“Dallas” by Jimmie Dale Gilmore is off of his self-titled album released on Hightone Records, based in Nashville, in 1989. The song was originally recorded by Jimmie Dale Gilmore and the Flatlanders in 1972. A number of different recordings have been released including the solo cover by Jimmie Dale Gilmore. I linked the original recording below to show the first version of the song.
Gilmore is known for writing and performing music blending the genres folk, rock, country, blues, and bluegrass. “Dallas” is more of a traditional country song in style. Jimmie Dale Gilmore grew up in Texas, was born in Amarillo, and moved around Texas while growing up. Amarillo is a smaller city in Texas that is more rural than other large cities like in this case, Dallas. Gilmore still lives in Texas today and continues to write and perform with other musicians. The Flatlanders and Gilmore did not grow up in Dallas which further helps the outsider image of Dallas portrayed in this song.
The history of Dallas in the years before and around 1970 helps paint a picture of the city when the song was written. The population of the city was rapidly increasing starting in 1950 up to the 90s. And slightly before then, the city started to see a drastic change from farming to manufacturing. The number of farms decreased from 3,519 in 1950 to 927 in 1987. The number of manufacturers in Dallas tripled to 3,616 different plants. This was a drastic change that caused more people to move to the city in hopes of finding work which was the guiding theme behind the success or failure of the worker in Dallas.
“Dallas” is written about the back and forth nature of the city, which in the song is described as tough but beautiful. This song displays the tough nature of Texas and its people and how it will beat you when you are down. He describes it as a back and forth of being a rough place to exist when you have nothing but on the opposite end you can thrive there when “you are up”. The line, “But Dallas ain’t a woman to help you get your feet on the ground” displays the toughness of the town and that it will not help you succeed, you need to do it yourself. In a blog post by Joyce Sáenz Harris, they state “Dallas dearly loves winners and is mighty tough on losers” which is a perfect way to describe the overall meaning of the song. The songwriter describes the city as “a jungle that gives off a beautiful light”. This line definitely describes the facade that is this amazing city that is full of hope and dreams but also having it be a jungle, the unknown and wild nature of the city.
The song definitely supports the texas identity of being tough and having both beauty and ugliness but this song specifically focuses on the city of Dallas. Within the last verse of the song, Gilmore describes Dallas as “a rich man with a death wish in his eye”. This is implying that this man is living an almost suicidal existence with no regard for safety or a real future. This metaphor for the city is all about the way outsiders view the city of Dallas and the mentality that a person might have if they are trying to find a place there.
Lyrics:
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight
And Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well, Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you’re down
But when you are up, she’s the kind you want to take around
But Dallas ain’t a woman to help you get your feet on the ground
Yes Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you’re down
Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind
But I came into Dallas with a Dollar and a dime
Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eye
A steel and concrete soul with a warm-hearted love disguise
A rich man who tends to believe in his own lies
Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes
Sources:
“Dallas County.” TSHA, www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/dallas-county.
“How Jimmie Dale Gilmore Nailed ‘Dallas’ in a Song.” Jesharris, 16 Sept. 2009, jesharris.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/how-jimmie-dale-gilmore-nailed-dallas-in-a-song/.
“Jimmie Dale Gilmore.” Bio, www.jimmiedalegilmore.com/bio.
“Jimmie Dale Gilmore.” Music, www.jimmiedalegilmore.com/music.
