Travis Tritt's musical tribute to that ancient invention called pay phones, "Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)," helped transform the Georgia-born singer and songwriter from Nashville's next big thing to a headlining act. The song got so big that within a year of its May 7, 1991 release, it created a workplace hazard for Tritt.
"When we first started doing 'Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)' live, people started throwing quarters on stage," Tritt told the Miami Herald for a March 6, 1992 article. "As the halls got bigger, people up in the balcony wanted to make sure the quarters got on stage."
During a 1992 appearance in historic country music mecca Bristol, Tennessee, quarters thrown by audience members left Tritt bleeding from the face and unable to finish his set. The Miami Herald reported that the incident left a scar above one eye.
Lucky for us Tritt fans, one rowdy crowd in Bristol didn't get a popular song cut from future set lists.
"Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)" was the first single off Tritt's second mainstream album, It's All About to Change. Other additions to Tritt's greatest hits included "Bible Belt," "Anymore," Marty Stuart duet "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" and "Nothing Short of Dying."
The Gregg Brown-produced single's flipside, "If Hell Had a Jukebox," fits a loose theme of quarters and other types of change.
Read More: Garth Brooks Wrote "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" For George Strait
One last aside: the woman in Tritt's music video, Leighanne Wallace, went on to marry Backstreet Boys member Brian Littrell.
"Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)" Lyrics
You say you were wrong to ever leave me alone
Now you're sorry, you're lonesome and scared
And you say you'd be happy if I you could just come back home
Well, here's a quarter, call someone who cares
Call someone who'll listen, or might give a damn
Maybe one of your sordid affairs
But don't you come 'round here handin' me none of your lies
Here's a quarter, call someone who cares
Girl, I thought what we had could never turn bad
So your leavin' caught me unaware
But the fact is you've run...girl, that can't be undone
So here's a quarter, call someone who cares
Call someone who'll listen, or might give a damn
Maybe one of your sordid affairs
But don't you come 'round here handin' me none of your lies
Here's a quarter, call someone who cares
Yeah, here's a quarter, call someone who cares
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