"Paint Me a Birmingham" is a song written by Buck Moore and Gary Duffy. It was concurrently released 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, ...

artists

Ken Mellons Kenneth Edward Mellons (born July 10, 1965) is an American country music artist who released his self-titled debut album in 1994. This album produced the single " Jukebox Junkie", a Top Ten hit on the Hot Country Songs charts. Mellons followed ...

and

Tracy Lawrence Tracy Lee Lawrence (born January 27, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in ...

, whose versions entered the country charts within one week of each other. Lawrence's was the more successful of the two, reaching #4 in May 2004 and becoming his first Top 5 country hit since "

Lessons Learned Lessons learned (American English) or lessons learnt (British English) are experiences distilled from past activities that should be actively taken into account in future actions and behaviors. There are several definitions of the concept. The ...

" in April 2000.

Content

The narrator/singer describes an encounter with an artist who is painting ocean scenes. The singer asks the painter to paint a picture of the life the man had planned, or imagined, before losing the woman he loved. Specifically, he describes the house, a Birmingham-style house, and a scene where he and his love are together again. The song is in the key of

G-flat major G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a major scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has six flats. Its relative minor is E-flat minor (or enharmonically D-sharp minor), and its parallel mi ...

, modulating up to

A-flat major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, ...

at the last chorus, with a vocal range from A3 to D5.

Music video

The music video was filmed live in concert.

Chart positions

Ken Mellons

Tracy Lawrence

Year-end charts

Parodies

On his 2004 album '' Bipolar and Proud'', country music parodist

Cledus T. Judd James Barry Poole (born December 18, 1964) is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and ...

parodied the song as "Bake Me a Country Ham". Judd's parody reached #58 on the country music charts.

References

{{Tracy Lawrence 2003 singles Tracy Lawrence songs Ken Mellons songs Song recordings produced by James Stroud DreamWorks Records singles Songs written by Buck Moore 2003 songs Songs about painters