Wikipedia

Green, Green Grass of Home

"Green, Green Grass of Home", written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr., and first recorded by American singer Johnny Darrell as his debut single in 1965, is a country song made popular by Porter Wagoner the same year, when it reached No. 4 on the Country chart.[2] It was also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, who included it in his album Country Songs for City Folks (later re-issued as All Country). Welsh singer Tom Jones learned the song from Lewis' version and, in 1966, he had a No. 1 hit in several countries with it.

"Green, Green Grass of Home"
Side A of the original US single
Single by Johnny Darrell
from the album As Long as the Winds Blow
B-side"Deepening Snow"
ReleasedMay 1965
GenreCountry
Length2:35
LabelUnited Artists
SongwriterCurly Putman[1]
ProducerKelso Herston
Johnny Darrell singles chronology
"Green, Green Grass of Home"
(1965)		 "As Long as the Wind Blows"
(1965)
"Green, Green Grass of Home"
Side A variant of the original US single
Single by Porter Wagoner
from the album On the Road: The Porter Wagoner Show
B-side"Dooley"
ReleasedJuly 1965
RecordedJune 7, 1965
StudioRCA Studio B, Nashville
GenreCountry
Length2:20
LabelRCA Victor
SongwriterCurly Putman
ProducerBob Ferguson
Porter Wagoner singles chronology
"I'm Gonna Feed You Now"
(1965)		 "Green, Green Grass of Home"
(1965)		 "Skid Row Joe"
(1965)

Lyrical content

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The narrator returns to his childhood home for what seems to be his first visit there since leaving in his youth. When he steps down from the train, his parents are there to greet him, and his sweetheart, Mary, comes running to join them. They meet him with "arms reaching, smiling sweetly". With Mary, the narrator strolls at ease among the monuments of his childhood, including "the old oak tree that I used to play on", feeling that "it's good to touch the green, green grass of home".

However, the narrator then awakens to see grey walls surrounding him and realizes that his return home was only a dream and that he is actually in prison. It is the day of his scheduled execution.[3] He sees a guard and "a sad old padre" who will walk with him to his execution at daybreak, and then he will return home "in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home".

Tom Jones version

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"Green, Green Grass of Home"
Side A variant of the original UK single
Single by Tom Jones
from the album Green, Green Grass of Home
B-side"Promise Her Anything"
ReleasedOctober 28, 1966
Genre
Length3:05
LabelDecca F22511[1]
SongwriterCurly Putman
ProducerPeter Sullivan[1]
Tom Jones singles chronology
"This and That"
(1966)		 "Green, Green Grass of Home"
(1966)		 "Detroit City"
(1967)

Welsh singer Tom Jones, who was appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965, visited Colony Records while staying in New York City. On asking if they had any new works by Jerry Lee Lewis, he was given the new country album.

Impressed with the song, Jones recorded and released the song in the UK in 1966 and it reached No. 1 on December 1, staying there for a total of seven weeks.[4] The song also spent 7 weeks at No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart.[5] The song has sold over 1.25 million copies in the UK as of September 2017.[6] Jones' version also reached No. 11 pop, No. 12 easy listening on the Billboard US charts.[7]

In September 2006, Jones performed the song as a duet with Lewis during the taping of the latter's Last Man Standing TV special in New York City, and credited Lewis with providing the inspiration for his own recording.[8][9]

Charts

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Chart (1966–1967) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10]2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11]1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[12]14
Canada Adult Contemporary Singles (RPM) 10
Canada RPM Top 100[13] 5
Ireland (IRMA)[14]1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15]2
New Zealand (Listener)[16] 2
Norway (VG-lista)[17]1
UK Singles (Official Charts)[18]1
US Billboard Hot 100[19]11
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[20]12
West Germany (GfK)[21]6

Certifications

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Region CertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[22] Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Silver 1,257,737[24]

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 106. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. ↑ Porter Wagoner's "Green, Green Grass of Home" Chart Position Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  3. ↑ Tom Jones, "The Green Green Grass Of Home" Video Retrieved July 3, 2012.
  4. ↑ "All the Number One Singles - 1966". Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  5. ↑ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  6. ↑ Copsey, Rob (June 5, 2020). "Tom Jones's Official Top 20 most-streamed songs". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Green, Green Grass of Home (song by Tom Jones) • Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. December 24, 1966. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  8. ↑ Davidson, Merric (July 12, 2014). "Tom Jones". Toppermost. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Jerry Lee Lewis on TikTok". TikTok.
  10. ↑ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  13. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - March 4, 1967" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Tom Jones | IRMA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Flavour of New Zealand - NZ listener charts". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home". VG-lista. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Tom Jones Songs and Albums | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Tom Jones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Tom Jones Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (West Germany)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  22. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Tom Jones – Green Green Grass Of Home". Radioscope. Retrieved February 6, 2026. Type Green Green Grass Of Home in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  23. ↑ "British single certifications – Tom Jones – Green Green Grass of Home". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Green Green Grass of Home Tom Jones in the "Search:" field.
  24. ↑ Copsey, Rob (September 19, 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
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