Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music: The Inspirational Stories behind 101 of Your Favorite Country Songs
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At that moment, I thought, “Somebody needs to just give people a good slap across the noggin and wake them up.” I came back to Nashville and sat down with Wynn Varble and we started talking about it and he said, “I had the exact same conversation the other day with someone and I just wanted to grab him around the throat and say, ‘Have you forgotten?’”
When he said that, I told him, “That’s our song title. That’s not just about 9/11. It’s about all of our history. It’s about all the soldiers who went out and laid their lives down over the years. This could be huge. It could be almost like an anthem.” We wrote it in an hour and a half. It just fell out. We went to lunch and then came back to see if we had it all tweaked. We played it two or three times and decided we weren’t going to change anything.
It just floors me how, if our soldiers make a mistake out there in the field somewhere and we botch something, the media will take that and turn it into a huge fiasco. But when somebody comes against us, it’s always downplayed and excused. What that does is it breeds complacency and people start thinking, “I guess we’re just supposed to forget about that. And our wonderful government will take care of us.” And it’s just not always like that.
The most frustrating thing about this song is that a lot of people thought I was trying to make a comparison between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein, which I wasn’t. I wrote it after going to Afghanistan and I mention bin Laden in the song, but because it came out about the time we were going into Iraq, people thought I was talking about that.
I don’t want people constantly walking around in a state of anger or fear, but we’ve got to make ourselves aware. We have the greatest country and enjoy the greatest amount of freedom of any nation, and there is a big part of the world that despises us just for that. They are very envious of that. Since the beginning of this country, we have had enemies and we’ve had to fight and fight and fight, just like other countries have had to do, to preserve what we have. And the memory of that should stand for something and we need to be aware of where our freedom comes from. I think of myself as a patriot. I want people to know that I love this country and our way of life and that there are a lot of other men and women out there who have proved that by their sacrifices.
I think this song is going to be around for a while, and it will always stand on its own. I feel blessed that we got to be the vehicle to deliver it.
Have You Forgotten?
I hear people saying we don’t need this war
But I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground?
We didn’t get to keep ’em by backing down
They say we don’t realize the mess we’re getting in
Before you start your preaching, let me ask you this my friend
Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going through a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it’s too disturbing for you and me
It’ll just breed anger, that’s what the experts say
If it was up to me I’d show it every day
Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight
Well, after 9/11, man, I’d have to say that’s right
Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going through a living hell
And we vowed to get the ones behind bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
I’ve been there with the soldiers
Who’ve gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they’re fighting for
Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don’t you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
He Didn’t Have to Be
Story by Kelley Lovelace
Song written by Kelley Lovelace and Brad Paisley
Recorded by Brad Paisley
I met Brad Paisley while we were both students at Belmont University in Nashville. We became friends before we ever started collaborating and had written several songs before we wrote “He Didn’t Have to Be.” Then Brad got his record deal with Arista Records around 1999. On his first album, Who Needs Pictures?, he recorded another song that I had written called, “It Never Would’ve Worked Out Anyway,” which was a funny song about a guy being rejected time after time.
Brad came over to our apartment in Bellevue, just west of Nashville, and had dinner my wife Karen and me one night. I remember we had pot roast and mashed potatoes. After dinner, we went out on the screened-in porch to write something. While we were sitting there, my stepson McCain came and hugged me and Brad said, “You really love that little guy, don’t you?” Then he said, “Let’s write a song about him. Let’s write a song that will make Karen cry.”
I started thinking about what I would like my stepson to say about me when he’s grown. So then we decided to write the song from his point of view. Since there are a lot of blended families in our nation right now, we thought that a lot of people would be able to relate to the song, at least the ones that had good stepfathers. And I was thinking about my wife when I wrote “When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new / It always winds up feeling more like a job interview.” We pretty much wrote the song in one sitting that night.
The rest of the song is pretty autobiographical. When I started dating my wife, McCain usually came along with us. He was five when we got married and the kid in the song is five, too.
The next night, Karen heard it all the way through for the first time when Brad played it at producer Frank Rogers’ house. She got pretty teary.
