Greatest Hits Volume II [Limited Edition] - Jackson, Alan (CD 2003)

I am now an Alan Jackson fan. First of all I have to say that I m not one to go crazy over an artist. A song perhaps. Yet I hate buying the whole CD for just one or two songs, but that s what I ended up doing this time.

A friend of mine loves one of Cher s songs and curses the day he bought the CD for that one song. How many times has he told me that he bought her album because he enjoyed that one song Believe and then he ll go on to say that he doesn t like any of the other songs on the album (which I find difficult to believe considering that I love all of Cher s songs.)

The first time I heard one of Alan Jackson s song was at a single s function. Whenever they play Remember When at these functions the dance floor will always fill up with couples. I am talking about a single s dance specifically aimed toward baby boomers--ages 40 plus, although mostly 50 s plus show up at these things.

The words of this song pretty much express what happens within a relationship after so many years have passed, and those still together as they look back also begin to look forward to sharing the rest of their years together.

Well, let me tell you, how many times I have found myself blinking in order to hold back tears thinking about how often my late husband had expressed his excitement and anticipation for his upcoming retirement years. And how during that fateful summer of 2002 at a school s out party he shared with others what we had planned to do once he was out of teaching, which would have been the following summer. And how we both looked forward to a time when the kids were grown, on their own, raising families and we would do our own thing.

Well, it never happened. That party was held on June 10 of 2002. He died that following Fourth of July weekend. Many here on Epinions know the story so I will leave it at that and refrain from getting overly depressing here.

Remember When is a wonderful song even for those who find each other later in life, and are together for a time. And this is just one of many songs that Alan Jackson sings that can uplift the heart and feed the soul while you listen through the entire CD from start to finish. I bought this one for that one song in particular, yet I am glad because I now enjoy every one of his songs on this album.

Yesterday I used my repeat button on the car s CD player and played another one of his more memorable songs titled Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning? This is such an appropriate song for a day like yesterday, which as we all know was September 11 and the fifth anniversary of that horrendous event.

And while playing it I realized at the time that I was taking the same exact route that I had taken on that fateful day when the towers came down. And the day was as clear and as beautiful, an awesome September day, the sky so blue with few clouds around. The same type of day where by mid afternoon all of us had found ourselves wrapped in unimaginable terror--a terror that will remain with us for years to come.

I had just started attending a class at a local community college. I remember sitting inside that class waiting for our instructor to arrive. When he did and I saw him coming through the door and saw the look on his face I knew the country was in big trouble.

A former ATF agent who has seen the worse that can be inflicted on society, I don t think even he could have prepared himself for what was happening that day.

Yesterday I played the song over and over, and reflected upon the past five years, and I would have to say the pain has soften somewhat but for most of us it will never completely disappear. My father fought in WWII. Pearl Harbor was his September 11. And he as his generation have done will always remember where we were, what we were doing when the world stopped turning because of those events.

Songs on this CD:
1. Little Bitty
2. Everything I Love
3. Who s Cheatin Who
4. There Goes
5. I ll Go ON Loving You
6. Right on the Money
7. Gone Crazy
8. Little Men
9. Pop A Top
10. The Blues Man
11. It Must Be Love
12. Www.memory
13. When Somebody Loves You
14. Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning
15. Drive For Daddy Gene
16. It s Five O Clock Somewhere
17. Remember When

Alan Jackson: Greatest Hit Volume II is a plus to anyone s CD library especially for those who enjoy this type of country western music, and who also find themselves reflecting on the past.

This CD is definitely right on the money!