Frequently Wrong But Never In Doubt
This song is about George Gerbig, a friend of her family when she was a kid. George was a wheeler and dealer. He belonged to "every organization that held meetings." In some cases he knew nothing about the subject of the organization. For example, he belonged to the Yacht Club, but didn't have a boat.
He practiced networking before the term came about. He kept hoping to land some big business deal with one of the people he would meet at one of these meetings.
One of the organizations he belonged to was the Shriners. Cheryl even went with him to the Boumi Temple a few times. When the organization became integrated, George was quite upset. He felt that it ruined his chances of landing some big deal.
One of the things that impresses me about this song is the tender treatment of a bigot. From his description in the song, George doesn't seem like the kind of person I would like to know, but then Cheryl has the lines:
And I guess I've forgotten since I was a kid
I don't know why we loved him I just know we did
There was a discussion on the e-mail list about whether the phrase "Frequently wrong but never in doubt" was an old saying or one that Cheryl made up. Here was Cheryl's response:
In answer to the queries regarding "Frequently wrong but never in doubt", my father said it to me one day on the phone and I loved it. I don't remember who he was talking about at the time, but I loved the expression and immediately thought of George.
In another conversation with my father at around the same time we were discussing bathroom remodeling which was occuring in both of our houses. I said I thought we were considering Corian for the counter top and he said it was awfully expensive. "Well yeah" I said, "but it'll last forever". He replied, "Well in my case that'd be like starting an all day sucker in the afternoon". I LOVED that, but it hasn't found it's way into a song...yet.
Lyrics
- Frequently Wrong But Never in Doubt
- Words And Music By
- Cheryl Wheeler
- I remember when George used to come to our house
- For a meeting of one of his clubs
- He would often drive down
- `Cause we lived close to town
- Where the pulse of the big business was
- He belonged to the yacht club, the truckers, the shriners
- Though he had no boat and no rig
- Still he'd eat roast beef dinners
- And hob-nob with winners
- And wait till he hit something big
- But before he could get that big fish on the line
- They let everyone in and ruined the Shrine
- And he was easily riled and likely to shout
- Frequently wrong but never in doubt
- His friends called him skippy
- But he had no family
- Till my mother's folks took him in
- Just a short blond and wavy
- Boy from the navy
- And he never left home again
- How he married Agnes oh I'll never know
- She was gracious and gentle
- And she loved him so
- And he was grand in her eyes
- When they would go out
- And frequently wrong but never in doubt
- And I guess he had a big time
- Sharing the secret symbol
- With masters elect of the night
- Down at the Boumi temple
- Well I guess he was crazy
- I think he was lonely
- My mother was his best friend
- He hollered and cried
- The day that she died
- And I rarely saw him again
- And I guess I've forgotten since I was a kid
- I don't know why we loved him I just know we did
- And he was easily riled, likely to shout
- Frequently wrong but never in doubt
- 10/6/90
- (P) May 27, 2003
- Penrod And Higgins Music / Amachrist Music
- ACF Music Group
- International Copyright Reserved
Song Clips
No song clips available
Recordings
The song Frequently Wrong But Never In Doubt appears on the following album:
- Driving Home
- by Wheeler, Cheryl
