"Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde" is a song written by

Walt Aldridge James Walton Aldridge Jr. (born November 12, 1955 in Florence, Alabama) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, engineer and record producer. Aldridge is known primarily as a Nashville songwriter. He has written dozens of hit country songs ...

and James LeBlanc, 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

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...

. It was released in January 2002 as the fourth and final single from his album '' Down the Road I Go''. It peaked at number 8, and is his last top ten hit to date.

Content

The song describes a man who meets a woman at a truck stop in

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...

. After leaving town, the woman robs a convenience store, and tells the man to drive away. Then later that night, after heading north on

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

, the man and the woman are both arrested counting the money in a motel room in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Critical reception

Chuck Taylor, of ''

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 ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably saying that the song has a "swampy, hypnotic appeal that commands attention." He goes on to say that "the retro intro in this engaging musical outing serves notice that there is something cool and quite different in the air."''

'', January 12, 2001

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Merriman, was filmed in California, instead of Tennessee and Virginia, like in the song's lyric, and features actor

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. He had his first break when he co-wrote and starred in the 1992 thriller ''One False Move'', and received international attention after writing, directing, a ...

, who plays the man. The woman comes up to him at a truck stop and asks for a ride. The woman then robs a convenience store, and asks the man to drive away as the clerk is chasing her down. The man tells her that robbing the store was a big deal, while the woman thought that it was no big deal. He wonders what she was doing with a gun, and he also wonders how much money is in one of her bags. Later that night, at a motel, they're counting all the money, and enjoying themselves, at least until the police arrives, and the man and the woman are both arrested. The woman tries to fool one of the cops into letting her go, but the cop doesn't buy it. Travis Tritt plays the tow truck driver, who tows the man's car away with the man looking at it being towed away, and looking ashamed. In between these scenes, Tritt and 2 band members are also seen performing the song in an office setting.

Chart positions

"Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde" debuted at number fifty-six on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of January 12, 2002.

Year-end charts

References

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* CMT
Music Video at CMT.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modern Day Bonnie And Clyde 2000 songs Travis Tritt songs 2002 singles Songs written by Walt Aldridge Song recordings produced by Billy Joe Walker Jr. Columbia Records singles Songs about Bonnie and Clyde