{"id":1628,"date":"2014-10-21T10:34:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T15:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?page_id=1628"},"modified":"2014-11-12T12:39:23","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T18:39:23","slug":"drive-2002","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/drive-2002\/","title":{"rendered":"Drive (2002)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Brittany Fietsam. 21 October 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Drive\"<\/a>How often do you actually think about the albums you download- like who wrote the songs and why they wrote them? More often than not, people sing along to their favorite songs, selectively relating them to their own personal lives without ever considering the broader meaning. However, most albums have a deeper significance that can provide people insight into how different events may affect artists. In 2002, Alan Jackson released his hit album Drive, <\/em>which was produced by Arista Nashville. <\/em>The album was very different from his previous hit albums such as Here in the Real World <\/em> (1990) and A Lot About Livin\u2019 (And a Little \u2018Bout Love) <\/em>(1992), that featured numerous honky tonk<\/a> songs about drinking, living, and crying over lost love. When the album was released and what the songs meant to Jackson\u00a0and his fans played a huge role in the success of Drive <\/em>(2002), his most successful album.<\/p>\n

There are multiple reasons for the release of Jackson\u2019s album Drive <\/em>in 2002. The most obvious reason was because it was just that time for Jackson to release another album by Arista Nashville. The album released before Drive<\/em> was When Somebody Loves You<\/em>, which was released in 2000. Although there were some good singles on the album, such as \u201cwww.memory,\u201d the album did not take off like some of his earlier ones. In the Vancouvor Sun Newspaper<\/em>, editor Larry Pynn questioned if Jackson would be able to \u201cturn around this ugly stampede before he winds up flatter than a road-kill armadillo.\u201d In his article \u201cPart-Time Rabble Rouser: Alan Jackson Makes Fun of the Country-Music Industry But Isn\u2019t Above Rewriting Lyrics To Appease a Tour Sponsor,\u201d Pynn discussed that Jackson was beginning to appear contradicting and even though he had been successful in the early 90s, if he did not pick it up, fans would basically be done with him and his music.<\/p>\n

Along with just trying to stay relevant, Jackson needed to give his fans an album full of songs that took them back to the roots of country music. Wallenfeldt, the primary contributor of the article, \u201cCountry Music Crosses Over To The Pop Charts: Year in Review 2000,\u201d examined country music between the 1990s and into the 21st<\/sup> century. Beginning in the early 1990s, country music began to crossover to pop country. Some successful artists who did this around this time were Garth Brooks and Shania Twain. Because Jackson\u2019s roots were in honky tonk music, it was important to him to produce an album that did not contain a lot of the pop sounds that were increasing in popularity.<\/p>\n

Drive<\/em> definitely was a more nostalgic album than any of Jackson\u2019s previous albums. His song \u201cWhere Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)\u201d was released shortly after September 11, 2001. This song remains Jackson\u2019s biggest hit because of how touching it was and how it brought Americans together in love. This was not Jackson\u2019s only super nostalgic song on his album though. \u201cDrive (For Daddy Gene),\u201d was about a man recalling his childhood and the bond he had with his father. In the last verse, Jackson recreates his most precious memories, driving around with his father, with his daughters by letting them drive his Jeep.<\/p>\n

\"Alan<\/a>Many of the other songs on the album were love songs, but not like the love songs people would normally expect to hear from Jackson. The love songs on Drive<\/em>\u00a0and his album When Somebody Loves you<\/em> released in 2000\u00a0were more sentimental than most of his previous honky tonk love songs. His short separation from his high school sweetheart and wife in 1998 may be the reason behind this.<\/p>\n

Although Jackson\u2019s fans may not have been expecting such a nostalgic album like Drive<\/em>, the album was exactly what he needed! After his album Who I Am <\/em>(1994), Jackson seemed to have lost a lot of popularity. Drive<\/em> seemed to kick his career back into business while pleasing his current fans and gaining some new ones. The sentimental route was a good choice for Jackson and Arista Nashville. Four songs from the album, \u201cDrive (For Daddy Gene),\u201d \u201cWhere Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),\u201d \u201cWork In Progress,\u201d and \u201cThat\u2019d Be Alright,\u201d all reached at least number three on the US top Charts. Jackson secured his relevance at the time and people were listening to him again.<\/p>\n

