"Detour (There's a Muddy Road Ahead)" is a Western swing ballad written by Paul Westmoreland in 1945.[1] The original version was by Jimmy Walker with Paul Westmoreland and His Pecos River Boys, issued around the beginning of November 1945.[2]

"Detour (There's a Muddy Road Ahead)"
Song by Jimmy Walker
Released1945 (1945)
GenreWestern swing
Songwriter(s)Paul Westmoreland

Background

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Westmoreland wrote the song while traveling to Murphy, North Carolina. He debuted the song in the neighboring town of Hayesville.[3]

The title comes from the repetition of detour in the chorus:

Detour, there's a muddy road ahead.
Detour, paid no mind to what it said.
Detour, all these bitter things I find.
Should have read that detour sign.

Written in the first person, the song tells of the singer's regrets for the choices made in life.

Headed down life's crooked road
Lots of things I never knowed,
And because of me not knowin', I now pine.
Trouble got in the trail,
Spent the next five years in jail,
Should have read that detour sign.
(chorus)

1946 recordings

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Other versions

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  • A well-known version of the song was the popular recording by Patti Page in 1951. It was released by Mercury Records as catalog number 5682, and first entered the Billboard chart on August 4, 1951, staying for 16 weeks and peaking at number five.[5]

Willie Nelson and Leon Russell on the album One For The Road (1979; not released as a single, album charted #3 on Billboard country)

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References

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  1. ^ "Original versions of Detour (There's a Muddy Road Ahead) written by Paul Westmoreland | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  2. ^ Billboard, November 3, 1945
  3. ^ Moore, Carl S. (2008). Clay County, N.C.: Then and Now. Franklin, N.C.: Genealogy Publishing Service. ISBN 978-1881851240.
  4. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2005). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits. Billboard Books. pp. 89, 423.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Record Research.
  6. ^ Wicks, Amanda (January 28, 2016). "Cyndi Lauper's Country Album 'Detour' Features Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris & More". Radio.com. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Detour, WTMD's folk, roots, and world music show". Retrieved December 17, 2017.