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.
There Goes
Alan Jackson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well, I just looked where I don't see
I'm still pretendin' I don't need you
I won't let you know you're killin' me
Like some big, black widow spider
You know just how to catch your prey
And I'm actin' like it doesn't matter
And there go your paralyzin' eyes
There goes your tantalizin' smile
There goes my act of playin' it cool
And there go the words I meant to say
There go the games I wanted to play
There goes my heart fallin' for you
Well, I think you're playin' with me, darlin'
You like to see what you can do
Well, I should be fishin' for Blue Marlin
Instead of being hooked again by you
But there go your paralyzin' eyes
There goes your tantalizin' smile
There goes my act of playin' it cool
And there go the words I meant to say
There go the games I wanted to play
There goes my heart fallin' for you
Yeah, there go your paralyzin' eyes
There goes your tantalizin' smile
There goes my heart fallin' for you
Yeah, there goes my heart fallin' for you
In this song, Alan Jackson talks about how he is trying to move on from a previous relationship, but is still overwhelmingly drawn to his former lover. He describes her as a black widow spider who knows just how to catch her prey, and even though he knows he shouldn't, he can't help but fall for her tantalizing eyes and smile. He tries to put up a front of playing it cool, but eventually succumbs to his feelings and finds himself falling for her all over again.
The lyrics paint a vivid picture of the inner struggle he is going through. He wants to move on from this person, but his heart is not cooperating with his head. He is trying to resist the temptation, but the more he tries to deny his feelings, the stronger they become. This song is relatable to anyone who has ever tried to move on from a relationship but found themselves drawn back to that person.
Line by Line Meaning
There you were standin' in the shadows
I saw you in the dark and didn't acknowledge your presence.
Well I just looked where I don't see
I purposely avoided looking at you.
I'm still pretendin' I don't need you
I'm trying to convince myself that I don't have feelings for you.
I won't let you know you're killin' me
I don't want you to see the pain you're causing me.
Like some big black widow spider
You have a way of trapping me in your web of love.
You know just how to catch your prey
You are good at manipulating me to fall for you.
I'm actin' like it doesn't matter
I'm pretending that your presence doesn't affect me.
And you sneak up from behind and whisper my name
You surprise me when you show me affection and it makes my heart flutter.
There goes your paralyzin' eyes
Your captivating gaze is making me weak.
There goes your tantalizin' smile
Your charming smile is irresistible to me.
There goes my act of playin' it cool
I can't pretend to be unaffected by you anymore.
And there go the words I meant to say
I can't express myself properly because I'm too emotional around you.
There go the games I wanted to play
I had intentions to keep things casual, but now I'm falling for you.
There goes my heart fallin' for you
I'm in love with you and there's nothing I can do to stop it.
Well I think you're playin' with me darlin'
I suspect that you're toying with my emotions.
You like to see what you can do
You enjoy testing my feelings for you.
Well I should be fishin' for Blue Marlin
I should be pursuing other hobbies or interests instead of focusing on you.
Instead of being hooked again by you
But I can't help falling for you even when I know I shouldn't.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Alan Eugene Jackson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pondy Hsu
There you were standing in the shadows
Well I just looked where I don't see
I'm still pretending I don't need you
I won't let you know you're killing me
Like some big black widow spider
You know just how to catch your prey
I'm actin' like it doesn't matter
And you sneak up from behind and whisper my name
And there goes your paralyzing eyes
There goes your tantalizing smile
There goes my act of playing it cool
And there go the words I meant to say
There go the games I wanted to play
There goes my heart falling for you
*****
I think you're playing with me darling
You like to see what you can do
I should be fishing for Blue Marlin
Instead of being hooked again by you
There goes your paralyzing eyes
There goes your tantalizing smile
There goes my act of playing it cool
And there go the words I meant to say
There go the games I wanted to play
There goes my heart falling for you
Yeah there goes your paralyzing eyes
There goes your tantalizing smile
There goes my heart falling for you
Yeah there goes my heart falling for you....
D Pavinho
There you were standin' in the shadows
Well I just looked where I don't see
I'm still pretendin' I don't need you
I won't let you know you're killin' me
Like some big black widow spider
You know just how to catch your prey
I'm actin' like it doesn't matter
And you sneak up from behind and whisper my name
There goes your paralyzin' eyes
There goes your tantalizin' smile
There goes my act of playin' it cool
And there go the words
I meant to say
There go the games
I wanted to play
There goes my heart fallin' for you
Well I think you're playin' with me darlin'
You like to see what you can do
Well I should be fishin' for Blue Marlin
Instead of being hooked again by you
There goes your paralyzin' eyes
There goes…
REZ benallie
Alan Jackson and George strait are both true country singers
coma4by
Except George doesn't write any of his music. Kinda sad when you think about it.
Hernán Robledo
Don't forget Kenny Rogers
Dennis Watczak
Could not agree more two of the best!
Dennis Watczak
I agree two of the BEST!
Martin Walsh
Agree fully
Jim Cholley
This is one of my very favorites from Alan Jackson.. :-]
M C
He did so many good ones ( little man, blues man, etc)
AJWIISON WIISON
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Joy Romans
This is a Awesome song sung by the best Country singer 🎵🎶🎼🎻🎸