Even though in the early 2000s a lot of people were listening to country-pop crossover songs, Jackson\u2019s traditionalistic sentimental album was pleasing to his audience. Jackson had experimented with the contemporary country pop music, like in his 1998 song \u201cI\u2019ll Go On Loving You,\u201d but it was at that time when he was losing people\u2019s interest. Country music is known for the stories it tells and the fact that a lot of it is relatable, whether it is during a happy or sad time. Going back to his honky tonk roots but adding more emotional lyrics, such as \u201cDesignated Drinker\u201d and \u201cFirst Love,\u201d allowed his listeners to better connect to his music and increase his popularity again.<\/p>\n

Out of the thirteen songs on Drive,<\/em> there were only four Jackson did not help write. The songs vary in who Jackson\u2019s intended audience was. The song \u201cDrive (For Daddy Gene),\u201d was dedicated to Jackson\u2019s father, but it is also geared toward and relatable to all fathers. \u201cWhere Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),\u201d was intended for Americans and most of the other songs, like \u201cOnce In A Lifetime Love,\u201d were for his wife.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Alan Jackson has had a respectable and fairly successful career as a country music singer\/songwriter. In the article \u201cCountry to the Core; Alan Jackson Stays True To His Roots \u2013 and Fans,\u201d author Ray Routhier pinpoints Jackson\u2019s success to the fact that he \u201csticks with his roots\u201d every time he produces a song or puts out an album. Although many would argue this case, including Pynn, both sides reach a consensus on one fact: Jackson\u2019s album Drive<\/em> was crucial to his career because of the impact it had on Americans and fans. His timing was great, both specific to his career and overall in country music. Drive<\/em> showed everyone a softer side of Jackson and people liked it. Even though it is not likely to hear a new Alan Jackson song on the radio today, his name remains respectable, arguably due to the success of his \u2018come back\u2019 album, Drive.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Tracks:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  2. “A Little Bluer Than That” (M. Irwin, I. Kelley)<\/li>\n
  3. “Bring On the Night” (A. Jackson, C. Craig, K. Stegall)<\/li>\n
  4. “Work in Progress” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  5. “The Sounds” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  6. “Designated Drinker” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  7. “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”<\/a> (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  8. “That’d Be Alright” (T. Nichols, M. Sanders, T. Sillers)<\/li>\n
  9. “Once in a Lifetime Love” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  10. “When Love Comes Around” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  11. “I Slipped and Fell in Love” (H. Allen, J. Wiggins)<\/li>\n
  12. “First Love” (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n
  13. “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) [Live from the 35th Annual CMA Awards, Spoken intro by Vince Gill] (A. Jackson)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

    Pynn, Larry. \u201cPart-time rabble rouser: Alan Jackson makes fun of the country-music industry but\u00a0isn’t above rewriting lyrics to appease a tour sponsor.\u201d CanWest Interactive, a division of\u00a0<\/em>CanWest Global Communications Corp. <\/em>9 November 2001. LexisNexis Academic. <\/em>Web. 12 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n

    Routhier, Ray. \u201cCountry To the Core; Alan Jackson Stays True To His Roots \u2013 And His Fans.\u201dPortland Press Herald (Maine).<\/em> 12 Sept. 2002. LexisNexis Academic. <\/em>Web. 6 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n

    Seymour, Craig. \u201cAlan Jackson Tops Country Music Awards.\u201d The Atlantic Journal-Constitution. <\/em>7 November 2002. LexisNexis Academic.<\/em> Web. 12 Oct. 2014<\/p>\n

    Wallenfelt, Jeff. \u201cCountry Music Crosses over to the Pop Charts: Year In Review 2000.<\/a>“Britannica Book of the Year, 2001. Encyclopedia Britannica Online<\/em>. Encyclopedia\u00a0Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Written by Brittany Fietsam. 21 October 2014. How often do you actually think about the albums you download- like who wrote the songs and why they wrote them? More often than not, people sing along to their favorite songs, selectively … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1628","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1628"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2511,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1628\/revisions\/2511"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}