Babe in an Omni

This song was one of those rare cases when the idea for the lyrics preceded the idea for the music. Or at least I had the notion that I was going to write a song called "Babe in an Omni" long before I started working on the music that I eventually decided would be a perfect fit.

Kurt Grutzmacher and I were driving into Dallas from Denton one day, I think headed to his home just off of Coit and 75, when we passed a girl who was an absolute knockout. I mean, she was just drop dead gorgeous. Wow. She had blonde hair, loosely curled and kept just above shoulder length, deep blue eyes, and a natural smile that would make your heart turn somersaults. After we exchanged glances for several minutes (ergo the very accurate description which is now permanently etched in my memory) Kurt pointed out that she was driving an Omni. Thus began the discussion regarding the relative attractiveness of a female and the relative price tag on the car she's driving. It sure seemed like the most beautiful women you find driving in Dallas traffic are driving more exotic vehicles, not more practical modes of transportation. So we determined that it was, in our experience, unusual to find a very attractive girl driving a car like an Omni. And that Green Chili would sing about it someday.

Several months later, right before the one time I attended an ACM event, I shared with Chris Williams a new bass lick I had worked up, along with the drum pattern and minimal keyboard highlights I'd been able to conjure up in under an hour. Chris went nuts, demanding that he get a copy of what he'd just heard. He kept singing its praises the rest of the evening, and I left the event feeling like this new piece might be something worth keeping.

It wasn't until I had really started working on more than just a bass line for the song that I thought about the conversation I'd had with Kurt. Several nights I worked solely on this particular piece, and by the time Greg first heard it (I had worked on the bass line specifically for Greg because I thought he'd like it) it was a completed piece.

And to the girl driving the Omni that day, should you ever realize that this is about you, thanks for the inspiration.