Remember when “Remember When” came out? Sorry, I had to do it.
If you are an Alan Jackson fan, you’re certainly familiar with this number one hit, which was released on this date all the way back in 2003 (which somehow feels like it wasn’t that long ago).
“Remember When” was written and recorded by Jackson, and is arguably one of the country star’s most personal works. The song was released as the final single from Jackson’s Greatest Hits Volume II, and was met with praise from fans and critics alike.
The romantic tune rocketed up to the top spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, staying at number one for two weeks, and even performing well on the Billboard Hot 100 (peaked at 29).
When you give it a listen, you’ll quickly understand why “Remember When” is one of Jackson’s most beloved songs, and why it is considered to be the most poignant track that the “Chattahoochee” singer ever recorded.
The song explores and navigates through basically an entire lifetime between Jackson and his wife Denise, even looking ahead at the time to when the couple would be reminiscing on all of the “Remember When” moments they shared together.
One of those moments is in the second verse, when Jackson paints the picture of early married life with his wife, singing:
“Remember when we vowed the vows
And walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when”
And as always, Jackson absolutely brought it with the song’s music video. I’m not sure Alan Jackson ever missed when it came to rolling out music videos with his singles.
The one below features Jackson in his traditional cowboy hat singing and playing guitar on a stool as childhood videos and other footage aligning with the lyrics play. Alan and his wife Denise also dance during moments of the music video, which helps to match the gravity of the emotional song.
Recently, Alan reflected on the deeply-personal song:
“Denise and I met as kids, and all that’s true. Most of that is just reflections of our life and some of it looking again.”
But I’ve had many comments saying, ‘Hey, that’s one of my favorite songs,’ or ‘That’s our song.’ I have so many couples come up and say, ‘That’s our song,’ and all of that stuff.
And how many times everybody said, ‘Remember When?’ You know?
‘Remember when we did this? Remember when we did that?’
So again, it connected with a certain audience, I guess.”
Check it out, and try not to shed a tear:
