Marty Robbins – Making Excuses: The Sharp, Timeless Portrait of Marital Guilt and Transparent Deception
In the extraordinary, wide-ranging repertoire of Marty Robbins, where he could seamlessly pivot from an epic gunfight ballad to a sun-soaked Hawaiian melody, the song “Making Excuses” stands out as a sharp, keenly observed piece of domestic drama. This track is not about a grand, tragic romance, but rather the petty, transparent self-deception and marital guilt that often plague everyday life. It is the sound of a man caught in his own predictable web, and Robbins delivers the narrative with a knowing, almost wry resignation that makes the listener both sympathize with and chuckle at his plight.
“Making Excuses” was a track from Robbins’ 1964 album, R.F.D. (a title that evokes rural mail delivery—a nod to his down-to-earth appeal). This album was notable for featuring songs primarily penned by writers associated with Robbins’ own publishing ventures, and “Making Excuses,” written by the husband-and-wife team of Phoebe and Bob Binkley, was a perfectly tailored fit. While the song did not achieve the status of a major chart-breaking single, it is a crucial example of the kind of honest, slice-of-life storytelling that cemented Marty Robbins’ status as one of Country Music’s most versatile performers during the 1960s. Its placement on an album of high-quality, non-hit material speaks to its strength as a memorable album track cherished by dedicated fans.
The core of the song lies in the narrator’s predicament: he has been out too late, doing something he knows his wife won’t approve of, and he is frantically attempting to craft a believable alibi before he walks through the door. The song lists the comically thin excuses he’s rehearsing in his head: the car ran out of gas, he had to work late, an old friend came to town. The brilliance of the writing is in its unvarnished recognition of guilt. The narrator knows he’s lying, and he knows his wife knows he’s lying, but the routine must still be performed.
The Meaning of the Lie:
The deeper resonance of “Making Excuses” for the older audience is its mirror-like reflection of how established relationships function. The lies aren’t told to truly deceive; they are told to maintain a fragile peace and adhere to a mutually accepted, unspoken contract. The wife likely doesn’t believe the story about the “flat tire” for a minute, but she allows the performance to play out because demanding the raw truth might be too disruptive. The song is a humorous, yet insightful, look at the domestic dance of avoidance, where the guilt-ridden husband attempts to absolve himself, and the long-suffering wife knows the score but chooses her battles wisely.
Marty Robbins handles the track with his signature effortless baritone, imbuing the lyrics with a sense of frantic energy mixed with unavoidable doom. He perfectly captures the sound of a man sweating out a lie, making the listener feel that sudden, sinking dread just before the key turns in the lock. It’s a beautifully simple, relatable song—not about a villain’s downfall, but about a very human, very married man’s minor transgression and the inevitable reckoning.
Music Legend