The last single before his first album in almost 20 years is released.
Country legend Randy Travis is gearing up to put out his first album of original music in over 18 years, called Same Old Way, which is set for release next Friday, November 13th. The 12-song tracklist spans Randy’s recording career from 1986 to 2013, and for one reason or another, they simple never got formally cut or released on an album.
Kyle Lehning, Randy’s longtime producer, is the one who assembled, remixed, and remastered a number of great songs from throughout their career together. It’s seemingly a similar project to the one Shooter Jennings is working on, which consists of three separate albums of songs he discovered from his father’s vault which were never officially recorded to be released.
Often, these types of “vault” records happen after an artist passes away, though in Travis’ unique case, he was able to be part of the process and seemingly helped make decisions on which songs to release, how they were produced, and all kinds of things of that nature. Due to Randy’s 2013 stroke, he suffers from severe language impairments, and is no longer able to sing, so something like this is very special and unexpected, and he also released another song from the record too in the title track.
And no, for those wondering, it is not an AI voice… these are all songs that were recorded between 1986 to 2013, before his stroke, and were never cut for an album for one reason or another, as Travis confirmed himself:
Travis has put out five singles from Same Old Way in the lead up to the release including “Fish On,” “I Don’t Care,” “Set The Blues Back,” “I Know Where I’d Be Without You,” and the title track, and most recently, he put out “Mission Of Love.”
It’s the last single he’ll release before the album drops, and it’s one of the best ones yet, and was written by Leslie Winn Satcher and Larry Cordle. The lyrics paint the picture of a man who is trying to help his daughter reunite with her mother, saying he’s on “a mission of love,” and even though he’s done everything he can to comfort his little girl, she just wants her mom and he’s willing to put his own feelings aside to find his ex so his daughter can be happy:
“I know you’re wondering just what I’m doing
I’m here on a mission of love
I never come down to this side of town
But I’m here on a mission of love
Our little girl is calling your name
I’ve held her, but she only wants you
And although I hate what you’ve become
Little tears brought me here on a mission of love”
Even though the dad is understandably very angry with how his ex has been as a mother, admitting he “hates” what she’s become, it won’t stop him from his “mission of love” to try and find his daughter’s mom because of all the “little tears” his little girl has cried for her mom:
“God knows I hate what you’ve become
Little tears brought me here on a mission of love
Little tears brought me here on a mission of love”
It’s an absolute tearjerker, there’s no doubt about it, and it’s a really unique concept that Travis can sell like no other with his rich, deep and pure country voice. Once again, it’s hard to understand why this one was never released before now, and I can’t wait to hear the full record next week because Travis had some real gems laying around in his archive.
Check it out:
“Mission Of Love”
Same Old Way Tracklist:
1. “I Know Where I’d Be Without You”
2. “Fish On”
3. “I Don’t Care”
4. “Just Read The Signs”
5. “Mission Of Love”
6. “I Catch ‘Em”
7. “There’s No Getting Over You”
8. “They Called It A Church”
9. “One Tear At A Time”
10. “Same Old Way”
11. “My Greatest Fear”
12. “Set The Blues Back”
