Sugarland's debut album, Twice the Speed of Life, was released Oct. 26, 2004. Serving as its lead-off single was the song Baby Girl, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and set a record for the longest chart run since the inception of Nielsen SoundScan in 1990. It was also the highest-peaking debut single for a group in 13 years. The album received Multi-Platinum certification for sales of two million copies. This album produced three more chart singles Something More, Just Might (Make Me Believe), and Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good).
In late 2005, the duo performed with Bon Jovi on Country Music Television's musical fusion show, Crossroads. Nettles sang with Bon Jovi on their single Who Says You Can't Go Home. The song later went on to become a #1 hit on the country charts.
Kristen Hall left the group in late 2005/early 2006. According to a statment released on January 17, 2006 by Nettles and Bush, Hall left the group to "stay home and write songs."
Sugarland was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy and performed the song Something More at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2006. They also performed at the 2006 CMT Music Awards, where they received multiple nominations including Group/Duo Video of the Year for Just Might (Make Me Believe), Breakthrough Video of the Year for Something More, and Collaborative Video of the Year for "Who Says You Can't Go Home".
On November 7, 2006, the new duo released their second album Enjoy the Ride. It sold 211,000 during its first week and opened at #4 on the US Top 200 and at #2 on the Top Country Albums charts. The first two singles from this album — Want To and Settlin — both reached Number One on the country music charts, while Everyday America and Stay were both Top Ten hits. A limited edition of the CD, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, was released in late 2007 and included a 5-song Christmas EP. The EP contained one original song - Little Wood Guitar - written by Bush and Ellis Paul.
In 2007, Sugarland performed at multiple award ceremonies, including the 2007 CMT Awards and the 2007 ACM awards. They performed a cover of Beyoncé Knowles' "Irreplaceable" at the American Music Awards, with Knowles herself. They also appeared on the The Tonight Show, and late in the year they headlined their first concert tour: the Change for Change Tour along with opening acts Little Big Town and Jake Owen. At the 41st CMA Awards, the group won the award for Vocal Duo of the Year.
In February 2007 Nettles and Bush began recording Love on the Inside as a follow up to Enjoy the Ride. The album was released in late July. Leading off this album was All I Want to Do. Released on May 19, the song debuted at #27 on the country charts, the highest debut for the duo. It became their third Number One single in August 2008. Already Gone followed in September of the same year and in January 2009 became their fourth Billboard Number One.
The "Deluxe Fan Edition" of Love on the Inside was released on July 22, 2008. The fan edition includes the duo's collaboration with Little Big Town and Jake Owen, a cover of The Dream Academy's 1985 hit "Life in a Northern Town." It also introduces four other bonus tracks, including "Fall Into Me," "Operation: Working Vacation," "Wishing," and a cover of Matt Nathanson's "Come On Get Higher."
The duo is starting the Love on the Inside Tour on September 13 in Asheville, North Carolina and it will conclude after 25 performances on November 16 in Bossier City, Louisiana. They will be joined by special guests Ashton Shepherd and Kellie Pickler. It will be their second headlining tour.
In March 2009, Sugarland toured in Europe starting with performances at military stations in Italy. They were scheduled to perform in France, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Later in 2009 they joined Keith Urban in select cities as part of his Escape Together World Tour and joined Kenny Chesney on his Sun City Carnival Tour.
The third single from Love on the Inside, and 11th single overall, "It Happens", was released in February 2009 and became their fifth #1 in May 2009. The album's fourth single, "Joey" is a warning about drunkdriving, encouraging those sober to "take the keys," and thematically is heavily influenced by Concrete Blonde's 1990 single of the same name. It peaked at #17 on the US country charts.
On May 19, 2009, Sugarland received five CMT Award nominations including a nomination for Video of the Year. They were presented the award for Video Duo of the Year at the award show that broadcasted on June 16, 2009. During the awards show, they also performed "Love Shack" with a surprise appearance by the B-52's.
On September 10, 2010, Sugarland appeared on The Today Show and performed "Stuck Like Glue" - the first single from their album The Incredible Machine, which was released on October 19, 2010 in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The album was released in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2011.
It was announced on January 11, 2011 that Sugarland was the #5 selling country album of 2010 with The Incredible Machine and the #3 selling digital country track of 2010 with their single "Stuck Like Glue".
On April 3, 2011 Sugarland hosted and performed at the first annual ACM Fan Jam during the ACM awards show. Sugarland was nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year and Video of the Year for "Stuck Like Glue", and won for Vocal Duo of the Year at the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Nettles performed alongside pop star Rihanna at the ceremony, performing "California King Bed".
"Tonight" is the second single released in the U.K. from The Incredible Machine as well as the third country radio single, released April 11.
In April 2011, Sugarland began their own radio station, which was launched by A.P.E. Radio. The station is programmed by Nettles and Bush, and gives fans the opportunity to hear experiences from both singers' lives and from their current musical endeavours.
