this-day-alan-jackson-releases-10th-studio-album-drive-2002

On This Day: Alan Jackson Releases 10th Studio Album ‘Drive’ in 2002

Nineteen years ago today, country legend Alan Jackson released his album Drive along with four chart-topping singles.

Jackson released four singles from the album. “Drive (For Daddy Gene) which spent 31 weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart and peaked in the number one spot. He also released “Work in progress” and “That’d Be Alright,” which landed in the third and second spot on the same chart.

At the 2003 Academy of Country Music Awards, Jackson was nominated for 10 awards. He won Album of the Year for Drive and Video of the Year for the music video for “Drive (For Daddy Gene).” In 2009, Rhapsody ranked Drive number three on its “Country’s Best Albums of the Decade” list.

Alan Jackson’s Drive album.

What’s Alan Jackson’s Most Memorable Song?

It would be almost impossible to choose Jackson’s most memorable career hit. However, we can argue that the most memorable song from his album, Drive, is “Where Were You.” This was Jackson’s highest-debuting single on the Hot Country Songs charts. The song is a ballad written about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

During the song, Jackson sings “Where were you when the world stopped turnin’ that September day? Were you in the yard with your wife and children? Or workin’ on some stage in L.A.? Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
risin’ against that blue sky? Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor Or did you just sit down and cry?”

Jackson Wrote ‘Where Were You’ In One Day

During an interview, Jackson talks about what inspired him to create the song. He says that he wrote the song in one day while his wife and daughters were at Sunday school.

“…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,” said Jackson.

Jackson also says that he didn’t expect crowds to respond as positively to the song as they have.

“Typically, when we kick that song off. And the crowd realizes what it is, people hold up their lighters and things,” said Jackson. “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,” said Jackson.

In conclusion, Alan Jackson one again proves that he can make us feel all the feels with a single verse.

Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You?”