Country Music Reclamation Project: Will Your Lawyer Talk to God

Kitty Wells is one of country music’s queens, as the first female to top the country charts (with 1952’s “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”), and has reigned a good long time, having just turned 89. Wells’ long career was very successful and consistently good, right up through the 1970s, with many hits, including “Making Believe” and “Heartbreak USA.” Wells surely provided inspiration for assertive female artists like Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, who recorded their own statement songs in the 1960s. I’ve got numerous favorite Kitty Wells songs, but none is better than this one, as she throws down the guilt card in a kiss-off to a divorcing spouse.

Will Your Lawyer Talk to God (performed by Kitty Wells)
Written by Richard Johnson and Harlan Howard.

Your lawyer called and said he had the papers all prepared
To sign your name was all you had to do
He’s seen the judge, now he’s seen me
There’s only one thing left,
Will your lawyer talk to God for you?

Will your lawyer talk to God, and plead your case up on high
And defend the way you broke my heart in two
Man made laws to set you free on earth
But is God satisfied?
Will your lawyer talk to God for you?

We all face that final judgment and it’s very strict they say,
When your time comes, I wonder what you’ll do
Will you bow your head in shame or will you turn your head away
Will your lawyer talk to God for you?

Will your lawyer talk to God, and plead your case up on high
And defend the way you broke my heart in two
Man made laws to set you free on earth
But is God satisfied?
Or will your lawyer talk to God for you?

Wells married Johnnie Wright (of country-duo Johnnie & Jack fame) in 1937, and the couple celebrated their 70th anniversary last year. Luckily, Johnny Wright won’t need his lawyer once he shuffles off this mortal coil.

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