The duo appeared at the 2011 CMT Music Awards, winning for "Duo Video of the Year" but losing to Taylor Swift's "Mine" for video of the year. They also performed their donation song "Stand Up"
Very Last Country Song
Sugarland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And all that I want
Is to dig through this big box of pictures in my Kitchen
Till the daylights gone
This one here is my momma
With the long brown hair
I'm 40 yrs older today than she was in that picture there
But if life stayed it was
And lovers never fell out of love
If memories didn't last so long
If nobody did nobody wrong
If we knew what we had before it was gone
If every road led back home
This would be
The very last country song
These are all my babies
Lord knows how we survived
The first one was hard and last was unplanned
What a big surprise
That him with his daddy's eyes
I loved the man in this one
It's faded but I don't care
There are nights when I wake up and know that he's beside me I swear
Sometimes I still feel him there
But if life stayed it was
And lovers never fell out of love
If memories didn't last so long
If nobody did nobody wrong
If we knew what we had before it was gone
If every road led back home
This would be
The very last country song
If we knew what he had before it was gone
If every road led back home
This would the very last country song
In these lyrics, Sugarland's lead singer expounds on the ideas of nostalgia, loss, and regret. The opening line, "Today is my Birthday, and all that I want, is to dig through this big box of pictures in my Kitchen, till the daylights gone," sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer is reminded of memories from the past as she goes through a box of old photographs. As she reflects on the pictures, she longs for a time before things changed, before lovers fell out of love and before people hurt each other.
The chorus drives home the central theme by posing the question of what if things stayed the same, what if memories didn't last so long, and nobody did anybody wrong. If every road led back home, this would be the very last country song. The singer's pain is the result of the inevitable changes that life brings. As time goes by, those we love, and the beautiful moments we shared, gradually fade. This song is poignant with Sugarland magic, and it's powerfully relatable to anyone whose life has been touched by loss or times they wish they could have back.
Line by Line Meaning
Today is my Birthday
I am celebrating my birthday today.
And all that I want
All I desire is to go through a large collection of pictures in my kitchen.
Is to dig through this big box of pictures in my Kitchen
I wish to explore a large box of photographs that I have in my kitchen.
Till the daylights gone
I want to keep doing it until the sun sets.
This one here is my momma
This photograph depicts my mother.
With the long brown hair
She had lengthy brown hair at that time.
I'm 40 years older today than she was in that picture there
Currently, I am forty years older than my mother was in that picture.
But if life stayed it was
In a hypothetical scenario if life did not change.
And lovers never fell out of love
If couples never fell out of love.
If memories didn't last so long
If memories did not persist for an extended period.
If nobody did nobody wrong
If nobody made any mistakes or hurt others.
If we knew what we had before it was gone
If we had recognized the good things we had before they vanished.
If every road led back home
If every path led one back to their place of origin.
This would be
In such a situation, this song might be
The very last country song
The final country music piece ever written.
These are all my babies
These photos are of all my children
Lord knows how we survived
I do not know how we have managed to survive raising these children.
The first one was hard and last was unplanned
The initial child was challenging, and the last one was unexpected.
What a big surprise
It was a massive shock to us.
That him with his daddy's eyes
That is my child with their father's eyes.
I loved the man in this one
This particular photograph is of a man I loved.
It's faded but I don't care
The picture is blurry, but it does not matter to me.
There are nights when I wake up and know that he's beside me I swear
Sometimes I wake up at night feeling like he is next to me; I am sure of it.
Sometimes I still feel him there
There are occasions when I sense that he is still present.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: JENNIFER NETTLES, KRISTIAN BUSH, TIM OWENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Charlotte Shumate
Such a great song love the words I strive to write a great song like this. I listen to it often especially on my birthday! Thanks for this beautiful song! It’s my life in words! ♥️🎶🙏🏼👍🥰🎶🎶♥️
Jeralyn Cole
Damn! Those folks know how to write a song. This is fabulous. Love it!
Tanner Bankston
This is a beautiful song. I never thought about listening to their other hits on this album! Only ones I listened to were "Already Gone" and "Love", Eventually this will be #1 for sure!!!
Zoe Higgins
This is my favourite country song absolutely love sugarland ever since I hear baby girl and something more became fan for life ❤❤❤
Harry Sher
Zoe Higgins...couldn't agree more !! There's no facade in this girl...always happy; has the biggest smile and laugh, just a sweet soul !! Pours her heart out singing and the skies light up...makes the world a better place !! Love her to pieces 👏🙏
Denise Longley
I love this and the words are so beautiful too
Judy Short
Beautiful song
Ngam Goimei
Love it. Can't help it.
Lyndell Lentz
Yesterday was my twin sister and I birthday... awesome song! I HAVE 5 children.. have not seen them since 2016. I HAD 2 rubbermaid huge boxes of photo albulms, pictures of us, family pics etc.. appropriate song! GOD BLESS
morgiemooily
when she sings 'and lovers never fell out of love' she sounds a bit like reba. but this is a really beautiful song. i love sugarland, and all their songs are beautiful and truthful and meaningful and just wow.