The publisher wanted to pitch it to George Strait, who was in the process of cutting a new album, but he passed on it because he didn’t want to record anything sad. At this point, Brad was all set to release Who Needs Pictures? But then we were somewhere in town, it may have been the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, and Brad played the song live. There were a lot of tears in the room that night and Arista President Tim DuBois came up to him later and said, “Mister, you need to cut that song.” They actually held up the album so they could add this song to it. It would have been a strong debut either way, but it’s nice that this song really broke Brad’s career open. It was his first #1 as an artist and my first #1 as a writer.
I remember watching it inch up the charts every week, first to the Top 40 and then 30 and then 20 and then 10. And by that time, you start thinking, okay if it can get this far, maybe it can hit #1. And it did.
McCain was a little out of control for a few weeks when the song became a hit, of course. Then he accompanied Brad to the 2000 Academy of Country Music Awards, where it was nominated for Song of the Year.
We heard reports from DJs all over the country saying that people were pulling off the road and crying when they heard it on the radio.
We got a lot of letters from fans. Almost everyone who wrote either had a story about themselves, or knew of a person who was affected by the song. That was really great, and very validating to see that something that was so close and personal to me and my wife was able to move so many people emotionally.
He Didn’t Have to Be
When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new
It always winds up fee
ling more like a job interview
My momma used to wonder if she’d ever meet someone
Who wouldn’t find out about me and then turn around and run
I met the man I call my dad when I was five years old
He took my mom out to a movie and for once I got to go
A few months later I remember lying there in bed
I overheard him pop the question and I prayed that she’d say yes
And then all of a sudden
Oh, it seemed so strange to me
How we went from something’s missing
To a family
Lookin’ back all I can say about
All the things he did for me
Is I hope I’m at least half the dad
That he didn’t have to be
I met the girl that’s now my wife about three years ago
We had the perfect marriage but we wanted somethin’ more
Now here I stand surrounded by our family and friends
Crowded ’round the nursery window as they bring the baby in
And now all of a sudden
It seems so strange to me
How we’ve gone from something’s missing
To a family
Lookin’ through the glass I think about the man
That’s standin’ next to me
And I hope I’m at least half the dad
That he didn’t have to be
Lookin’ back all I can say about
All the things he did for me
Is I hope I’m at least half the dad
That he didn’t have to be
Yeah, I hope I’m at least half the dad
That he didn’t have to be
Because he didn’t have to be
You know he didn’t have to be
He Stopped Loving Her Today
Story by Curly Putman
Song written by Curly Putman and Bobby Braddock
Recorded by George Jones
Bobby Braddock and I had been writing for a while and we just couldn’t get anything cut. Some of the lyrics we were writing at the time were kind of silly and nothing seemed to be working for us.
Bobby initially brought the idea to me for “He Stopped Loving Her Today” back in 1979. We sat down in my office at Tree Publishing and we worked on it off and on. When it was mostly written we got hung up trying to figure out how to get the woman back to see him before he died. Finally, Bobby and I got back together and finished it.
Johnny Russell was the first one to record it, but I don’t think he even released it. Then we pitched it to producer Billy Sherrill and he played it for George Jones. George passed on it at first because he said it was too sad. That’s pretty bad when a song is too sad even for George Jones!
Later, Billy wanted us to change it a little for George. We would work on it and send it and Billy would say “Well, that’s not exactly what we wanted,” so we’d work on it some more. It is a little morbid, you know. Finally, we added the recitation at the end where she shows up at his funeral. Billy called us over to listen to what he had just produced with George and we were blown away. His voice was perfect for that song and nobody could do the recitation like him.
One of the interesting things about this song is that George released it as a single in 1980, but then it was still on the charts during the eligibility period for 1981, so it was nominated again in 1981. I never thought it could happen. I’ve only heard of that occurring once before. Freddie Hart won Song of the Year for “Easy Loving” in 1971 and 1972. So when “He Stopped Loving Her” was nominated twice, I thought, “There’s no way.” But darned if it didn’t win again the next year.
There are so few real story songs anymore in music, the kind that make you listen all the way to the end and have some sort of plot to them, or maybe a twist at the end. Pop music doesn’t really do much of that and a lot of modern country doesn’t really either. It’s rare to hear those kinds of story songs now, but listeners really love them.
It hit #1 for George in 1980 and revived his career at the time, but the number of awards that it’s won since then has been really amazing. Johnny Cash and others have covered it and I’ve heard Alan Jackson and Vince Gill say it’s their favorite song.
