Tanya Tucker – Blood Red and Goin’ Down

About The Song

“Blood Red and Goin’ Down” is a dramatic country narrative by Tanya Tucker, released in June 1973 as the second single from her Columbia Records album What’s Your Mama’s Name. Written by Curly Putman, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart for one week in September 1973, charting for 12 weeks, and became Tucker’s second chart-topper at age 14. The 3:04 track tells a dark tale through a 10-year-old girl’s eyes, witnessing her father’s vengeful pursuit of her adulterous mother and her lover: “That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down / Daddy left them both soakin’ up the sawdust on the floor.” Tucker’s raw, precocious vocals deliver the story with chilling intensity, as Billboard noted: “She sings like she’s lived it, far beyond her years.” Tucker told CMT in 2019, “Curly’s song was heavy, but I understood that little girl’s pain. I just sang it true.” Its stark subject matter—infidelity and implied murder—was bold for 1973 country radio, reflecting a grittier era.

Recorded in March 1973 at Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, the track was produced by Billy Sherrill, with uncredited Nashville A-Team players likely including Grady Martin on guitar, Bob Moore on bass, and The Jordanaires on backing vocals, per Discogs. Sherrill’s cinematic production, with haunting steel guitar and sparse percussion, amplifies the song’s tension, as AllMusic praises: “It’s a gut-punch story song, pure country drama.” The album reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and No. 87 on the Billboard 200. The G-C-D chord progression and “blood red and goin’ down” refrain, per Chordify, made it a radio standout. A 2020 live version from Live From The Troubadour on Fantasy Records, co-produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, rekindled its legacy, per YouTube.

Tanya Tucker, born October 10, 1958, in Seminole, Texas, was a child prodigy who debuted with “Delta Dawn” at 13 in 1972, becoming one of few child stars to sustain a career into adulthood. Mentored by Sherrill, she blended honky-tonk grit with pop appeal, scoring three No. 1s by 1974. Wikipedia notes her 2019 comeback with While I’m Livin’, earning two Grammys, and her 2023 Country Music Hall of Fame induction. “Blood Red and Goin’ Down” was a live staple, performed at her 1973 Grand Ole Opry debut and a 2019 Troubadour show, with a YouTube clip showcasing her enduring fire. Covers include Melba Montgomery (1974), Sister Sadie (2019), and Alison Self (2013), per SecondHandSongs. Reddit fans on r/country laud its “raw storytelling,” calling it a 1970s gem alongside “Lizzie and the Rainman.”

The song appeared in no major films but thrives on Spotify and Amazon Music, with Shazam users tagging its haunting chorus. Its violent theme stirred mild debate in 1973, as My Kind of Country notes: “Radio today wouldn’t touch it, but it was a different time.” Tucker’s unflinching delivery and the song’s narrative power make it a country classic, a testament to her ability to channel adult pain as a teen.

Video

Lyric

That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
Daddy said, “Now come girl, we’re headed down the road to Augusta”
And frankly through his clenched teeth, he called Mama’s name and then he cussed her

He said, “Girl, you’re young, but some dude has come along and stole your mother”
But you can’t steal a willin’ mind ‘cause Mama’s always lookin’ for a lover
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down

With dusty teardrops on his face, my daddy cried an’ big steps he was takin’
Halfway runnin’ to keep up, my shorter legs were so tired and shakin’
“Where did I go wrong, girl? Why would she leave us both this way?”
At times like these, a child of ten never knows exactly what to say

That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
We searched in every barroom an’ honky-tonk as well
An’ finally Daddy found them, and Lord, you know, the rest is hard to tell

He sent me out to wait, but scared, I looked back through the door
An’ Daddy left them both soakin’ up the sawdust on the floor
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down
That Georgia sun was blood red and goin’ down