Joe Diffie – “John Deere Green”
There may not be a more perfectly ’90s country love story than Joe Diffie’s “John Deere Green.” It has everything: two small-town kids, a water tower, a can of green paint and a declaration of love that apparently can’t be painted over.
Released in November 1993, “John Deere Green” was the third single from Diffie’s third studio album, Honky Tonk Attitude. The song was written by Dennis Linde, one of Nashville’s most distinctive songwriters. Linde also wrote Elvis Presley’s “Burning Love” and would later give Diffie another classic with “Bubba Shot the Jukebox.”
The story centers on Billy Bob and Charlene, two farm kids who meet in high school in the 1960s. One summer night, Billy Bob climbs the local water tower and paints his declaration of love in huge letters using the unmistakable green associated with John Deere farm equipment. The townspeople think red would have been more appropriate, but Charlene loves it just the way it is.
What makes the song work is that Linde doesn’t stop with the teenage prank. Billy Bob and Charlene eventually marry, settle on 80 acres and raise a family. Years later, that green declaration of love is supposedly still visible on the water tower. Linde’s son Will later summed up the song’s meaning very simply: it was about “undying love.”
Interestingly, Diffie’s mother reportedly wasn’t immediately sold on the song. She thought it sounded a little too much like rock and roll when her son played it for her. Diffie told her to trust him—and that turned out to be pretty good advice.
“John Deere Green” was produced by Johnny Slate and Bob Montgomery. The recording featured some of Nashville’s top musicians, including Brent Mason on electric guitar, Paul Franklin on steel guitar, Matt Rollings on keyboards and Lonnie Wilson on drums, helping give the record its bright, energetic sound.
The song became a major hit, reaching No. 5 on Billboard’s country chart. It also became Diffie’s first song to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached No. 69. The Honky Tonk Attitude album was eventually certified platinum, helping establish Diffie as one of the major voices of the country boom of the 1990s.
But chart position doesn’t really tell the story of “John Deere Green.” Diffie had songs that climbed higher, including “Pickup Man,” “Third Rock from the Sun” and “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets).” Yet “John Deere Green” became one of the songs audiences most strongly associated with him. Years later, family members recalled fans repeatedly requesting it at his concerts.
That staying power probably comes from the fact that underneath all the humor is a genuinely sweet story. “John Deere Green” is about young love that actually lasts. Billy Bob’s paint job starts out as teenage mischief and ends up becoming a monument to a lifetime together.
And more than 30 years after Joe Diffie recorded it, country fans still know exactly what color Billy Bob used.
It had to be John Deere green.
