Here's a song that was inspired by a magazine article about this quaint and cozy little home town cafe in Woodbury, TN. I hope I've captured the essence of the article in the song. I'm going to make sure, on my next trip to Nashville, that I go by there and check it out in person.
JOE’S PLACE
(ch) 2007

There’s a little country café
Just off the interstate
Back up in the mountains where
People congregate
It don’t matter how you dress
There ain’t no dress code
It’s just a little off the beaten path
On a winding country road…

There’re lots of friendly faces
And smiles to go around
And the laughter seems to fill the air
From sun-up to sun-down
The atmosphere is cozy
You’ll feel right at home there
You can warm yourself by the fireplace
In an old-time rocking chair

(ch)
At Joe’s Place….
At Joe’s Place
You don’t need no reservation
Just drop on by join the celebration
At Joe’s Place…
At Joe’s Place
Good food good friends happy times
Stay as long as you will…that’ll be fine
At Joe’s Place

The food there is the greatest
Simple country-style
Folks ‘round here will tell you it’s
The best for miles and miles
Homemade pies and cobblers
Make you want to keep coming back
But the best thing on the menu is
A plate of fried fatback
(bridge)
Breakfast dinner and supper
Served on red-checked table cloths
You’ll find that it’s the best thing
You ever did run across
(ch)

Hi John,

I've not had the pleasure of eating at Joe's Place, but you paint the picture well. Great rhythm to this lyric and the chorus utilises the hook well.

No nits, until I got to the last 2 lines.

Breakfast dinner and supper
Served on red-checked table cloths
You’ll find that it’s the best thing
You ever did run across

I found 'thing' a bit abstract and was thinking along the lines of -

Breakfast dinner and supper
Served on red-checked table cloths
You’ll find Joe's Place is the best place
You'll ever come across

To me, this emphasises the 'Joe's Place' mantra before you hit the last chorus. That said, it's great as is. Good write.

Lyndyn

You've painted a pretty good picture of the cafe. I would've suggested another, more romantic/country name, but I assume Joe's Place is the real name.
Think you could add more overall color if you didn't repeat the same info in a couple of spots.
These lines are redundant:
"It don’t matter how you dress
There ain’t no dress code"

as are these:
"There’re lots of friendly faces
And smiles to go around
And the laughter seems to fill the air" This third line pretty much says it all about the ambience in Joe's. You could impart more in those first 2 lines.

Last thing that hit me odd is the line:
"A plate of fried fatback"

Where I come from, fatback is used as a seasoning, but I never heard of eating straight-up salt pork. Joe's wouldn't get much of a thumbs up on the health-o-meter!
Easy flow to this.
Ben

HiDee Bro John!

I agree with Ben's Crit...Fatback's NOT a real Healthful, Tasty "Side Dish"...tho Does make Green Beans taste Scrumptious!

I'd rate this OK...BUT it COULD be a GREAT ONE IF ya'd describe JOE...(Or an Attractive, Flirty..Waitress!). This'n' needs some PEOPLE for Us Non-Foodies in the Audience to be Connected-With (&/or Attracted-to!)...

Good Luck with it, Amigo!
Stan

Hi John,

Yep this one needs some people and I agree with Stan about the fatback line.

REads real smooth. Great flow.

Vanessa

Oh yeah, John
Forgot to mention....I, TOO, agree with Stan about the "fatback" line.
Ben

I could sing your song to Tim McGraws "Down on the farm" Are you sure you weren't shadowing that song? I got suspicious that you may have been unconsciously modeling it when you used the line "no dress code", which is in the second line of McGraw's second verse. Writing from a popular template is a good excerize. Cory, for instance does great parodies of popular songs but he is aware of them. It would be sad if you thought you had something unique and polished your hook and set your bait, only to find out that the fishing hole had already been fished out. I know this song so well because I have probably sung it 100 times in the country band I was in.

Two verses from "Down of the farm"

Every Friday night
there's a steady cloud of dust
That leads back to a field
filled with pickup trucks
Got old Hank cranking way up loud
Got coolers in the back
Tailgates down
There's a big fire burnin'
but don't be alarmed
It's just country boys and girls
gettin' down on the farm


Well you can come as you are
There ain't no dress code
Just some rural route rules
that you need to know
Don't mess with the bull
He can get real mean
Don't forget to shut the gate
Stay out of the beans
If it starts to rainin'
will just head to the barn
We're country boys and girls
gettin' down on the farm

Hey, Guys, I think you've taken this the wrong way. There is a cafe called Joe's Place in Woodbury, TN, about 40 miles south of Nashville. The article that inspired this was in COUNTRY... I think last month.
As for the "fatback", I surely do eat it. Down here in the southeast it is a delicacy that we don't get all the time, but, we do eat it. Heck, restaurants serve it here. It is used as seasoning too, but we sure do like it fried.
Nope, I wasn't copying anybody's song....would not do that.
J

I like this, it does have a good feel, but in its current state it reads more like an advertisement jingle (which isn't a bad thing - people make a lot of money doing that) for the restaurant, I think to bring more commercial appeal it needs a character(s)or more in depth story- as other posters have mentioned.

Hey John!

Seems like you've captured the essence of the place. I've heard about it but haven't been there.

I will admit that this does sound more like an advertisement than a commercial song though.

Charlann