With more than 64 million albums sold worldwide, 18 #1 singles, with seven as co-writes, Seven Grammys, and countless other accolades---all achieved with four albums in less than eight years---some artists might feel as though they’d earned the right to rest on their laurels, but not Carrie Underwood. Fueled by a restless creative spirit, good-natured competitive streak and abundance of God-given talent, Carrie unleashes her most ambitious project yet with Blown Away.
Teaming again with producer Mark Bright, Carrie delivers a 14-song collection that covers a particularly vast expanse of emotional territory. She celebrates the understated pleasures of small town living in “Thank God for Hometowns” and explores the exquisite fragility of life in “Forever Changed.” She’s not averse to tackling abuse and betrayal then doling out a little sweet revenge with such compelling tracks as “Blown Away” and “Two Black Cadillacs.” Musically the songs range from rollicking up-tempo anthems, such as the hit first single “Good Girl” to the island-flavored escape of “One Way Ticket” and the steel guitar-laced country lament of “Wine After Whiskey.”
Such musical and lyrical diversity is the foundation of Carrie’s artistry. After all, this is a young woman who has performed with Steven Tyler on a top-rated edition of CMT’s “Crossroads,” scored a No. 1 country hit with good friend Brad Paisley on “Remind Me,” and sang with the iconic Tony Bennett on the 2012 Grammy telecast, delivering the classic “It Had to be You,” their collaboration on Bennett’s Duets II album.
The Oklahoma native is a fan of all types of music, yet she’s purposefully planted herself in the country format, even while her eclectic tastes have influenced her creative output. She’s been careful to not get pigeonholed and prides herself on not being predictable. “I feel like I’ve taken all of my albums into as many different directions as possible while still keeping them cohesive,” she says. “I love this album from start to finish and love every song on it. There’s not one single song that’s like another song I’ve ever done. I think it’s my best album. I really do think there’s something for everyone.”
Her ability to be unique yet accessible has been crucial to Carrie’s career from the beginning. She became America’s sweetheart in 2005 when she won the fourth season of American Idol, a vehicle that transformed her from a shy Oklahoma girl with a great voice to a budding superstar. Since then she’s become the popular franchise’s most successful alumni.
She’s won a vast array of awards including three female vocalist awards from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). In 2010, when Carrie garnered her second win as ACM Entertainer of the Year, she became the first female artist to win the award twice, and only the 7th female to take the award in the 40-year history of the ACM category, among Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, and the Dixie Chicks. Carrie also received the ACM Triple Crown Award, thanks to her past wins for the categories of Entertainer of the Year, Top Female Vocalist and Top New Female Vocalist, which has been won by only one other female artist – Barbara Mandrell in 2004. In addition to the above, Carrie’s won 7 American Music Awards, 6 People’s Choice Awards, 9 CMT Music Awards, 9 American Country Awards, and 7 BMI Songwriter Awards. Carrie also received a Golden Globe nomination in 2010 for “Best Original Song” for “There’s A Place For Us” from Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader which she both recorded and co-wrote.
Carrie’s 2005 debut Some Hearts topped Billboard’s Country Albums chart for 27 weeks, has sold over 7 million copies, and was voted #1 Country Album of the Decade by Billboard. Both her 2007 sophomore album, Carnival Ride and 2009’s Play On debuted at No. 1. Her current album, Blown Away, debuted atop the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where it held the No. 1 spot for two consecutive weeks. Over the course of four albums, she’s saturated country radio with such hits as “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Before He Cheats,” “So Small,” “Last Name,” “Just A Dream,” “Cowboy Casanova,” “Temporary Home,” “All-American Girl,” “Undo It,” “Mama’s Song,” “Good Girl,” and “Blown Away.”
Carrie’s highly acclaimed concert tours have further helped to establish her into the elite status of the country music community, or in any genre of music, with her stellar performances. In 2008, after wrapping her “Carnival Ride Tour” she became the top selling country female touring artist of the year selling out many of the 137 shows before 1.2 million fans. In that year, Carrie also became the most-heard artist at country radio and was named the #1 Hot Country Songs Artist by Billboard and #1 Top Country Artist by Radio & Records. In 2010, her next headline arena tour, the “Play On Tour,” played 108 shows with one million fans attending which resulted in Carrie being named again as the top-ranked female country touring artist of the year. Carrie is currently on her critically-acclaimed international “Blown Away Tour”, which began at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall, and continued throughout Australia, before launching in North America in September of 2012.
