Kent Bottenfield - 'Take Me Back' - Not Just Chasing After His Glory Days
Some people hear the name Kent Bottenfield and they immediately think "ex-professional All-Star pitcher with a contract for millions," never looking deeper to the years he spent moving around minor league teams trying to catch his big break. After all, our heroes are supposed to have lives that are as near perfect as they can get. Some cynics hear that the very same Kent Bottenfield, who had a career ending injury in 2001, has turned to music, releasing a Christian CD last year, and they automatically think that he is just another former somebody, chasing after the spot-light again. Those people are wrong - dead wrong. Kent Bottenfield has much more substance than just someone who is chasing after fame. All you have to do to come to that conclusion is listen to the lyrics in his music. This is a guy who looks, at first glance, like he had it all ... but you have to look deeper.
The title track on his release, "Take Me Back," paints a very different picture from that of a man with everything. That song looks into the life of a man who had all of the trappings and went through all of the right motions, but on the inside he felt a loss of something that all of the fans, the cheers and ESPN couldn't fill.
Sharing His Soul
"Where have I gone to, where have I run? Who is this person, that I have become?" ... "At times the truth seems faded, from black and white to gray. Clouded by a circumstance, at times the truth seems to get in the way."
"How Long," "Come to Me" and "Wash Over Me" each add more brush strokes to that picture, to clearly show a man with a God-sized hole inside of his soul. Kent acknowledges that he did feel like he had lost some of his connection to God during that time - when his baseball career was at its peak. "I'm not making excuses - but when you get into that kind of world you can become reliant on yourself. It can be very easy to think that you are something ... that you really are somebody. That can hit some of the strongest Christian people that I've seen. I've seen that happen in the game where they can tend to feel really self-important. I don't think I was characterized by that, but there were certainly times where I felt that. The game feeds it. People always wanting a piece of you, a piece of your time. 'Everybody wants to be around me. Everybody wants to talk to me.' They make you feel important because of what you do, not because of who you are," Kent explained.
The End of an Era and the Beginning of a New Journey
During his recovery from shoulder surgery (not a fun place to be - this I can report from personal experience) the big change came. Months of physical rehabilitation weren't enough to get Kent back into the game. While still in his early 30's he had to decide where he wanted to go with the rest of his life. "I Remember" tells me the story of a man in transition, a man who realized that he had been so busy living his life that the simple truths of childhood had gotten lost in the bustle of the day.
"It made me think when I was young, I learned You gave Your only Son to set me free. I let my life get in the way..."
That revelation brought back the promises that God has made to all of us ... and Kent expounds on that hope in "Rain" and "Trusting in Love." "A Prayer Away" is the cincher ... from your feet to on your knees. He moves into the grand finale of a man who has truly come home in "Great is Thy Faithfulness," "Amazing Grace" and "You're There."
Easy to Relate
Kent's story isn't all that unique. While there aren't that many people that can say they played on the All-Star team, there are more than a few thousand of us who can say that somehow we lost sight of God in the midst of life. Plenty of us can admit that at some point we stopped looking up and we let circumstances fade our own truths from black and white to gray.
Listen to this album and you'll find yourself able to relate in some way or another to what Kent Bottenfield is talking about. And if you haven't hit your own point of realization of being just "A Prayer Away," maybe this album will be what helps move you to that direction.
Take Me Back
Kent Bottenfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Day after day
Paper planes and little boy things
While time just drifted away
Where have I gone to?
Where have I run?
Who is this person
I have become?
Take me back to when I was young
When love was love and pain was pain
When sun was sun and rain was rain
Take me back to when I first knew
That I was me and You were You
And, Lord, I gave it all to You
Take me back
At times, the truth seems faded
From black-and-white to gray
Clouded by a circumstance
At times the truth seems to get in the way
Where have I gone to?
Where have I run?
Who is this person
I have become?
Take me back to when I was young
When love was love and pain was pain
When sun was sun and rain was rain
Take me back to when I first knew
That I was me and You were You
And, Lord, I gave it all to You
Take me back
Oh, at times I know I fall away
And I don't always have the words to say
But I know the safest place for me is You
Take me back to when I was young
When love was love and pain was pain
When sun was sun and rain was rain
Take me back to when I first knew
That I was me and You were You
And, Lord, I gave it all to You
Take me back
Kent Bottenfield's song, Take Me Back, is a soulful reflection of a man who feels lost and out of touch with his true self. The lyrics describe a time long gone where life was simpler and happiness was based on the beauty of everyday things. The song's first two lines, "It used to be so simple, day after day," highlight the nostalgia the singer has for days gone by. They used to play with paper planes and indulge in "little boy things" without worrying about time, but now they are questioning where they have gone and who they have become.
As the song progresses, we see that the singer is trying to find meaning in their life as they feel lost and disconnected. They are longing for a time when love and pain were simple to distinguish, and they had a clear understanding of who they were and who God was. The lyrics "Take me back to when I was young, when love was love and pain was pain, when sun was sun and rain was rain" shows a desire to go back to that time where everything was straightforward and easily explained. The singer is looking for a safe haven in His relationship with God, where they can find peace and a sense of belonging.
Overall, Take Me Back is a powerful reminder of the importance of staying true to oneself and seeking God's guidance. It shows that, as time passes, there is a tendency to become lost in the noise of life and the complexities that come with it. However, by remembering the simplicity of the past and turning to God for guidance, one can reconnect with themselves and find meaning in life.
Line by Line Meaning
It used to be so simple
Life was much easier before and less complicated
Day after day
Each day was just like the previous one, without much difference or change
Paper planes and little boy things
Doing simple and childish things that brought joy and made life enjoyable
While time just drifted away
Time passed quickly and seamlessly without one noticing
Where have I gone to?
Asking oneself where they have disappeared or lost their former self
Where have I run?
Asking oneself where they have hurriedly left their former self behind
Who is this person I have become?
Asking oneself who they have turned into and whether they like this person or not
When love was love and pain was pain
Referring to a time when emotions were pure and simple without complexity or confusion
When sun was sun and rain was rain
Referring to a time when things were straightforward and easy to comprehend
Take me back to when I first knew That I was me and You were You
Yearning to go back to a time when they had a clear sense of self and a relationship with the divine
And, Lord, I gave it all to You
Renewing one's commitment to a higher power
At times, the truth seems faded
The truth is sometimes hard to see and loses its clarity
From black-and-white to gray
Things that were once clearly defined have become uncertain and ambiguous
Where have I gone to?
Asking oneself where they have disappeared or lost their former self
Where have I run?
Asking oneself where they have hurriedly left their former self behind
Who is this person I have become?
Asking oneself who they have turned into and whether they like this person or not
Take me back to when I was young
Longing to go back to a simpler time in life
Oh, at times I know I fall away
Admitting that one sometimes falls away from their beliefs
And I don't always have the words to say
Sometimes struggling to articulate one's thoughts or feelings
But I know the safest place for me is You
Finding comfort and security in a higher power
Contributed by Oliver A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.