About The Song
“I’m Not Lisa” is a haunting country ballad by Jessi Colter, released on January 16, 1975, as the lead single from her Capitol Records album I’m Jessi Colter. Written by Colter, it soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and crossed over to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and a CMA nod. The song, a 3:19 piano-led plea, captures the pain of loving someone stuck on a past flame, with lines like “I’m not Lisa, my name is Julie / Lisa left you years ago.” Colter’s delicate vocals and stark piano, which she played herself, give it raw intimacy. She told American Songwriter in 2023, “It came from a little piano exercise, just notes that turned into a story about longing and being unseen.” The track’s success made her a breakout star, though it marked her only pop Top 40 hit, cementing her as a “one-hit wonder” in that realm despite her country chart run.
Recorded in late 1974 at RCA Studio B in Nashville, the song was produced by Colter’s husband, Waylon Jennings, and Ken Mansfield, with uncredited session players likely including Hargus “Pig” Robbins on additional keyboards and Charlie McCoy on harmonica. The minimalist arrangement—piano, subtle strings, and a soft rhythm section—lets Colter’s voice carry the emotional weight, as Whiskey Riff notes: “It’s simple but cuts deep, like a knife.” The album hit No. 4 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and No. 50 on the Billboard 200, driven by the single’s crossover appeal, ranking No. 41 on Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 for 1975. Colter’s Pentecostal upbringing in Phoenix, Arizona, born Mirriam Johnson in 1943, infused her music with spiritual depth, and this track’s confessional tone reflects that.
Colter, a key figure in the 1970s outlaw country movement, had been in music since the 1960s, first married to guitarist Duane Eddy and later Jennings. Before “I’m Not Lisa,” she released A Country Star Is Born in 1970 with Jennings and Chet Atkins, which flopped. Her Capitol deal and this hit changed everything, leading to her role on the 1976 platinum album Wanted! The Outlaws with Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Tompall Glaser. The song was a live staple, performed on her 1975 tour with Jennings, including a Santa Monica Civic Auditorium show, and later in a 2000 duet with Jennings at the Ryman, captured on Spotify. Covers include Tanya Tucker (1975), Lynn Anderson, Deana Carter with Colter (2007), and a Czech version, “Líza,” per SecondHandSongs.
No music video exists, but a 1975 Grand Ole Opry performance on YouTube shows Colter’s poised delivery. The song appeared in The Glass House (1972, TV movie) and Logan’s Run (1976), per IMDb, its melancholic tone fitting dramatic scenes. Fans on Reddit’s r/country call it “a masterclass in simplicity,” praising its emotional punch. Countrythangdaily.com notes its Grammy and CMA nods underscored Colter’s vocal prowess. No controversies surround the song—just its lingering impact as Colter’s signature tune, still resonant at 81 as she preps her 2023 album Edge of Forever. It’s a testament to her ability to turn personal pain into universal truth.
Video
Lyric
I’m not Lisa, my name is Julie
Lisa left you years ago
My eyes are not blue
But mine won’t leave you
‘Til the sunlight has touched your faceShe was your morning light
Her smile told of no night
Your love for her grew
With each rising sun
And then one winter day
His hand led her away
She left you here drowning in your tears, here
Where you’ve stayed for years
Crying Lisa, LisaI’m not Lisa, my name is Julie
Lisa left you years ago
My eyes are not blue
But mine won’t leave you
‘Til the sunlight shines through your face