Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses

"Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses"
"Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses"
Single by Kathy Mattea
from the album Untasted Honey
B-side	"Like a Hurricane"
Released	March 12, 1988
Genre	Country
Length	3:23
Label	Mercury
Songwriter(s)	Gene Nelson and Paul Nelson
Producer(s)	Allen Reynolds
Kathy Mattea singles chronology

"Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" is a song written by Paul Nelson and Gene Nelson, and recorded by American country music artist Kathy Mattea. It was released in March 1988 as the second single from her album Untasted Honey. The song hit number one on both the US^[1] and Canadian Country charts in 1988.

Content[]

The song is about a truck driver named Charlie who is retiring after thirty years to spend more time with his wife. The song mentions Charlie receiving a gold watch, a common retirement gift.

Music video[]

The video was directed by May/Sams. The video opens with Mattea dining at the Pie Wagon, a diner off Music Row in Nashville, when a truck driver approaches her and asks for her autograph as a present for his wife. Throughout the video, there are scenes of Mattea on her tour bus, performing with her band, and scenes of the truck driver. In the end, the driver makes it home, his wife greeting him, and he hands her the dozen roses mentioned in the song's lyric, as they walk arm in arm into their house; Kathy turns off the lights to the bus, and the video ends with a shot of various trucks driving on the highway.

Charts[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1988)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[2]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

Year-end charts[]

Chart (1988)	Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[3]	19

External links[]

Lyrics at cmt.com

References[]

^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 217.
^ "Kathy Mattea Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
^ "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1988". Billboard. Retrieved July 10, 2021.

[1] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 217.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Kathy_Mattea-2] "Kathy Mattea Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

[3] "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1988". Billboard. Retrieved July 10, 2021.

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show v t Kathy Mattea
Studio albums	Kathy Mattea From My Heart Walk the Way the Wind Blows Untasted Honey Willow in the Wind Time Passes By Lonesome Standard Time Walking Away a Winner Love Travels The Innocent Years Roses Right Out of Nowhere Coal Calling Me Home Pretty Bird
Christmas albums	Good News Joy for Christmas Day
Compilation albums	A Collection of Hits
Singles	"Love at the Five and Dime" "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" "You're the Power" "Train of Memories" "Goin' Gone" "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" "Untold Stories" "Life as We Knew It" "Come from the Heart" "Burnin' Old Memories" "Where've You Been" "She Came from Fort Worth" "The Battle Hymn of Love" (with Tim O'Brien) "A Few Good Things Remain" "Time Passes By" "Whole Lotta Holes" "Asking Us to Dance" "Lonesome Standard Time" "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)" "Walking Away a Winner" "Nobody's Gonna Rain on Our Parade" "Maybe She's Human" "Clown in Your Rodeo" "455 Rocket" "Love Travels"
Other songs	"(Back to the) Heartbreak Kid" "From a Distance" "Mary, Did You Know?"
Related articles	Discography Jon Vezner

show v t CMA Single of the Year
1967−1970	"There Goes My Everything" (1967) "Harper Valley PTA" (1968) "A Boy Named Sue" (1969) "Okie from Muskogee" (1970)
1971-1980	"Help Me Make It Through the Night" (1971) "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." (1972) "Behind Closed Doors" (1973) "Country Bumpkin" (1974) "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" (1975) "Good Hearted Woman" (1976) "Lucille" (1977) "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" (1978) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (1979) "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980)
1981-1990	"Elvira" (1981) "Always on My Mind" (1982) "Swingin'" (1983) "A Little Good News" (1984) "Why Not Me" (1985) "Bop" (1986) "Forever and Ever, Amen" (1987) "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" (1988) "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" (1989) "When I Call Your Name" (1990)
1991-2000	"Friends in Low Places" (1991) "Achy Breaky Heart" (1992) "Chattahoochee" (1993) "I Swear" (1994) "When You Say Nothing at All" (1995) "Check Yes or No" (1996) "Strawberry Wine" (1997) "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" (1998) "Wide Open Spaces" (1999) "I Hope You Dance" (2000)
2001-2010	"I am a Man Of Constant Sorrow" (2001) "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" (2002) "Hurt" (2003) "Live Like You Were Dying" (2004) "I May Hate Myself in the Morning" (2005) "Believe" (2006) "Before He Cheats" (2007) "I Saw God Today" (2008) "I Run to You" (2009) "Need You Now" (2010)
2011-2020	"If I Die Young" (2011) "Pontoon" (2012) "Cruise" (2013) "Automatic" (2014) "Girl Crush" (2015) "Die a Happy Man" (2016) "Blue Ain't Your Color" (2017) "Broken Halos" (2018) "God's Country" (2019) "The Bones" (2020)