The 405 Aired Sept 4th, 2026

0:00I wanna get in welcoming out of the 405 coffee break. We can scum in guys, get you cup of coffee, glass ice, tea, bottle water. Let's see what's happening in spring late 694, Abushal, 550 pounds Steak Hat for fall delivery, top end 480 to 495 a pound, and a hundred pound fat lemon, Billings, top end $3.15 a pound. But guys, there's more, much more. Okay, if you listened on Tuesday, you heard me telling the count about Lisa, a juvenile probation officer that I knew well. I knew her from working at the youth ranch. Well, the name Lisa, and the fact that when I met her in person, she didn't say it, but I said it. I said, you're not Lisa. Of course she said she was, because my mind had concocted a different image. And if you noticed on Tuesday, she didn't say my name is Julie, but that reminded me of a great song.

1:02Did it remind you? 1975. Let's look into that song by Jesse Colter. In 1975, country music was beginning to change. The true polished Nashville sound was given way to something rougher and more independent. What would soon become known as outlaw country, and right in the middle of that movement was a woman named Jesse Colter. Born Mariam Johnson in Phoenix in 1943, and she's still alive, guys. She had already been around the music business for years. She had married a rock and roll guitarist, Duane Eddie, and in 1969, she married another musician who would become one of country's music's greatest stars, Whalen Jennings. Whalen Jennings, Jesse Colter. Yet in 1974, Jesse Colter was not, he had a household name.

2:05And she wrote a song. She titled it, I'm not Lisa. Colter wrote the entire song herself, and she also played the piano on the original recording. The record was produced by Ken Mansfield and Whalen Jennings, and the story she created is heartbreaking. The singer is a woman named Julie. She's speaking to a man who is still completely consumed by the memory of another woman, Lisa. Lisa had apparently been the great love of his life. Then one winter day, his hand led hers away. Now the implication is that Lisa died, leaving the man behind to spend the years grieving her. Folks, his love died, she's gone. Or at least you can read the song that way,

3:07but like all good literature, it leaves the door wide open for interpretation. And now, Julie's standing there trying to convince him of something. She's not Lisa. She doesn't have Lisa's blue eyes. She doesn't expect to replace Lisa, but she loves him. And she isn't gonna abandon him. That's what makes the song so unusual. Julie isn't competing with another woman who is still around. She's competing with a memory. And there's an important factual point here. There is no evidence that Lisa was a real woman in Jesse Colter's life, or that the song was literally about Whalen Jennings and another woman. There is no facts to base that. The song is a fictional narrative written by Colter. The identification of the narrator as Julie comes from the lyrics themselves,

4:07but Colter's timing was perfect. Capital records released, I'm not Lisa, as a single. In January 1975, a few months later, Orvin Sover could graduate high school. And the record, it exploded. It reached number one on the Billboard Country Chart and remarkably, for a country record, climbed all the way up to number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Suddenly, everyone knew Jesse Colter. Her album, I'm Jesse Colter, followed in January 1975. It eventually reached number four on Billboard's Country Album Chart. Her next single, What's Happened to Blue Eyes, became another top five country hit. Jesse Colter became one of the very few women associated with the Outlaw Country Movement. So guys, when you hear that lonely piano

5:09and Jesse Colter quietly singing, I'm not Lisa. You're not hearing a woman simply telling her own story. You're hearing a songwriter creating a character who realizes something painful. She's dealing with a memory. Sometimes the hardest person to compete with isn't another person. It is that memory. And that's probably why. I'm not Lisa has lasted for more than half a century. It isn't really a song about Lisa. It's a song about what happens when someone you love is still living within your mind. And Jesse Colter, with nothing more than her piano, her voice, and a three minute story made millions of people feel it. Now guys, you gotta agree. That's pretty darn good songwriting. And you gotta listen to the song. And let's find a Bible verse. If I can, that fits for Lisa.

6:12It comes from the book called The Song of Solomon. I don't share from that very often. Chapter five verses 10 through 12. No, imagine Lisa is saying this to her man. And I quote, my beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among 10,000. His hair is the finest gold. His locks are wavy. Black is a raven. His eyes are like doves. Besides streams of water bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool. Song of Solomon five, 10, 11, and 12. And yes, sir, that really is in the Bible. So until next time, I'm not Lisa. My name is Orvin. As you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.