Sophia Michaels
In 1976, Rogers launched a solo career that got off to a slow start with the LP Love Lifted Me. When his self-titled sophomore record was issued, its lead single barely cracked the Top 20. But the next one would connect, topping the country chart, reaching Number One in the U.K., and turning nine simple words into one of the most easily identifiable country-song choruses of the 20th century: “You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille.” Rogers soberly narrates the Toledo barroom saga of a married-but-miserable couple who separately drown their sorrows, before confronting each other, with Rogers uneasily stuck in the middle. The husband gone, Rogers and Lucille head for a hotel room, but he calls off their tryst as the husband’s pitiful words reverberate in his head, having already observed how Lucille made this quivering mountain of a man “look small.” S.B.
Featured via: Rollingstone
