Jackson was born to Joseph Eugene Jackson and Ruth Musick in Newnan, Georgia, and has four older siblings. As a youth, Jackson listened primarily to gospel music. Otherwise he was not a major music fan. However, a friend of his introduced him to the music of Gene Watson, John Anderson and Hank Williams Jr. Jackson attended the local Elm Street Elementary and Newnan High School, starting a band after high school. After a time, he and his wife of six years, Denise Jackson, moved from Newnan to Nashville where Jackson hoped to pursue music full-time.
Jackson sang in church as a child. He, his father, mother, and four sisters lived in a small home. At one point, his bed was in the hallway for lack of room. His mother lives in the home to this day. His first job, at 12, was in a shoe store. He wrote his first song in 1983.
In Tennessee, Jackson got a job in The Nashville Network's mailroom. Denise got him connected to Glen Campbell, who helped him jumpstart his career. Jackson eventually signed with Arista.
His first album, 1989's Here in the Real World, was a major hit, as was his second (1991) album, Don't Rock the Jukebox. His 1992 album, A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love) was a success, spawning five major singles. Also in 1992, Randy Travis charted three singles co-written by Jackson: "Forever Together", "Better Class of Losers", and "I'd Surrender All". Conversely, Travis co-wrote Jackson's single "She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)".
In 1994 Jackson left his management company, Ten Ten Management, which had overseen his career up to that point, and switched to Gary Overton.
It was around this time that Jackson began also gaining fame for his song-writing skills. Other country music artists who have charted with songs co-written by Jackson, including Clay Walker ("If I Could Make a Living"), Chely Wright ("Till I Was Loved By You")[5] and Faith Hill ("I Can't Do That Anymore").
His first album, 1990's Here in the Real World, was a major hit, as was his second (1991) album, Don't Rock the Jukebox. His 1992 release, A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love) was a smash success, spawning five major singles with "Chattahoochee" being the most enduring and successful. After a few more hit albums, Jackson again rocketed to fame with "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," a song about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which became a hit single and briefly propelled him into the mainstream spotlight; the song was even the subject of parody on the popular animated series South Park, in the episode A Ladder To Heaven.
The Long Way To Go Songfacts states that on January 20, 2011 Alan Jackson and his record label, Sony, parted ways after over 20 years. Three months later a new joint venture between Capitol's EMI Records Nashville and ACR (Alan's Country Records) was announced. His debut single from the new deal was Long Way To Go, which was shipped to Country radio on June 13, 2011.
Although Jackson has been characterized as a "hat act", his influences go deep into the roots of country music and his songs have been recorded by some of the greats like Charley Pride, who recorded "Here In The Real World". He has sung with George Jones on the award-winning "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair". His sense of humor comes through in "Gone Country" with the satirical description of the wannabes who cynically jumped on the country music bandwagon in the 1990s: "Everybody's gone country/Yeah we've gone country/The whole world's gone country."
He has been credited for popularizing a Neotraditional Country sound.
First love
Alan Jackson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The prettiest thing I'd ever seen in my life
I loved her at first sight
I found her in Marietta, a town north of Atlanta
I brought her home to see my folks
They loved her too
We were together for a long time
But things change and rearrange
She had to go
She left me cryin' in '79
An airline pilot, in Carolina
I was a wreck, can't drive a check
It broke my heart
My first love was an older woman
There's been many since
But there'll never be another
Built in 1955, snowshoe white, overdrive
I never should've sold her, I'll always love her
She was mine
Years went by, teardrops dried
I got her back, I was surprised
In '93, a gift to me on Christmas Eve
We were both older, so I restored her
Could've sold her, for a lot more
But I will never she's mine forever
Until I go
My first love was an older woman
There's been many since
But there'll never be another
Built in 1955, snowshoe white, overdrive
I never should've sold her, I'll always love her
She was mine
I'll never sell her she's mine forever
I love her so
The song "First Love" by Alan Jackson tells a bittersweet story of a teenage boy who fell in love with an older woman. He was just fifteen when he met her, and she was eighteen, but she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. They fell in love, and he brought her home to meet his family who also loved her. They were together for a long time and thought it would be for all time, but unfortunately, she had to leave him in 1979, leaving him heartbroken.
The woman became an airline pilot, and he was devastated that she had to leave him. He couldn't drive a check and was left crying. He found someone else eventually, but he still thought about his first love. In 1993, he was given a gift on Christmas Eve, and it was his first love - the woman he fell in love with all those years ago. He restored her, and they were both older, but he realized he'd never sell her, and she'd always be his.
The song is a sentimental journey of lost love, heartbreak, and the memories associated with our first love. The lyrics show how strong our emotions can be when we're young, and how they can linger in our heart and mind for years, even leading us to seek closure and healing by revisiting things from our past.
Line by Line Meaning
I was fifteen, she was eighteen
At the age of fifteen, I met a girl who was three years older than me
The prettiest thing I'd ever seen in my life
She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen in my entire life
I loved her at first sight
I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her
I found her in Marietta, a town north of Atlanta
I discovered her in a place called Marietta which is located in the northern region of Atlanta
I brought her home to see my folks
I took her to my home to introduce her to my family
They loved her too
My family also liked her very much
We were together for a long time
We were in a relationship for quite a long period of time
Thought it would be for all time
I believed that our relationship would last forever
But things change and rearrange
However, circumstances compelled us to part ways eventually
She had to go
She was required to leave
She left me cryin' in '79
Her departure made me really sad in the year 1979
An airline pilot, in Carolina
She became a pilot and moved to Carolina
I was a wreck, can't drive a check
I was in a terrible state and could not handle the situation effectively
It broke my heart
Her leaving me hurt me profoundly
My first love was an older woman
The girl I fell in love with was much older than me
There's been many since
I have been with many other women after that
But there'll never be another
However, I am sure that no one can replace her
Built in 1955, snowshoe white, overdrive
To describe her, she was a car that was manufactured in 1955, had a white exterior like a snowshoe and had overdrive
I never should've sold her, I'll always love her
I made a mistake by selling her and I still love her till this day
Years went by, teardrops dried
As time passed, I gradually stopped grieving
I got her back, I was surprised
To my surprise, I managed to get her back
In '93, a gift to me on Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve in the year 1993, I received her as a gift
We were both older, so I restored her
As we both had aged, I had to fix her up
Could've sold her, for a lot more
I could have sold her at a much higher price
But I will never she's mine forever
But, I have decided to keep her with me forever
Until I go
Till the day I die, she will be mine
I'll never sell her she's mine forever
I will never sell her and keep her as mine forever
I love her so
I love her very much
Lyrics © MOODEASY MUSIC GROUP, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CARLIS LEE MOODY, EDWARD DONNEL JACKSON, PAUL CLARK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind