Alan jackson what was i thinking

The following year, he won his first-ever Grammy for the song, as well as five CMA awards. Ten years later, he has been tapped to perform it for the Concert for Hope at the Kennedy Center.

How has the song aged in Jackson's mind, and how does it affect him today? Looking back 10 years later, how did it feel back then to become involved in this national moment in such a significant way?

How do you feel about your role in the event now -- do you feel your viewpoint has changed in any way? At the time, it felt very meaningful to people, and I felt really good about contributing something. And then I thought it would just fade away and then we'd ease it out of the show, but I still see people out there that I feel like are waiting for that song, you know?

How did the song originally come to you? I woke up one morning around 4 a. The song came out of nowhere in the middle of the night -- just a gift. And I got up and scribbled it down and put the melody down so I wouldn't forget it, and then the next day I started piecing all those verses together that were the thoughts I'd had or visuals I'd had. It was a Sunday -- I remember because, when I started writing it, my wife and girls had gone off to Sunday school, and I finished it that day.

Like I said, that song was just a gift. I've never felt I could take credit for writing it. Looking back, I guess I just didn't want to forget how I felt on that day and how I knew other people felt. It was a tough performance for me. You know, just the whole idea of releasing the song was a little bit tough. I wasn't sure I wanted to put it out, but everybody convinced me that it was the thing to do But, you know, it's hard to go out there and sing something new, anyway, and just the topic made it difficult, too.

I just remember -- other than being relieved that I got through it -- I just felt very proud that it seemed to cause a reaction in people. And I was proud that I got to do it and that it seemed like it meant something. How does it feel to perform the song today? Typically, when we kick that song off and the crowd realizes what it is, people hold up their lighters and things. And I've seen people crying in the crowds, and they cheer on lines that mean something, like the line about the heroes just doing what they do -- they really like that.

I don't know. There's a lot of emotion going on in the room during that song, and it always makes me feel good that it has affected people that way. Does the song have a different meaning or feeling for you now that so much time has passed since Sept. I don't know -- I think I was probably like most people that were affected with that day and the months that followed. Did you consult with her about it beforehand? Oh, yeah. I spoke to all three of the girls about it.

If you want to use it, then I don't want to put it on this record, but the label and everybody's clamoring, saying it needs to be on there. And they were happy about it. Does releasing such personal songs bring you some sense of peace? I imagine it does for listeners, because anyone who has lost a loved one can derive comfort from these songs. Well, I've written a lot of songs in my career about things that happened in my life — good and bad and happy and sad and all that stuff.

A lot of them are real personal, but I've always tried to write them where they're just not about me. And it has always been that way. That was so, so sweet. We had already finished the album pretty much last fall, and around Christmastime one of my sisters sent this recording to us that they had found, I guess from a few years ago when Mom was still doing pretty good.

They had her read the Christmas story from the Bible and some other things, just to have a recording of her, and they sent that for Christmas. I was just so happy to get that. And I just think it makes the song. I was just hoping to get through it! It was tough at first. So, as we were discussing, you took a relatively long break between albums for various personal reasons. How did you get your artistic mojo back? I don't know that there was any lightning that struck. It just started coming to me.

But during all that time, I was always scribbling down hooks and song ideas and melodies. And luckily with the phones, now I can sing a melody [into the phone] and I won't forget it 10 minutes later! So last summer, I really wanted to write again, so I pulled that phone out and started flipping through those old videos and audio recordings, and I had about to song ideas in there!

I had to sit down, trying to sort through all that and figure out which ones I wanted to write to. Was there ever a time, before you started working on this album, when you considered retiring for good?

I didn't really worry about it one way or the other. If I hadn't ever made another album, I just wouldn't have made it. But when it felt right, it felt right. I think I would have been happy either way. I've had a crazy career and I'm surprised I still write songs now anyway, after all this time.

I'm just going to make what I like — and what I know my fans like. When Keith sent me those first two or three cuts that were kind of half-done, it just about made me tear up. I had to pull over. I was so proud, and so glad to hear some real country music. That actually brings me to another line of questioning I wanted to get to. Yeah, but it's not an attack on what's going on.

I mean, there's good music out there. There's just really not much real country anymore, and I'm such a fan of that. And I loved it. I was a young man and I loved real, hard country. And it's not that to say that everyone has to sound like Hank Williams. I'm not criticizing. I noticed that. Mean Thinking Voice. Grew Up Grew Young.

They're much easier to write and you get a lot more emotion into them. But people don't want to hear them as much. And radio definitely doesn't; they want that positive, uptempo thing.

Song Writing People. Thinking Trying Fans. Thinking Albums Done. For every one bad one, there's a thousand good ones.

People Cynical Everyday. Song Support Radio. I'm just looking for a mixture of songs and topics that aren't the same thing over and over. Song Thinking Albums. And his greatest reward is the love of a woman and his children. Children Work Hero. Half of them I'd hear off the radio and was probably singing the wrong words and didn't even know it.

Song Singing Half. Hypocrite Poodles Politics. It was hard to narrow them down, because I tried to pick songs for the most part that actually did have some effect on me or influenced me in the past. Song Past Done. Grandma Years Two. I thought that "Blues Man" was a perfect song for me to do as a tribute.