Alan Jackson: Precious Memories

Special 9/11 Broadcast:
Monday, September 11
8 PM ET / 7 PM CT / 6 PM MT / 5 PM PT

Taped live at the historic Ryman Auditorium, “The Mother Church Of Country Music,” in Nashville, Tennessee, Alan Jackson delivers a powerful performance featuring songs from his very personal release “Precious Memories.” The program also includes exclusive interview with Alan, his mother, and wife, as he reflects on his musical roots. Fans of “The Gaither Gospel Hour” will thoroughly enjoy this epic performance of many beloved gospel favorites by one of country music’s biggest stars.

Alan Jackson is one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in the music business. He has sold nearly 60-million albums worldwide, topped the country singles charts 35 times, and scored more than 50 Top-10 hits. He is a 17-time ACM Award winner, a 16-time CMA Award recipient, and a two-time Grammy-honored artist whose songwriting has earned him the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award and an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as a 2011 Songwriter/Artist inductee. Jackson has written or co-written 24 of his 35 #1 hit singles, placing him in the elite company of such sing-songwriters as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who’ve written more than 20 songs that they’ve also recorded themselves and taken to the top of the charts.

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Alan Jackson penned the song “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” in honor of the 9/11 events after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 as his own way of processing the event. He debuted the song live at the 35th Annual CMA Awards that same November. He also performed the song at the 2015 ACM Awards to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombings in April of 1995.

Jackson said: “I woke up one morning around 4 a.m. a few weeks afterward, and had that chorus going through my head. The song came out of nowhere in the middle of the night — just a gift. And I got up and scribbled it down and put the melody down so I wouldn’t forget it, and then the next day I started piecing all those verses together that were the thoughts I’d had or visuals I’d had. It was a Sunday — I remember because, when I started writing it, my wife and girls had gone off to Sunday school, and I finished it that day. 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.”

The song ends with a reference to 1st Corinthians 13:13: “Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us, and the greatest is love.” Watch Jackson perform his hit single “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” live at the Grand Ole Opry in 2012 and read the full lyrics below.

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Lyrics

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?

Did you weep for the children, they lost their dear loved ones
Pray for the ones who don’t know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white, and blue
And the heroes who died just doin’ what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
That September day?
Teachin’ a class full of innocent children
Or drivin’ down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty ‘cause you’re a survivor?
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset for the first time in ages
And speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you’re watchin’
And turn on I Love Lucy reruns?
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line to give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I’m not sure I can tell you
The diff’rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I’m not sure I can tell you
The diff’rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

And the greatest is love
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
On that September day?

Songwriters: Alan Jackson