“Man, I thought we were only wasting time, Out on a Sunday drive”
Back in July, Brett Eldredge released his first album in two years with Sunday Drive. Then this past Friday, he dropped a video for the title track – and it may be a sneaky contender for my favorite song of 2020.
“Sunday Drive” is a stripped-down tribute to those lazy Sunday afternoon drives that you probably remember from your childhood. The whole family piles into the car with nowhere to be and no destination in mind and just hits the road. Looking at the views from the window, talking with each other, listening to music, maybe stopping for a quick lunch or ice cream (if you were lucky) along the way…man, this song just hits home.
Of course, I may be biased because I’m still a big fan of the Sunday drive. For me there’s nothing more relaxing than hitting some two lane roads that I’ve never been on before, rolling the windows down, and cranking up my favorite playlist (Saved by 90’s Country for the win). Then I just drive.
And for me, the day is a success when I get so far out in the country that I have to use my GPS to get back home. It’s a beautiful thing – one that Brett Eldredge manages to sum perfectly:
“Watching the world through an open window
Trees lined up like dominoes
This old car could find its own way home
It’s the ordinary things that mean so much.”
The song may be about a Sunday drive, but by the last verse you see what the real message is: time flies, so take the time to slow down and appreciate the little moments and the world around you. Before you know it, you’ll be the one driving your parents around on those Sunday drives.
This may be the the only song from the album that Brett didn’t write himself, but it’s one that he’s had his eye on for years, dating back to his time as an intern at Universal Music Publishing.
As Brett told Rolling Stone:
“I heard that song and it just stopped me right there, in that little dungeon of a room in the bottom of that building. I held onto it and had the MP3. I hoped and prayed no one would record it. I didn’t even have a recording contract or publishing deal yet.”
Some people don’t understand the Sunday drive.
Just last weekend, my girlfriend was busy working so I told her that me and the dog were going out for a drive. And when she asked where I was going, she probably got a little suspicious at my answer: “Nowhere.”
But that’s exactly where I was going. Nowhere, and anywhere. I was just driving. Like my mom did so many times during my childhood. Back when I thought we were only wasting time.
