“I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home” by David Frizzell is a wittingly amusing anthem for the wives who can’t control their husband’s costly drinking habits. Written by Dewayne Blackwell, it was released in April 1982 as the first track to Frizzell’s album The Family’s Fine, But This One’s All Mine.
The masterpiece became the country singer’s sole No. 1 on the country charts, achieving a superstar status as a solo artist with 80s classics under David Frizzell’s belt. It spent a 14-week run in Country Music’s Top 40. The Canadian RPM Charts also loved the song making it No. 3 on the Country Tracks and No. 20 on the Top Singles. Its brilliance was praised by Greg Adams of AllMusic, who described the song as “a clever and bitterly humorous song about honky tonkin’ and domestic disharmony.”
This was nominated for Best Country and Western Song at the 25th Grammy Awards in 1983 but lost to Willie Nelson’s top-charting song, “Always on My Mind.”
Meaning Behind the Song
“I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home” is a humorous track by David Frizzell about a wife’s solution to her husband’s bar hopping and costly spending, where she turns their home into a bar so he would stay at home. The term “wino” in the hook refers to his drunken husband obsessed with wine. When he recovers from a hangover, she plans to deposit his paycheck in their bank account.
For You
In detail, the wife plans to transform the dining area into a bar and put a neon sign to point the way to the bathroom. “We’ll rip out all the carpet and put sawdust on the floor; Serve hard-boiled eggs and pretzels, and I won’t cook, no more,” she protested. “There’ll be Monday night football on TV, above the bar; and a pay phone in the hallway, when your friends can’t find their car.”
Through her plan, there wouldn’t be any shortage of cold beer and her husband will no longer find another bar to stop by because everything’s already provided at home. Above that, she will be able to earn more money from her husband’s drinking habit.
Better reduce your alcohol intake before your partner turns your home into a disastrous bar den.
Play David Frizzell’s “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate our Home” and learn from the best.
