The trio originally formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006 by Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals), Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin) and Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals).
Scott is the daughter of country music singer Linda Davis, and Charles Kelley is the brother of pop artist Josh Kelley. It was these family connections and music industry ties that helped launch the band. Kelley moved to Nashville in mid-2005 from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he had been working construction with his brother John. Trying to become a successful solo country artist, Kelley convinced his old middle-school classmate, Haywood, to move to Nashville from Georgia in 2006 so they could write music together. Shortly thereafter, Scott recognized Kelley from MySpace, and they started to talk at a Nashville music club. Kelley later invited Scott to join him and Haywood in the new group, which assumed the name Lady Antebellum. The name Antebellum comes from when the group were photographing "antebellum" homes. The antebellum ('pre-war') architectural style describes the large plantation homes in the American South. While photographing the houses one of the group said that there's a great band name in there, and they adopted the Lady Antebellum name shortly after. The trio then began performing at local venues in Nashville before being signed in July 2007 to a recording contract with Capitol Records Nashville. In an interview with Sirius Satellite Radio, Scott claimed she was rejected from the hit show American Idol two times, not even making it past the first round.
Shortly after the trio signed to the label, adult contemporary artist Jim Brickman chose Lady Antebellum to sing on his 2007 single Never Alone, which reached #14 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts. In mid-2007, Lady Antebellum also wrote a song for the MTV reality television series The Hills.
Their solo debut single Love Don't Live Here was released in September of 2007, with a music video for the song following in December. This song was the lead-off single to the band's self-titled debut album. Released on April 15, 2008, Lady Antebellum was produced by Paul Worley and Victoria Shaw, a Nashville songwriter and former solo artist. Love Don't Live Here reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The album itself was the first album by a new duo or group to debut at Number One on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts.
A second single, Lookin' for a Good Time, was issued in June 2008 and peaked at #11 in December. In addition, Lady Antebellum was signed as an opening act on Martina McBride's "Waking Up Laughing Tour" in 2008. Lady Antebellum also contributed the song I Was Here to the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack, a song which peaked at #24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 based on downloads. In December 2008, their rendition of Baby, It's Cold Outside peaked at #3 on the same chart. Their third official single, I Run to You, was released in January 2009. It eventually became the trio's first Number One in July 2009.
On October 7, 2009 their debut album was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of one million copies in the United States.
In August 2009, the group released their fourth single, Need You Now, the lead-off single and title track to their second studio album. It debuted at #50 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and became their second Number One hit on the charts for the week of November 28, 2009. The song also reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a number-one hit on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart, making it a crossover hit. A second single, American Honey, was released to radio on January 11, 2010 and would become their third #1 hit. Our Kind of Love was released as the third single from the album on May 31, 2010 and became a #1 single in September, 2010.
The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts for the week of Feb. 2, 2010, selling 480,922 copies in the first week. Four weeks after the album's release, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The week of January 9, 2011, the group ventured into the studio to begin recording for their third studio album. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kelley said, "We actually just went ahead and decided we’re gonna take two, two and a half months straight in the studio to create this thing and not have all this distraction. Hopefully that will be a good thing". He goes on to say that the group has around 50 songs which they plan to choose from along with songs from other songwriters. However, he singles out a song called Dancing Away With My Heart as one the band is particularly excited about, a song that the group co-wrote with Josh Kear, who previously wrote with the group on their hit Need You Now.
On May 2, 2011, the group released the first single from their upcoming album, titled Just a Kiss. The group performed the single on stage on American Idol's result show on May 5, 2011.
On June 11, 2020, amid the George Floyd protests, the band announced they would rename themselves "Lady A" in order to avoid racist connotations with Civil War history, as the original name was based on the Antebellum South. The band stated on social media that they were "deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused and for anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or unvalued."
