I Don't Wanna Play House

"I Don't Wanna Play House"
"I Don't Wanna Play House"
Single by Connie Francis
B-side	"Am I Blue"
Released	August 1968
Genre	Country
Length	3:05
Label	MGM Records
Songwriters	Billy Sherrill ; Glenn Sutton
Producers	Bobby Russel; Buzz Cason
Connie Francis singles chronology

"I Don't Wanna Play House"
"I Don't Wanna Play House"
Single by Tammy Wynette
from the album Take Me to Your World / I Don't Wanna Play House
B-side	"Soakin' Wet"
Released	July 1967
Studio	Columbia (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Country
Length	2:38
Label	Epic
Songwriters	Billy Sherrill ; Glenn Sutton ;
Producer	Billy Sherrill
Tammy Wynette singles chronology

Last updated January 09, 2026

"I Don't Wanna Play House" is a song written by Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton. In 1967, the song was Tammy Wynette's first number one country song as a solo artist.

Tammy Wynette version

"I Don't Wanna Play House" by Tammy Wynette spent three weeks at the top spot and a total of eighteen weeks on the chart.^[1] The recording earned Wynette the 1968 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The song was also released in the UK in 1976 and made the Top 40.^[2]

Content

In the song, the narrator, a young mother whose husband has left her, overhears her daughter describing to a neighborhood boy their broken home, and informing him that she doesn't want to play house since, after observing her parents' troubles, she knows that it cannot be fun.

Chart performance

Chart (1967)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	3

Chart (1976)	Peak position
U.K. Singles Chart^[2]	37

Barbara Ray versions

In 1973, South African singer Barbara Ray recorded a version that was a number-one hit in her home country^[3] as well as a top 10 hit in Australia, reaching No. 3 later in the year.^[4] Her version was South Africa's highest-selling single of 1973.^[5]

Charts

Chart (1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[6]	3

Other versions

Connie Francis released a cover version of the song in August 1968. It peaked at No. 40 on Billboard's Easy Listening Charts.^[7]
Skeeter Davis covered the song on her 1968 album Why So Lonely? .
Lynn Anderson (then the wife of the song's co-writer, Sutton) covered the song in 1970 on her album Rose Garden.
Loretta Lynn covered the song on her 1968 album, Fist City.
Mona Gustafsson recorded the song on her 2010 album Countrypärlor .^[8]

References

↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 399.
1 2 "TAMMY WYNETTE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts .
↑ "SA Number 1s 1965 - 1989". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
↑ "Australian Weekly Single Ccharts (David Kent) for 1973" . Retrieved June 7, 2018.
↑ "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1973". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 247. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 97.
↑ "Countrypärlor" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

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[1] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 399.

[UK-2] 1 2 "TAMMY WYNETTE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts .

[3] "SA Number 1s 1965 - 1989". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.

[4] "Australian Weekly Single Ccharts (David Kent) for 1973" . Retrieved June 7, 2018.

[5] "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1973". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.

[aus-6] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 247. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[7] Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 97.

[8] "Countrypärlor" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

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v t e Tammy Wynette singles
Discography with George Jones Albums discography Singles discography
1960s	"Apartment No. 9" "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" "My Elusive Dreams" (with David Houston) "I Don't Wanna Play House" "Take Me to Your World" "It's All Over" (with David Houston) "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" "Stand by Your Man" "Singing My Song" "The Ways to Love a Man" "I'll See Him Through"
1970s	"He Loves Me All the Way" "Run, Woman, Run" "The Wonders You Perform" "We Sure Can Love Each Other" "Good Lovin' (Makes It Right)" "Bedtime Story" "Reach Out Your Hand (And Touch Somebody)" "My Man (Understands)" "'Til I Get It Right" "Kids Say the Darndest Things" "Another Lonely Song" "Woman to Woman" "(You Make Me Want to Be a) Mother" "I Still Believe in Fairy Tales" "'Til I Can Make It on My Own" "You and Me" "(Let's Get Together) One Last Time" "One of a Kind" "I'd Like to See Jesus (On the Midnight Special)" "Womanhood" "They Call It Making Love" "No One Else in the World"
1980s	"He Was There (When I Needed You)" "Starting Over" "Cowboys Don't Shoot Straight (Like They Used To)" "Crying in the Rain" "Another Chance" "You Still Get to Me in My Dreams" "A Good Night's Love" "Lonely Heart" "Sometimes When We Touch" (with Mark Gray) "Your Love" "Talkin' to Myself Again" "Beneath a Painted Sky"
1990s	"Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMS)" (The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette) "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" (with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton) "Every Breath You Take" (with Sting)

