"These Days (I Barely Get By)" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

country singer 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, old ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

. It was one of the few compositions that Jones composed with then wife

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

. The song was released on the 1974

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

retrospective ''The Best of George Jones'', which also featured "The Door." The song is unremittingly bleak, recalling Jones' earlier hit single "

Things Have Gone to Pieces "Things Have Gone to Pieces" is a song written by Leon Payne and originally recorded by country music artist George Jones. It was Jones' first single after signing with the Musicor label and spent a total of twenty-one weeks on the ''Billboar ...

," and reflected the dismal relationship that now existed between Jones and Wynette, who would divorce early the following year. As Rich Kienzle recalls in the liner notes to the 1994

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

retrospective ''The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country'', "Two days after he recorded it on December 11, 1974, he left Tammy. This time she didn't withdraw her divorce petition. The divorce was granted, property divided, and George was left as one of those mournful souls he sang about in '

The Grand Tour ''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 Novembe ...

.'"

Chart performance

References

1974 singles George Jones songs Songs written by George Jones Songs written by Tammy Wynette Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records singles 1974 songs {{1970s-country-song-stub