Carrie is a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry and expanded her resume making her acting debut in the 2011 film “Soul Surfer.” She can be seen in print and TV ads as the North American face of Olay beauty products, and has a long-running deal with vitaminwater®. One of Country Music’s most respected young ambassadors, Carrie has served as co-host of the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley the past five years.
Yet for those who think they know Carrie, Blown Away is likely to catch them by surprise, particularly the cinematic title track with its swirling, atmospheric production and intense lyric about abuse and revenge. “I got chills,” she says of the first time she heard the Josh Kear/Chris Tompkins penned stunner. “I remember where I was when I heard it and called my manager and said, ‘Do not let anyone else have this song. It’s my song’ . . . It’s such a visual song. You listen to it and you can see everything that is happening. It’s so dramatic. I’m not a drama person, but when you can make a movie in song form in 3 ½ minutes, it’s surreal.”
“Blown Away” finds a daughter getting revenge on an abusive, alcoholic father and the next song, “Two Black Cadillacs,” also has a larger-than-life cinematic quality which makes both tunes feel like mini-movies set to music. “Two Black Cadillacs” relates the story of a wife and mistress who conspire to get even with the man who betrayed them both. “It’s just more drama,” says Carrie, who co-wrote the tune with Josh Kear and Hillary Lindsey. “It was so much fun creating all this drama and singing about it. That’s the great thing about being an entertainer; you’re just a big actor. When we start sitting down and writing songs, you just never know what’s going to come out.”
Carrie co-wrote eight of the 14 songs on Blown Away, including the first single, Good Girl" which reached number 1 on the country airplay charts and is certified platinum. ‘Good Girl’ was one of the last ones I wrote for the album,” she says of the tune she penned with Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley. “We wanted something a little more fun and up-tempo. Chris DeStefano is just a mad scientist with his Pro Tools and he can play every instrument. We walked out of that writing session with a demo. It sounded awesome. It was ready to go. We let everybody hear it and everybody was so excited.”
“Cupid’s Got a Shotgun” is another of the album’s high-energy tracks and it gets an extra kick from Paisley contributing his signature guitar licks. “Once we got into the studio, I was like Brad Paisley HAS to play on this. He’ll make the song,” Carrie says of the tune, she wrote with Kear and Tompkins. “We left so much space in the song for him to come in and play. He did his thing and sounded awesome. He added that last piece of the puzzle and it’s just so country. It’s really cool.”
In addition to being musically inventive, Carrie has long been known for delivering songs with substance, and the new album delivers its share of potent messages. “Nobody Ever Told You,” which Carrie wrote with Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey, boasts an empowering lyric and a breezy, engaging melody. “People need to hear compliments more,” she says of the song’s life-affirming lyric. “People need to hear ‘I love you’ more. People need to hear ‘You are beautiful’ more.”
“Good in Goodbye,” co-written by Carrie, Lindsey and Ryan Tedder, is a bittersweet look at life beyond heartbreak that offers tender truth in the lines “As bad as it was/As bad as it hurt/I thank God I didn’t get what I thought I deserved.” On the other end of the emotional spectrum, “Thank God for Hometowns” is a sweet salute to small town life. “I heard that one when I was going back to my 10 year high school reunion,” the Checotah, OK native says. “I listened to the demo when I was driving in to go stay with my parents. It was just very fitting in my heart at that time.”
“Forever Changed” is a beautiful ballad that brings tears to Carrie’s eyes as she discusses it. “I had a hard time recording it and I still have a hard time listening to it,” she says of the Tom Douglas/Hillary Lindsey/James T. Slater penned ballad. “That is the most wonderfully well written song I’ve ever heard in my life. There’s this young girl meeting the love of her life, getting married and having a baby. It takes you back in time and there is something old fashioned about it. At the end, the mom’s obviously slipping a way a little bit. It is a sad song, but it’s not meant to be a sad song. It’s about love, being forever changed, forever loved.”
In a few short years, Carrie has seen the power music has to change lives---to incite dialog, to instill hope, and to simply entertain. She’s aware of the platform she’s been given. She respects it and appreciates every moment. “I’m very happy in my life and I count my blessings every day,” she says. “Seven years ago when I decided to try out for American Idol, my life changed completely in the blink of an eye. I went down a different train track and took off at about a million miles per hour. I feel like I’m still learning. In the beginning, it was like, ‘Oh, I have a No. 1. That’s awesome!’ I didn’t really understand what that meant. ‘Jesus, Take The Wheel’ and ‘Before He Cheats’ were No. 1 for several weeks, and that doesn’t happen often, but I had no idea. I realize now what hard work it actually is and I feel like I can appreciate those victories even more. Touring is more fun because I know what it’s like to headline a tour. I feel like I’m able to be more and more creative all the time. I always feel like I’m taking steps forward.”
