norm forever. The country singer who writes most of his own material is the exception. I wouldn't call the singers untalented necessarily.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
My sentiments exactly.
tacogratis2@reddit
Bill Hicks' "Let's Hunt and K*ll Billy Ray Cyrus" (and boy wouldn't Bill have recoiled at just the casual internet censoring you need to do these days...)
https://youtu.be/-y6j2LF6SSU?si=7KoHH4aZz4w_WjK3&t=56
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
That was freakin' hilarious! God I miss Bill Hicks.
tacogratis2@reddit
Me too, my friend. Also, I liked your writing and subscribed.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Oh wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate that!
crackersncheeseman@reddit
When I first seen BRC video of it I was like whose this idiot singing that old Achy Breaky Heart song. It was my grandpa's jam back in the day.
HarlanCulpepper@reddit
I remember thinking it was a catchy, silly, car radio tune.
I enjoyed it for about 2-3 days.
Things changed quickly.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
C.A.S. is serious business. And I fear you speak the truth about the future.
HarlanCulpepper@reddit
Thanks. I try to raise awareness whenever I can.
LakeCoffee@reddit
This reminds me of the time I was riding in the car with my mom way back in the 1980s. A brand new, just released song came on. She proceeded to sing along, knowing every word. I was amazed and asked her how she did that. She told me it was a cover of an old 1950s song she always loved.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Well what was the song, don't leave us hanging!
LakeCoffee@reddit
I wish I could remember!
InternationalBand494@reddit
Ha. I was listening to Aerosmith do “Come Together” and my mom blew my mind by singing it word for word. I was a kid with no idea it was a Beatles song.
guano-crazy@reddit
That song sucks achy breaky ass
Untermensch13@reddit
I'm gonna politely disagree with the takes on the song. Billy Ray's version, like it or not, has moxie. It's an irresistible toe-tapper of a tune, that people who aren't country fans enjoyed. I know that a lot of y'all despise the Cyrus clan, but "Achy Breaky" (and "Wrecking Ball") are two gems.
nojam75@reddit
Is my entire life a lie?!?!
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
The truth is out there.
dfh-1@reddit
I prefer this version. https://youtu.be/d7kfm6QmROA?si=lyGwiBqW7so406tY
nojam75@reddit
No greater honor can be bestowed on a song.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
I mean, I'll take Weird Al's version of any song any day.
not_a_moogle@reddit
This is also my favorite version. I love the outro
MaryBitchards@reddit
TeamMiley
snarf_the_brave@reddit
OhmygoshIloathethatsong!!! Back when it came out, I was taking guitar lessons. Classical guitar lessons. You know, Bach, Tarrega, Sor, stuff like that. My teacher came in one Saturday morning fresh from a Billy Ray concert the night before and decided that Back wasn't as cool as Achy Breaky. That was the day that I learned that was the stupidest piece of music ever to be written and I hated it with every fiber of my being. And the last lesson I had with that instructor.
Good gosh!! Now it's stuck in my head and I hate you so much!! Kidding...I don't hate you but you're definitely off the Christmas card list this year for this. lol
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Oof. Sorry about the trigger. Thankfully you survived that horrendous ordeal and went on, I presume, to master the Brandenburg Concertos in defiance.
phils_phan78@reddit
There's a 60 Songs That Explain the 90s episode on this one that talks about the evolution of the song.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Oh wow, I didn't know about this show. Thank you so much for the tip!
TakeTheThirdStep@reddit
It's fantastic. Great housework listening pod cast.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Nice! This marks the very first time I'm looking forward to mopping.
TakeTheThirdStep@reddit
I started listening to this and thought that Billy Ray didn't do much to improve the piece or make it unique. But then I got to the point where I expected "Woooo hoouuoo!" And it wasn't there. That Woooo hoouuoo really makes the song. Well done Billy Ray, you were truly a paragon of early 90's country music!
teatabletea@reddit
I sort of disagree about his talent. I saw him in a production of Annie Get Your Gun in 2005, and he can actually sing. Of course, his acting was as good as the wooden planks on the stage floor, but his voice was good.
But I can’t stand that song..
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
Fair enough.
Gaz-a-tronic@reddit
I only recently discovered that Annie Lennox's "No more 'I love you's" is a cover.
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
That's news to me too!
ScreenTricky4257@reddit
Was that before they went out to the Marcy Playground?
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
But of course
Stardustquarks@reddit
Honestly that song is so bad. It can suck my achy breaky dick
SonnyRane@reddit (OP)
LOL. Couldn't agree with you more.