The Library of Congress just recently honored it as one of the top 25 country songs of all time or something like that. Country America magazine rated it as one of the top country songs of all time, and so did CMT, which is sometimes puzzling to me. We really didn’t think that much of it, Bobby and I, when we wrote it. We thought it was okay, but never dreamed it would get honored like that.
He Stopped Loving Her Today
He said “I’ll love you ’til I die”
She told him “You’ll forget in time”
As the years went slowly by
She still preyed upon his mind
He kept her picture on his wall
Went half crazy now and then
He still loved her through it all
Hoping she’d come back again
Kept some letters by his bed
Dated 1962
He had underlined in red
Every single “I love you”
I went to see him just today
Oh but I didn’t see no tears
All dressed up to go away
First time I’d seen him smile in years
CHORUS:
He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they’ll carry him away
He stopped loving her today
(Spoken)
You know she came to see him one last time
Oh and we all wondered if she would
And it kept running through my mind
This time he’s over her for good
CHORUS
To purchase the original demo of this song,
go to www.countrysongdemos.com
Here in the Real World
Story by Mark Irwin
Song written by Alan Jackson and Mark Irwin
Recorded by Alan Jackson
When I came to Nashville, I got a job at The Bluebird Café as a “bar back,” which means that I would clean glasses, stock beer for the bartender, clean tables, and do all the other grunt work. I did that for two years and eventually graduated to bartender. That’s what I was doing when I met Alan Jackson.
While I was tending bar there, I got a chance to meet a lot of people. That was one of the best things about working at The Bluebird. I met a lot of other songwriters and publishers. In that environment, everybody was always networking and giving everyone else advice and letting them know who was looking for songs and which publishers were looking for writers and that kind of thing. Then someone told me, “You should check out this company called Ten Ten Music.” It was a fairly new publishing company. It was run by Barry and Jewel Coburn, who were from Australia and had been in business for a couple of years. Barry was also managing several new acts and one of them was Alan Jackson.
I started taking songs to them and they liked what they heard. They didn’t hire me as a staff writer, but they did allow me to bring in material on a song-by-song basis. If they liked the song, they would go ahead and write up a contract and pay for the demo and start pitching it. One night we were having dinner at Barry and Jewel’s house and they introduced me to Alan and said we should try to write together. Alan had a songwriting deal with a publishing company owned by Glen Campbell then. He and I got together the next day.
I’ve always been a big movie buff, particularly when it comes to movie trivia. I can remember who played what in a movie I saw ten years ago, but I can’t remember something I read ten minutes ago. So we were sitting around trying to come up with some ideas and Alan had the first lines, but didn’t know where to go with it. He was sitting there and just hit a D chord and started singing, “Cowboys don’t cry and heroes don’t die. . .” and I don’t know what happened, but the idea of movies popped out. Once that happened, the song came
together in about 45 minutes. Alan and I have written together only two times and that day we wrote “Here in the Real World” and another time we wrote a song that was later recorded by Chely Wright.
I’ve discovered that when I’m writing with someone, the thing that takes up most of the time is coming up with the song ideas. Once you figure out the theme — what you want to write about — the song comes out pretty fast after that.
Barry had taken Alan around to several labels in town, but couldn’t get a deal for him. Then when he found out Tim DuBois was going to be running the Arista Record label in town, he took him over there and Alan got his record deal with Arista. When Alan sat down with Tim, he played him nearly everything he had written, and Tim loved “Here in the Real World” and said, “That’s going to be your next single.”
When the song hit #1 for Alan, I was still bartending at The Bluebird. I hadn’t seen any royalty checks yet because they take several months to come in. A lot of people gave me grief over that. They didn’t think I needed any tips since I had a #1 record on the radio, but I did!
After Alan started selling millions of records, he bought a vacation house on Center Hill Lake near Nashville and named it “The Real World” since that was his first really big hit. He had that written in big letters on the brick entrance to his home there. When I heard he did that, I bought some paint and took it home to my house in Nashville and painted “The Real World” on my mailbox!
Here in the Real World
Cowboys don’t cry and heroes don’t die.
Good always wins, again and again.
And love is a sweet dream that always comes true