Just a Dream
Carrie Underwood Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All dressed in white, going to the church that night
She had his box of letters in the passenger seat
Sixpence in her shoe
Something borrowed, something blue
And when the church doors opened up wide
She put her veil down trying to hide the tears
Oh, she just couldn't believe it
And the flowers fell out of her hands
Baby, why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
I can't even breathe
It's like I'm looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now
This can't be happening to me
This is just a dream
The preacher man said let us bow our heads and pray
Lord, please lift his soul and heal this hurt
Then the congregation all stood up
And sang the saddest song that she ever heard
Then they handed her a folded-up flag
And she held on to all she had left of him
Oh, and what could've been
And then guns rang one last shot
And it felt like a bullet in her heart
Baby, why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
I can't even breathe
It's like I'm looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now
This can't be happening to me
This is just a dream
Baby, why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
Oh, I'll never know
It's like I'm looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now
This can't be happening to me
This is just a dream
Oh, this is just a dream
Just a dream, (yeah, yeah)
Carrie Underwood's song Just a Dream tells a heartbreaking story of a young bride whose soldier fiancé dies during active service, leaving her all alone to mourn the loss of the future they had planned. The first verse describes the bride's wedding day and how she is filled with hope and excitement, but also sadness as she carries a box of letters from her fiancé who is overseas at war. As she walks down the aisle, wearing white, she has something borrowed and something blue, and a sixpence in her shoe. But when the church doors open and she hears the trumpets of the military band, she realizes he will never come home. She breaks down in tears as flowers fall from her hands.
The chorus is a heart-wrenching lament over the loss of her love, the unanswered question of why he had to leave her, and how she can't believe this is really happening. She feels lost and disconnected from the world, looking from a distance as people tell her he will never return. She is left with only her memories and a folded-up flag as a last symbol of her fiancé's sacrifice. The final gunshot is like a physical blow to her heart, emphasizing the finality of his death.
This song captures the emotional turmoil of losing someone to war, especially someone you love and were planning to spend a lifetime with. It speaks to the grief and confusion, the sense of disbelief and helplessness, that many people experience in this situation. Just a Dream is a moving tribute to those who serve their country and to the families who must cope with the reality of war.
Line by Line Meaning
It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen
The story begins when the young woman in question is just eighteen years old.
All dressed in white, going to the church that night
She is dressed in a white bridal gown, which suggests that she is going to her wedding ceremony.
She had his box of letters in the passenger seat
The bride has her fiance's box of letters in the car with her, which implies that he is away fighting in a war.
Sixpence in her shoe
The young woman has a sixpence in her shoe as part of the wedding tradition of wearing something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.
Something borrowed, something blue
She is following the old wedding adage of wearing something borrowed and something blue.
And when the church doors opened up wide
The story continues with the opening of the church doors.
She put her veil down trying to hide the tears
The bride is crying and tries to conceal her tears with her veil.
Oh she just couldn't believe it
She is feeling disbelief at what is happening.
She heard the trumpets from the military band
She hears the sound of trumpets, which suggests that there is a military presence.
And the flowers fell out of her hands
She drops the flowers that she was holding.
Baby, why'd you leave me, why'd you have to go
The bride is addressing her fiance, questioning why he had to leave her.
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know
She had hoped for a lifetime together with her fiance, but now she feels that this is impossible.
I can't even breathe
The young woman is feeling suffocated by her pain.
It's like I'm looking from a distance,
She feels disconnected from reality.
Standing in the background
The bride feels like she is on the periphery of her own life.
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now,
The people around her are telling her that her fiance will not be coming back.
This can't be happening to me
She is in a state of shock and disbelief.
This is just a dream
The young woman is hoping that what is happening is not real and is just a dream.
The preacher man said let us bow our heads and pray
The preacher asks everyone to pray.
Lord please lift his soul and heal this hurt
The prayer is asking for the young woman's fiance's soul to be lifted and for her to find healing.
Then the congregation all stood up
The congregation rises.
And sang the saddest song that she ever heard
The song that follows is a sad and emotional one.
Then they handed her a folded up flag
The soldier's flag is given to the bride.
