"I Don't Even Know Your Name" is a song co-written 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
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...
. It was released in May 1995 as the fifth and final single from his album
''Who I Am''. It reached number-one on the U.S. ''
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 ...
'' country charts and on the Canadian ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart. It was written by Jackson with Ron Jackson and Andy Lofton.
Background and writing
Alan Jackson commented that the song was written as a joke by request of some family members. While on tour in 1993, he decided to write it and record it. After he gave the demo tape to his brother in-law, everybody wanted to hear the song so he put it on ''
Who I Am''.
Content
The song begins with a man who is "sitting at a roadhouse." As his waitress, who noticeably has a missing left front tooth, takes his order, another waitress at the roadhouse catches his eye. Over the course of the song, the singer falls in love with the other waitress, winds up
intoxicated,
blacks out, and comes to his senses in the middle of his own wedding; as it turns out, he has now been unwittingly married to the waitress with the missing tooth. All the while, none of the three characters know each other's names.
Music video
The video for "I Don't Even Know Your Name" starred comedian
Jeff Foxworthy
Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, author, comedian, producer and writer. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and Ron White. Known for his "You might be a ...
as the song's male character.
Chart positions
"I Don't Even Know Your Name" debuted at number 75 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of May 13, 1995.
Year-end charts
References
{{authority control
1995 singles
Alan Jackson songs
Songs written by Alan Jackson
Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall
Arista Nashville singles
1994 songs