The more Steph and I listen to Brad Paisley, the more impressed we are. (Those of you who don’t know who he is, he’s a country singer. If you don’t like country, that’s fine, you can stop reading, although I suggest you go to the video section of his website and at the very least watch Whiskey Lullaby, the duet he does with the incomparable Alison Krauss.) Tonight, though, I came in the middle of a new song on our local radio station: Letter to Me. The basic premise is simple: the song is a list of the things the singer would tell his 17 year-old self.
The best line of the song comes in the bridge:
And I’d end up saying have no fear
These are nowhere near the best years of your life
I don’t think I can tell you just how nice it is to hear one of these types of songs that doesn’t wallow in that sugar-coated all-American myth that “your high school years are the best years of your life.” Those years aren’t your best years — they shouldn’t be, at any rate — and if they are, you either need to pull your head out of your ass and look around to see how good your life is or you need to get in line for a serious kick in the ass.
Thanks, Brad. You continue to confirm that you are one of the coolest people in the music business.
Seconded. I have no particularly warm feelings for my early high school years; my late high school years were pretty good. But I’m rolling into my mid-forties now, have a fun and adequately challenging job, a wife and partner I’m happy to spend the rest of my life with, two amazing daughters … yeah. Life is good. Praise … well, what- or whoever you care to praise. :-D