remember, this was the era of sybil.

in 1975, jessi colter, wife of waylon jennings, had her breakout hit (and only crossover pop hit) with i’m not lisa. i always misheard her singing the name in the song: she was singing: i’m not lisa. my name is julie.

a chitty chitty bang bang fan, i thought she was telling the world that this was her identity:

why a country singer would be singing that she, in fact, was a character from a fluffy, frothy (and fun!) british novel for kids, i never understood. at least, i didn’t get it when i was 10.

i’m older now, of course; and i understand the lyrics a whole lot better than i did back then. nevertheless, i continue to wonder: why does the song’s subject even stay with a guy who calls her a name other than her own? i want to smack her silly and scream at her to develop a bit of a backbone.

while she’s at it, why didn’t colter try something else, something more country-ish and appropriate. something like:

my husband‘s a junkie

he looked like a monkey

he was a dukes of hazzard flunkie

and i apparently didn’t mind.

(no. i’m not a grammy-winning country lyrics writer. that would be my wonderful cousin.)

i’m not lisa. i’m not julie. and i’m not impressed, either.