And she held on to all she had left of him
The young woman clings onto what she has left of her fiance.
Oh, and what could've been
The song sentimentalizes what could have happened if he had stayed alive.
And then guns rang one last shot
The sound of gunfire is heard one last time.
And it felt like a bullet in her heart
The young woman feels extreme pain and heartbreak.
Oh I'll never know
She realizes that she will never know what could have been if her fiance had lived.
Oh, this is just a dream
The young woman is still hoping that this is all just a bad dream.
Just a dream, (yeah, yeah)
The song emphasizes that this was not real and is just a sad dream.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gordie Sampson, Hillary Lindsey, Steven Mcewan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ciannamccoy6253
Welcome to the family. :) I got more camo around me than Si's duck blind. It takes a very special woman to marry into this community. You have the entire community of the most badass warriors watching your six. I used to house Marines in transition, Its a very confusing time. You will be shocked when you realize how vey strong you are. My nephew joined at 17. He is now retiring.. (it feels a bit strange saying that... most of us used "retired" for men in their 60s) He is now 28, he made rank last month, will retire as a MSsgt. The last group I housed were just the most incredible humans. It was such an honor to have a 5 men that protect us, selflessly. I had the safest, protected house! The Sniper in the group, Danger Dave insisted on renting the room st the front of the house. From that vantage point, he could see the street and neighbors. His weapon at the window the entire time he was with me, They called me MaMa Bear. Their mothers all called when they heard where they were staying. As they went through the transition, they slowly found their way as civies.
Im so going to cry typing this ut I try to help and bring new members of the family some piece of mind. Lean on your sisters. We serve at home, while they serve out there. Quick story, as it shows the hearts and souls of these men. My favorite boy (shhh don't ell the others!) was a Terminal Lance. Huge bear of a soft sweet man. This group served together. They did 3 tours. He came to me during meal prep in the mess. . (they literally renamed everything. The "barracks" upstairs, and the mess, that they put me in charge of.) Their moms, "send them home fat and happy!" And that was my goal.
They came home from all deployment, whole and physically unscathed. The only injury sustained was my Terminal Lance tripped over razor wire, had a scratch on his right ankle. "its just a flesh wound!" He stood next to me at the stove. Showed me a tattoo that all have. A shamrock, with "Untouchables". He pulled up his sleeve and said, " The guys and I want you to get this tattoo. You're our Mama bear." I was overwhelmed with emotions, these boys, my boys. However, I didn't feel I deserved the tattoo, I never served, and I wasn't their mother. Sure, they called me MamaBear, but I wasn't their mom. It almost felt like it would be Stolen Valor of the women who birthed heroes. He said, "you take such good care of us. I think we all gained a bunch of weight since separating. We wanted to give you this." The other guys came down to chill. They each came up and hugged me, "we love you. Youre our Second mom." By the time the 5th Marine hugged me I was crying uncontrollably. they all told me how they wanted me to get the tattoo. Finally the sniper found a compromise; I hated turning them down, but I was so convicted, I steadfastly refused. My Grim Reaper said, "Then put Untouchables Mama." The other guys.. "yup! do it for us" And I did,. I have worn this tattoo with so much humility, and appreciation of what and who it represents. They gave me a poem written about a service mom. Has hung on my wall the last 7 years. The tattoo is on my back, so I will never forget they will have my back always.
Im sorry this is so long, I like to let the new ladies know that they can depend on us. Her Corps Sisters. A bit of "A day in the life of a Marine Mom" as it were.
Have you been to the Birthday Ball? The shenanigans.. LOL Their boots hang in the rafters of a friends bar. oorah Semper Fi!
@layceejo5650
“And it felt like a bullet in her heart”.... gets me every time
@loganbivins4866
For real same here
@tuckermurrell6761
AMBER POND hey me to
@shelbydykstra9954
Laycee Jo honestly same.
@nicolelatham979
Same
@nicolelatham979
Same here. I have that line stuck in my head after a guy who was about to become my bf suddenly turned me down.
@nightmareajbusheysomeonesy7499
At first it seemed like a wedding song.
Then it became a song about grief.
This is a military spouse's worst nightmare
@melswanson502
Amen to that. I watched my husband go to Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, etc, etc. It was something every year. I let him go without anything ever even happening. Thankfully he retired. Now it's 2 of my 4 sons.
@emilymartin1878
Agreed
@melswanson502
@Abigail Forget He's in our prayers! It's very hard, but you do get used to it.