"1959" is a song written by Gary Gentry, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

. It was released in November 1980 as the fifth single from the album ''

''. The song reached #7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. The song was covered by

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

on the 2022 John Anderson tribute album ''Something Borrowed, Something New''.

Content

The singer reflects on the year 1959, particularly a relationship he had that year with a girl named Betty, to whom he is singing the song. The "most important thing" for them was making sure the singer's truck had gas so they could go to the drive-in movie. He was drafted into the military after graduation, and Betty married someone else while he was away. He cries whenever he reads the letters she wrote to him, promising she would never leave him. He has even kept the old truck he had that year (in which the couple "went all the way"), and looking at it takes him "back to '59."

Chart performance

References

1980 singles John Anderson (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Norro Wilson Warner Records singles 1980 songs Songs written by Gary Gentry (songwriter) {{1980-country-song-stub