“Remember When”
Alan Jackson
Written by Alan Jackson
Radio & Records
#1 (3 weeks)
January 30 – February 13, 2004
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
February 7 – February 14, 2004
This decade is all about managing the brand.
The nineties stars that transitioned most effectively into the aughts were able to double down on a clear public image that courted a particular demographic.
This happened in the nineties too, with Alan Jackson playing his “new traditionalist who reveres the legends and curses Urban Cowboy country” role so well that George Jones himself, country music’s most legendary “old man yelling at clouds,” was cameoing in Jackson’s music videos only a year after he broke through at radio.
But it became much more blatant and obvious with the new decade. It’s easy to forget that before 9/11, Jackson’s commercial fortunes were on the decline. He’d launched a studio set with a song called “www.memory,” and his most notable pop culture impact was storming off the CMA Awards show mid-song, a gift from the future old man yelling at clouds to the current one stewing at home.
Then “Where Were You” happened, and Jackson was teed up for post-9/11 genre deity, a status that came to pass fairly quickly. A key part of this was his musical mea culpa “Remember When,” an anniversary ballad that directly addressed the publicly exposed infidelity that was the only blemish on Jackson’s otherwise spotless public persona.
And because he’s Alan Jackson, he did it with a pretty damn flawless song that directly acknowledges his infidelity, yet somehow still works perfectly as an anniversary song for a husband who actually kept his vows. My own father loved it, though there was no bumping “Look at Us” out of the winner’s circle for my parents.
Generally speaking, I’m not interested in the personal lives of artists and celebrity doesn’t interest me much either. Even when I’ve interviewed my favorite artists, it’s come from a place of respect for their talent, not an interest in them as celebrities or in anything about their private life.
I also don’t place a big value on confessional songwriting. I love it when it’s done well, but I feel the same way about perfectly crafted pop music that has no connection to a real life experience. I just like it when music is good.
But I really couldn’t write about this song without going into the background because part of the songs impact rests on the public knowledge of their marriage. The song would hit different if we didn’t know about it.
That’s what makes it both a great anniversary song and the most brilliant public image rehabilitation a country artist pulled off since George was saved by Nancy.
“Remember When” gets an A.
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Excellent song. “A”
I dunno why, but AJ always knocks it out of the park when he’s romantic. I’m aromantic but he gets me every time. “Song for the Life”, “I’ll Go On Loving You”, this one, the entire Like Red on a Rose album…
This is so tender and nuanced. He sounds amazing, the melody is pretty, and I love the lyrics. The twist to “we’ll remember when”, the way the solo goes into a lower key… this is him and Keith Stegall firing on all cylinders. It makes me tear up a little to hear it. A+.
What all the musicians did on this album is nothing short of magic. Just absolutely beautiful in every way.
The mandolin, the strings and the gorgeous steel guitar solo plu s AJ phenomenally tender vocals what a winning combination.
Absolutely, that steel guitar solo might be one of the prettiest of all time. It’s funny how we have back to back entries, one from the 70s (Behind Closed Doors) and one from the 2000s (this one), that embody countrypolitan in its finest form. Add in the lyrics and this one is an all-timer.
Incredible song. It’s easily among the top tier of Alan Jackson’s ballads if not at the very top of the list. The pairing of the melody and Jackson’s vocals has never worked better. He tells a lot in those four minutes and manages to be emotionally charged without every spiraling into mawkishness or cookie-cutter formulas.
I suspect even if “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?” had never happened and Jackson’s fortunes had spent an additional two years declining at radio, this song would have worked as a comeback and found it’s way to #1. It’s fair to say no future Jackson recording would have as much impact, even if he did get to the top again. That’s the downside of a song this impactful this late in someone’s career. It’s tough to mount a worthy follow-up act.
Grade: A
I’m still salty that he didn’t get one last career record comeback with “So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore.”
That’s still my favorite thing he’s ever done.
Super agree. “So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore” was brilliant.
100%, one of his finest moments on record. I also find myself championing his album cut, What a Day Yesterday Was, from High Mileage.
Agreed. Radio really dropped the ball on that one.
Wait, did Alan walk out an awards show other than Chicks/Beyonce? This review makes it seem like he did before 9/11, but their performance was in 2016 and well after 9/11 and the song reviewed here. When else did he walk out?
I think this is in reference to his performance at the 1999 CMA awards, where he sang “Pop a Top” and switched it to the chorus of George Jones’ “Choices” halfway through and then stormed off. He was protesting that the CMAs wouldn’t let Jones sing the whole song.
Yep. Jones had a temper tantrum because they wouldn’t let him sing the whole song, so he boycotted the show. Then Jackson switched over to the Jones song mid performance and stormed off stage.
He’s been trying to have another moment like that for a while now. When he walked out on Beyoncé and the Chicks, it didn’t get the same traction. So he made a whole album mourning the death of country music, and that didn’t connect either, possibly because by the time it came out, there were some traditionalists getting traction again.
I was fine with the “Choices” performance because it felt like a peaceful protest in defense of a legacy act.
But between “Murder on Music Row” his reactions to Beyoncé and the Chicks, and “Where Have You Gone”, he’s definitely had his fair share of curmudgeonly gatekeeper moments.
Oh wow thank!
I did not know about the background to this song, as I first heard it on the soap opera, The Young & The Restless before I was very into Alan’s music – I’d heard Here In The Real World and possibly Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning but didn’t get into his music until after that. But the song as a background for a couple on the show (Sharon and Nick for any other fans) who had been through a lot, it worked so well – that was about the time I began to get into Alan’s music. But it works on a lot of levels.
He’d launched a studio set with a song called “www.memory,”
Ah, boy. Yeah. I am pretty sure that was the first AJ song I heard that made me think that maybe he should record more songs from other writers.
Notwithstanding the time of my life this song makes me think of (relationship going to hell), I agree that it’s a gorgeous piece of work. When AJ was on his game he had few peers.
One of the most beautifully written and performed songs to hit the country format this century. Was my grandmother’s favorite song, so as a child in the early aughts, I got to hear this one a lot. Bar none Jackson’s finest moment on record.
This Alan Jackson single is stunningly gorgeous. The economy of honesty and language is otherworldly. The sentiment of the song is a pure distillation of the spirit of love. Follow playing this exquisite song with Carlene Carter’s “The Sweetest Thing” and you will hear all you need to know about the power of remembering.
This song got an endorsement from the King of Romance