Letter to Me
Encyclopedia
"Letter to Me" is a single by American country music
singer Brad Paisley
. It is the third single released from his 2007 album 5th Gear
. The song spent four weeks at Number One on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs
charts in February 2008, becoming his sixth consecutive Number One on that chart, as well as his tenth overall.
The song is part of the tracklist for Now That's What I Call Country
.
Among the experiences are: dealing with the trauma of breaking up
with a steady girlfriend after several months, breaking the habit of reckless driving
and missing a much-anticipated homecoming
bonfire rally to improve a failing algebra grade. The adult also guides his teen-aged self through dealing with older and wiser people, such as his family and teachers.
Other situations are more light-hearted, such as a first-date experience with the right girl. After a teaser about how good his wife and children look, the narrator gives his teen-aged self some final words about how the best years of his life lie ahead and that he now regrets he did not study Spanish and typing, finally noting, "I wish you wouldn't worry, let it be."
The song references many aspects of Paisley's childhood such as the corner of "Tomlinson and Eighth," two streets in his hometown of Glen Dale, West Virginia
. Mrs. Brinkman, whose name is mentioned in the song, was a teacher at John Marshall High School
in Glen Dale until her retirement in 2007.
At the 51st Grammy Awards
, Paisley won Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "Letter to Me."
! Country
! Provider
! Certification
! Sales
|-
| United States
| RIAA
| Gold
| 500,000+
|-
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
. It is the third single released from his 2007 album 5th Gear
5th Gear (album)
-Musicians:*Ron Block – banjo*Jim "Moose" Brown – B-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ, piano on "When We All Get to Heaven"*Randle Currie – steel guitar*Eric Darken – percussion*Kevin "Swine" Grantt – bass guitar, upright bass...
. The song spent four weeks at Number One on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts in February 2008, becoming his sixth consecutive Number One on that chart, as well as his tenth overall.
The song is part of the tracklist for Now That's What I Call Country
Now That's What I Call Country
Now That's What I Call Country is a country music compilation album released on August 26, 2008. The album is the first in the Now! series to be composed exclusively of country music tracks...
.
Inspiration
Paisley was inspired to write "Letter to Me" after his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, was asked in 2007 to write for a book entitled What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self. Upon hearing of the book, he thought that the concept of writing a letter to his younger self would be a good idea for a country song. According to him, it took most of a week to write the song, as he would constantly change the lyrics and write a new letter every day.Content
In "Letter to Me," the song's narrator is an adult who is reflecting on his youth. Now older and wiser for having lived various teen-aged experiences, the narrator uses experiences he had as a teenager to give his more youthful self advice on dealing with various situations.Among the experiences are: dealing with the trauma of breaking up
Relationship breakup
A relationship breakup, often referred to simply as a breakup, is the termination of a usually intimate relationship by any means other than death. The act is commonly termed "dumping [someone]" in slang when it is initiated by one partner...
with a steady girlfriend after several months, breaking the habit of reckless driving
Reckless driving
Reckless driving is a major moving traffic violation. As a legal term, it is used within the United States. This offence has been abolished in the United Kingdom and replaced...
and missing a much-anticipated homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
bonfire rally to improve a failing algebra grade. The adult also guides his teen-aged self through dealing with older and wiser people, such as his family and teachers.
Other situations are more light-hearted, such as a first-date experience with the right girl. After a teaser about how good his wife and children look, the narrator gives his teen-aged self some final words about how the best years of his life lie ahead and that he now regrets he did not study Spanish and typing, finally noting, "I wish you wouldn't worry, let it be."
The song references many aspects of Paisley's childhood such as the corner of "Tomlinson and Eighth," two streets in his hometown of Glen Dale, West Virginia
Glen Dale, West Virginia
Glen Dale is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,552 at the 2000 census...
. Mrs. Brinkman, whose name is mentioned in the song, was a teacher at John Marshall High School
John Marshall High School (West Virginia)
John Marshall High School is a public high school located in Glen Dale, West Virginia, USA. It is operated by Marshall County Schools, which is administrated by an elected, five-member Board of Education.-Background:...
in Glen Dale until her retirement in 2007.
At the 51st Grammy Awards
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
, Paisley won Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "Letter to Me."
Reception
Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a A- rating. Coyne says that it is "appropriate that in a letter to himself at a younger age where he reveals how much greatness he has ahead of him, Paisley proves his adult self is telling the truth about all of his personal strengths."Music video
The music video, directed by Jim Shea, was shot at his high school, John Marshall, in Glen Dale, W.V. The video is used as a homecoming and features many of his former classmates and teachers. In the end after the song is done, there is a short outro of footage of Brad being given a crown during a school assembly in 1991. This scene was not home footage. It was shot in present day, with an actor playing a younger Brad. Brad has called this video, "The most personal video I've ever done." He also says that this is his favorite video of his own.Personnel
- Ron BlockRon BlockRonald Frankin "Ron" Block is an American bluegrass and alternative country musician, mainly playing the banjo and the guitar, singing, and writing gospel music.-Biography:...
- banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new... - Jim "Moose" Brown - Wurlitzer organ
- Randle Currie - steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
- Eric Darken - percussion
- Kevin "Swine" Grantt - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Wes Hightower - background vocals
- Brad Paisley - lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, Tic tac bass - Ben Sesar - drums
- Bryan SuttonBryan SuttonBryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicked acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays many other instruments including mandolin, banjo, and electric guitar....
- mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Justin Williamson - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
Chart performance
| Chart (2007–2008) | Peak position |
|---|
Sales and certifications
{|class="wikitable sortable"! Country
! Provider
! Certification
! Sales
|-
| United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
| RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
| Gold
| 500,000+
|-