v t e Connie Francis
Discography
U.S. albums	Who's Sorry Now? The Exciting Connie Francis My Thanks to You Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites Christmas in My Heart Connie's Greatest Hits Rock 'n' Roll Million Sellers Country & Western – Golden Hits Connie Francis Sings Fun Songs for Children Connie Francis Sings "Second Hand Love" One for the Boys Connie Francis Sings Spanish and Latin American Favorites Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites More Italian Favorites Songs to a Swinging Band More Greatest Hits Connie Francis Sings "Never on Sunday" Connie Francis Sings Folk Song Favorites Connie Francis Sings Irish Favorites Do the Twist!/Dance Party Connie Francis Sings Modern Italian Hits Connie Francis Sings Award Winning Motion Picture Hits Greatest American Waltzes In the Summer of His Years Connie Francis Sings German Favorites Connie Francis and Hank Williams Jr. Sing Great Country Favorites Movie Greats of the 60s Live at The Sahara in Las Vegas Connie's Christmas Connie Francis and The Kids Next Door Love, Italian Style Happiness – Connie Francis On Broadway Today Grandes Éxitos del Cine de los Años 60 Connie & Clyde – Hit Songs of the 30s Connie Francis Sings Bacharach & David The Wedding Cake Connie Francis Sings the Songs of Les Reed I'm Me Again – Silver Anniversary Album
International albums	Connie Francis en El Patio Melodien, die die Welt erobern Somewhere, My Love
U.S. singles	"The Majesty of Love" "Who's Sorry Now?" "Stupid Cupid"/"Carolina Moon" "Heartaches" "Fallin'"/"Happy Days and Lonely Nights" "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" "My Happiness" "You Always Hurt the One You Love" "If I Didn't Care" "Lipstick on Your Collar"/"Frankie" "Among My Souvenirs"/"God Bless America" "Mama" "Jealous of You (Tango della Gelosia)"/"Everybody's Somebody's Fool" "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own"/"Malagueña" "Many Tears Ago" "Where the Boys Are" "No One" "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart"/"Someone Else's Boy" "Together" "(He's My) Dreamboat" "When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)" "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" "Vacation" "I Was Such a Fool (To Fall in Love with You)"/"He Thinks I Still Care" "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter"/"Al di là" "Follow the Boys" "If My Pillow Could Talk" "Drownin' My Sorrows"/"Mala Femmena" "Your Other Love" "In the Summer of His Years" "Blue Winter" "Be Anything (but Be Mine)" "Whose Heart Are You Breaking Tonight?" "For Mama" "Wishing It Was You"/"You're Mine (Just When You're Lonely)" "Forget Domani" "Roundabout" "Jealous Heart" "Love Is Me, Love Is You" "It's a Different World" "So Nice (Summer Samba)" "Spanish Nights and You" "Another Page" "Time Alone Will Tell" "My Heart Cries for You" "Lonely Again" "I Love You Much Too Much" "My World Is Slipping Away" "Why Say Goodbye" "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place"/"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" "I Don't Wanna Play House" "The Wedding Cake" "Gone Like the Wind"/"Am I Blue?" "Zingara" "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" "I'm Me Again"
International singles	"Robot Man" "Burning Bridges" "Lili Marleen" "Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel" "Ich komm' nie mehr von dir los" "Wenn ich träume" "Schöner fremder Mann" "Einmal komm' ich wieder" "Eine Insel für zwei" "Jamais" "Tu' mir nicht weh" "Wenn du gehst" "Barcarole in der Nacht" "Ho bisogno di vederti" "Roman Guitar (Chitarra romana)" "Granada"/"Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" "Pretty Little Baby"
Notable songs	"Volare" "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" "Young at Heart" "Mein Herz weiß genau, was es will" "Once a Day" "The Shadow of Your Smile" "Strangers in the Night" "Misty Blue" "Are You Satisfied?" "Games That Lovers Play" "Pretty Little Baby"