Mickey Gilley | Photo credit: Screen grabbed from Youtube
“Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time.” He made this crystal-clear right at the opening of the song.
The girls all get prettier at closing time
They all begin to look like movie stars
The girls all get prettier at closing time
When the change starts taking place
It puts a glow on every face
Of the falling angels of the back street bars.
Contrary to its fast tempo rhythm, the song which was penned by Baker Knight is actually a lamentation. The narrator, who stays late at night in the bar room, expresses his loneliness and desperation to find a significant other. The night deepens and he gets more drunk leading him to lower his standards. He ended up with a woman who’s willing to be with him. However, he was so upset upon waking up the following morning. He realized that he got one of the least attractive women in the bar. Because of that, he swore not to do the same thing ever again.
The Study Made Relative to the Song
The premise surrounding the song spurred curiosity among social psychologists and took the challenge to investigate it scientifically. A study published in 1976 has somewhat closed the gap between the songwriters’ hypotheses and a previous research dealing with perceived physical attraction. This research confirmed the singer’s prediction that
All the girls get prettier at closing time, they all get to look like movie stars
Additionally, a reactance interpretation based on pre-decisional preferences validated Gilley’s observation as cited in the song,
Ain’t it funny, ain’ t it strange, the way a man’s opinions change when he starts to face that lonely night.
The group of researchers comprised of: James W. Pennebaker, Mary Anne Dyer, R. Scott Caulkins Debra Lynn Litowitz, Phillip L. Ackerman, Douglas B. Anderson, Kevin M. McGraw.
Reaching the country chart’s top on May 5, 1976, the song became Gilley’s fifth No. 1 single. Watch the singer’s live performance of the song below.
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Baker Knight, Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time, Mickey Gilley