The duets found on the early albums that Jones and Wynette recorded together feature songs that almost always celebrate the joys of domestic bliss and true love, something producer Billy Sherrill did purposefully to reflect the assumptions of their captivated audience. A good example of this is "The Ceremony", a song Sherrill co-wrote; the song, which mimics a wedding service, begins with a minister's preamble over a church organ and contains verses where George and Tammy renew their vows and profess their love for each other. It became a highlight of their live shows, with Bob Allen wryly noting in his book George Jones: The Saga of an American Singer: "When they sang "The Ceremony" onstage in places like Sioux City and Peoria, they enacted for the benefit of their fans an elaborate wedding ritual which, in reality, was quite unlike the quickie civil ceremony with which they'd actually sealed their nuptial bond."[1] In 1996 Jones admitted in his autobiography, "It sounds cheesy now, but it was a show-stopper for two people whose divorce was often the subject of tabloid speculation. People went crazy when we did 'The Ceremony' live."[2]
As if mirroring their doomed marriage, a couple of the songs on Me and the First Lady hint at the cracks that had already appeared in the relationship of country music's first couple: "A Lovely Place To Cry" (co-written by Wynette with Earl Montgomery) and "The Great Divide" both contemplate fading love and the possibility of divorce.
