Letter to Me

Letter to Me

Infobox Single
Name = Letter to Me


Artist = Brad Paisley
Album = 5th Gear
A-side =
B-side =
Released = October 2007
Format = CD single
Recorded = 2007
Genre = Country
Length = 4:41
Label = Arista Nashville
Writer = Brad Paisley
Producer = Frank Rogers
Certification =
Last single = "Online"
(2007)
This single = "Letter to Me"
(2007)
Next single = "I'm Still a Guy"
(2008)
Misc =

"Letter to Me" is a single by country music singer-songwriter 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,cite journal |last=Horner |first=Alanna |date=2008-03-10 |title=Story Behind the Song |journal=Country Weekly |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=64 |accessdate= 2008-03-02] as well as his tenth overall.

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 his 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 with a steady girlfriend after several months, breaking the habit of reckless driving (a police officer had pulled over and ticketed the teenager for failing to stop at a stop sign) 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. The music video included former classmates from Paisley's 1991 graduating class, and was filmed in Glen Dale. [cite web |url=http://www.wtov9.com/communitycalendar/14196450/detail.html
title=Paisley, Class of '91 Star In Music Video |accessdate=2008-07-31 |date=2007-09-25 |work=WTOV 9]

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.

Peak positions

References


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