The band scored their first #1 in 2007 with the single "Moments". Emerson Drive has also been nominated for ACM and CMA Group of the Year in 2007 and a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2008.
That Was Us
Emerson Drive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Broken out glass still lays on the ground
That old '69 Buick's still stuck in the field
Some backseat stories in those rusted out wheels
And there's Joe's Minimart, man, that poor guy has seen
His share of shoplifters and fake IDs
There's a crop of new freshman runnin' Coach Riley's place
That high school gym has a banner on the wall
A trophy in a case, yeah, the plaque says it all
That was us havin' fun
Who says youth is wasted on the young
Glory days come and go
So we just made the most of the years
That we call growin' up
That was us
Between rivalries and our hometown pride
Sits Delmar's Diner on the county line
One wrong word and our fists would fly
After football games on a Friday night
The cops didn't bother to wait for a call
They just showed up ready for a small town brawl
That was us havin' fun
Who says youth is wasted on the young
Glory days come and go
So we just made the most of the years
That we call growin' up
That was us
Alcohol on your breath, Mama worried to death
Muscle cars, breaking hearts , even some of 'em ours
Petty and Strait on the same cassette tape
Fallin' in love or in lust, that was us
That was us havin' fun
Who says youth is wasted on the young
Glory days come and go, so we just
Made the most of the years
That we call growin' up
That was us, yeah, that was us, woah
Emerson Drive's song "That Was Us" is a nostalgic ballad that tells the story of a group of friends growing up in a small town. The song describes different places and experiences that shaped their formative years, from an abandoned warehouse to Joe's minimart to Delmar's diner. The lyrics evoke a sense of innocence and freedom, as the friends enjoyed muscle cars, falling in love or in lust, and even the occasional small town brawl. The song's main message is that youth is not wasted on the young, and that despite the passing of time and the end of their glory days, the memories of those formative years will remain engraved in their minds forever.
The first verse of the song describes an old abandoned warehouse, a rusty 69 Buick in a nearby field, Joe's minimart and Coach Riley's gym classes. The lyrics paint a picture of a small, tight-knit community where everyone knows each other's business. The second verse describes Delmar's diner and the post-football game fights that would break out. The lyrics highlight the camaraderie and rivalry that exist in small towns, as well as the loyalty that friends have for each other. The final verse is a nostalgic reflection on the passage of time and the memories that the friends hold dear, even after they have moved on to new lives and new adventures.
Line by Line Meaning
There's an old abandoned warehouse on the way into town
There is an old warehouse on the way into town that nobody uses anymore.
Broken out glass still lays on the ground
There is broken glass on the ground near the warehouse.
That old '69 Buick's still stuck in the field
An old 1969 Buick is still stuck in the field near the warehouse.
Some backseat stories in those rusted out wheels
There are stories about things that happened in the backseat of the Buick when it was still running.
And there's Joe's Minimart, man, that poor guy has seen
His share of shoplifters and fake IDs
Joe, the owner of the minimart, has seen a lot of people try to steal things or use fake IDs to buy things.
There's a crop of new freshman runnin' Coach Riley's place
He's a madman with a whistle, yeah, he'll blow it in your face
There are new freshman who play sports at Coach Riley's place, and Coach Riley is tough on them and will blow his whistle in their face if they mess up.
That high school gym has a banner on the wall
A trophy in a case, yeah, the plaque says it all
The high school gym has a banner and a trophy that shows that the school's teams have won in the past.
Between rivalries and our hometown pride
Sits Delmar's Diner on the county line
Delmar's Diner sits on the county line between town rivals who are both proud of their hometowns.
One wrong word and our fists would fly
After football games on a Friday night
If someone said something wrong, a fight could break out on Friday nights after football games.
The cops didn't bother to wait for a call
They just showed up ready for a small town brawl
The police knew that there might be fights after football games and would be ready to show up without being called.
Alcohol on your breath, Mama worried to death
Muscle cars, breaking hearts , even some of 'em ours
Petty and Strait on the same cassette tape
Fallin' in love or in lust, that was us
We were young and did things like drink alcohol, drive fast cars, and sometimes break each other's hearts. We listened to musicians like Tom Petty and George Strait on cassette tapes and fell in love (or at least in lust).
That was us havin' fun
Who says youth is wasted on the young
Glory days come and go
So we just made the most of the years
That we call growin' up
That was us
We had fun when we were young and did things like drink, drive, and fall in love. We made the most of our youth and our glory days came and went, but we still remember them fondly as the years we were growing up.
That was us, yeah, that was us, woah
We were the ones who did all of these things and had all of these experiences. Those were our memories and our stories.
Contributed by Keira R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@sauquoit13456
On this day in 2003 (January 12th} "Fall Into Me" by Emerson Drive peaked at #3 {for 3 weeks} on Billboard's Hot Country Singles* chart...
"Fall Into Me" reached #34 on Billboard's Top 100 chart...
Between 2001 to 2008 the Canadian band had nine records on the Hot Country Singles chart, three made the Top 10, with one reaching #1, "Moments", for one week in June of 2006...
Besides "Fall Into Me" and "Moments", their other Top 10 record was "I Should Be Sleeping", it peaked at #4 in 2001...
Plus they had one Top 20 record, "A Good Man", it reached #17 in 2006...
* And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, the Hot Country Singles' Top 10 on January 12th, 2003:
At #1. "19 Something" by Mark Wills
#2. "She'll Leave You With A Smile" by George Strait
#3. the above "Fall Into Me"
#4. "Who's Your Daddy?" by Toby Keith
#5. "These Days" by Rascal Flatts
#6. "The Baby" by Blake Shelton
#7. "I Just Wanna Be Mad" by Terri Clark
#8. "A Lot of Things Different" by Kenny Chesney
#9. "Somebody Like You" by Keith Urban
#10. "You Can't Hide Beautiful" by Aaron Lines
@SKRicochet
Another of my all time favorites. Why can't country music be this good anymore?
@1o1carolina53
Eleven years later
STILL RELEVANT COMMENT
more than ever
@matthewwelsh294
I like this country music much more than the white trash country music with beer and trucks
@truckercowboyed2638
It is good you just don't like change but country music has always changed, even the "good songs" of the past were controversial at their time......hell it was sacrilege to have a electric guitar in country song for a long time, steel guitar was also something that took time for country music to adopt.... Country music changes because people change....
@delcio9038
Now this is the kind of country music I like, glad to have experienced all these great songs in the 2000s.
@Holloweentwotwo
this isn't country
@TheCountryBoy303
That is one thing I LOVE about Emerson Drive... He is one of the few people who still has a fiddle in the band! LOVE IT!
@dylanbaker4390
i really want these guys to make music again
@CanadianGuy2004
They haven't stopped
@samanthamanley4624
Dylan Baker same here