About The Song
“Sissy’s Song” is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Alan Jackson. It was released in March 2009 as the fourth single from his album Good Time, and his fifty-sixth single release overall (and to date his last solo top ten hit). Jackson wrote the song after the sudden death of a housekeeper that worked at his house.
“Sissy’s Song” is an acoustic mid-tempo country ballad, written by Jackson as a tribute to a housekeeper named Leslie “Sissy” Fitzgerald, who worked daily at Jackson’s house. Jackson wrote the song after Sissy died in a motorcycle accident on May 20, 2007. He then went to the recording studio, and working with longtime producer Keith Stegall, made a recording of the song with just his vocals and steel-string acoustic guitar to be played for the family at her funeral. The song expresses Jackson’s feeling for Sissy, in addition to hoping that “she flew up to heaven on the wings of angels.”
Karlie Justus, of Engine 145, gave the song a “thumbs up” rating. She said that the song was both “deeply personal and universally relatable”, and that it showed his sense for simplicity and authenticity. However, she considered some of the lyrics stilted and cliché in nature.Lynn Douglas, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a B+ rating. She described the song as “a reflective and moving experience.”
The song’s music video was directed by Scott Scovill. It is shot in black-and-white and is at a church and it features footage of Jackson performing the song. It was shot in a historic church, located south of Nashville.
“Sissy’s Song” debuted at number 45 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs for the chart week of February 28, 2009.
Video
Lyrics
I remember walkin’ ’round the court square sidewalks
Lookin’ in windows at things I couldn’t want
There’s Johnson’s hardware and Morgan’s jewelry
And the ol’ Lee king’s apothecary
They were the little man
The little man
I go back now and the stores are empty
Except for an old coke sign dated 1950
Boarded up like they never existed
Or renovated and called historic districts
There goes the little man
There goes the little man
Now the court square’s just a set of streets
That the people go ’round but they seldom think
‘Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut ’em down
And killed the little man
Oh, the little man
He pumped your gas and he cleaned your glass
One cold rainy night he fixed your flat
The new stores came where you do it yourself
You buy a lotto ticket and food off the shelf
Forget the little man
Forget about that little man
He hung on there for a few more years
But he couldn’t sell Slurpees
And he wouldn’t sell beer
Now the bank rents the station to a man down the road
And they sell velvet Elvis and second-hand clothes
There goes little man
There goes another little man
Now the court square’s just a set of streets
That the people go ’round but they seldom think
‘Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut ’em down
And killed the little man
Oh, the little man
Now the stores are lined up in a concrete strip
You can buy the world with just one trip
And save a penny ’cause it’s jumbo size
They don’t even realize
They’re killin’ the little man
Oh, the little man
And now the court square’s just a set of streets
That people go ’round but they seldom think
‘Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut ’em down
And killed the little man
Oh, the little man
It wasn’t long when I was a child
An old Black man came with his mule and his plow
He broke the ground where we grew our garden
Back before we’d all forgotten about the little man
The little man
Long live the little man
God bless the little man