Song Information
Title: Remember When
Artist: Alan Jackson
Written by: Alan Jackson
Release date: October 27, 2003
Album: Greatest Hits Volume II
Label: Arista Nashville
Genre: Country
Length: 4:30
Producer: Keith Stegall
Chart performance: Peaked at #1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs and became one of Jackson’s most critically acclaimed ballads.
Alan Jackson wrote “Remember When” himself as a heartfelt reflection on love, life, and aging. The song is a deeply personal ballad that was released as the second single from his Greatest Hits Volume II album and became a signature piece in his career.
Song Content
“Remember When” is a gentle, slow-moving country ballad that traces the arc of a lifelong relationship. Jackson’s lyrics paint a portrait of a couple’s journey—starting from youthful love and early struggles, through the challenges of raising children, facing loss, growing old together, and ultimately reflecting on those memories with gratitude and grace.
With soft acoustic guitar and violin melodies, the song captures both the beauty and fragility of time. Jackson doesn’t just tell a love story—he invites listeners into it, letting them see themselves in the lyrics. Phrases like “Remember when thirty seemed so old” or “We said when we turned gray, when the children grow up and move away” evoke a deep emotional resonance with anyone who’s lived through the highs and lows of love over the years.
Rather than being a song about the past, “Remember When” is a living tribute to the memories that shape a marriage and family. It’s not overly sentimental—it’s honest. That honesty, wrapped in Jackson’s warm voice, is what has made this track timeless.
Explaining the Song’s Emotional Depth
The emotional core of “Remember When” lies in its unique ability to celebrate both joy and pain with equal tenderness. Many songs about love tend to focus on either the blissful beginning or the tragic end. But Alan Jackson dares to cover the entire emotional spectrum: young romance, heartbreak, parenting, rebuilding trust, and growing old—without idealizing any of it.
What makes it even more powerful is that the song was inspired by Jackson’s real-life marriage to his wife, Denise. They had faced infidelity and separation in the late 1990s but managed to reconcile. That lived experience breathes authenticity into lines like “We came together, fell apart and broke each other’s hearts.”
In the third verse, when Jackson sings about growing old and watching children leave home, the song shifts from a love story to a meditation on the passage of time. It’s not just a couple’s memory—it’s everyone’s memory. Whether you’ve been in a long-term relationship or simply watched your parents age, “Remember When” stirs those emotions quietly but deeply.
It’s a reminder to pause and appreciate every chapter—even the painful ones. In doing so, Jackson doesn’t just honor his past—he gives others permission to reflect on theirs.
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Lyrics
Remember when I was young and so were you
And time stood still and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
We made love and then you cried
Remember when
Remember when we vowed the vows
and walked the walk
Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard
We lived and learned, life threw curves
There was joy, there was hurt
Remember when
Remember when old ones died and new were born
And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged
We came together, fell apart
And broke each other’s hearts
Remember when
Remember when the sound of little feet
was the music
We danced to week to week
Brought back the love, we found trust
Vowed we’d never give it up
Remember when
Remember when thirty seemed so old
Now lookin’ back, it’s just a steppin’ stone
To where we are,
where we’ve been
Said we’d do it all again
Remember when
Remember when we said when we turned gray
When the children grow up and move away
We won’t be sad, we’ll be glad
For all the life we’ve had
And we’ll remember when
Remember when
Remember when