Sounded Good At The Time
Lady Antebellum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waitin' on you to take me nowhere
We were always lookin' for a rock n' roll Saturday night
Sittin' on hold with the radio station
Listen all night to hear my dedication
A song to tell the whole town you're mine (that's right)
We sing like we wrote every word to the whole damn thing
Like time wasn't really slipping through our hands
Oh, when you said I loved you, you mighta been lying
But it sure sounded good at the time
Just a hand-me-down, a Pontiac
Let's see how many friends we can pile in the back
Saved all summer for a ticket on the front row (let's go)
Didn't have a plan and we ran outta money
Car broke down but it's still kinda funny
'Cause we hitched a ride with some hippy guy
And barely made it to the show and
We sing like we wrote every word to the whole damn thing
Like nothing will ever change and we dance
Like time wasn't really slipping through our hands
Made it back alive, made up a good lie
But it sure sounded good at the time
Aw, yeah, we did some wrong
We did it right
But it sure sounded so good at the time
You were mine, alright
Woaaah, well alright
And we sing like we wrote every word to the whole damn thing
Like nothing will ever change and we dance
Like time wasn't really slipping through our hands
We swore we'd never say goodbye
And it sure sounded good at the time
The song "Sounded Good At The Time" by Lady Antebellum is a nostalgic reminder of the carefree days of youth. The song takes us back to those moments when we didn’t have everything figured out but still enjoyed the moment with a carefree attitude. The first verse of the song talks about the anticipation of a fun evening with a loved one, where they are excited to go out and have some fun, while in the second verse it speaks about a time when two friends went out to watch a concert, and despite encountering several hurdles on the way, they still look back and cherish it as a good memory.
Throughout the entire song, Lady Antebellum highlights that while looking back on our past, it's easy to sugarcoat and romanticize the memories that we have. The chorus is a subtle reminder of our vulnerability as humans, that we often choose to ignore the truth and believe what we want to hear, especially when we are emotionally attached to someone or something. This song is a great reminder that it's okay to cherish memories and to look back on fondly, but it's important to remember that not everything was perfect, and to accept how things really were.
Line by Line Meaning
Standin' by the door, checkin' my hair
I was eagerly waiting for you to take me out, checking myself in the mirror multiple times
Waitin' on you to take me nowhere
I was waiting for you to take me on an adventure, even if it was pointless, just to be with you
We were always lookin' for a rock n' roll Saturday night
We were always searching for fun nights with loud music and dancing
Sittin' on hold with the radio station
I was waiting to request a song dedication for you on the radio, and it took a while to get through
Listen all night to hear my dedication
I stayed up all night listening to the radio just to hear my dedication to you
A song to tell the whole town you're mine (that's right)
The song I requested on the radio was to publicly show everyone that you were mine
We sing like we wrote every word to the whole damn thing
We sang along to the song on the radio as if we wrote it ourselves and knew every word
Like nothing will ever change and we dance
We danced to the song as if nothing would ever change and we would always be together
Like time wasn't really slipping through our hands
We ignored the fact that time was passing quickly and we were losing moments with each other
Oh, when you said I loved you, you mighta been lying
I wondered if you were lying when you said you loved me, but I didn't care because it sounded good at the time
But it sure sounded good at the time
Even if things weren't completely true, they sounded good in the moment and we went with it
Just a hand-me-down, a Pontiac
We didn't have fancy cars, just an old hand-me-down Pontiac
Let's see how many friends we can pile in the back
We wanted to fit as many friends as possible in the back seat of the car to make memories together
Saved all summer for a ticket on the front row (let's go)
We saved up all summer to buy tickets to a concert and were excited to have seats in the front row
Didn't have a plan and we ran outta money
We didn't have a specific plan for the night and ended up running out of money
Car broke down but it's still kinda funny
Even though the car broke down on the way to the concert, we found humor in the situation
'Cause we hitched a ride with some hippy guy
We ended up getting a ride from a stranger, a hippy guy, to get to the concert
And barely made it to the show and
We barely made it to the concert in time but were happy we made it at all
Made it back alive, made up a good lie
We made it back safely but had to make up a lie to cover up our adventure to our parents
Aw, yeah, we did some wrong
We may have made some mistakes and bad decisions, but we have no regrets
We did it right
We were able to make things work even when things went wrong
You were mine, alright
You were all mine, and that made everything worth it
We swore we'd never say goodbye
We promised each other that we would never say goodbye and end our relationship
And it sure sounded good at the time
We kept our promise, even if it was just in the moment, and it felt right at the time
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BRAD WARREN, BRETT WARREN, CHARLES KELLEY, HILLARY SCOTT, DAVE HAYWOOD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind