Brad Paisley‘s new album LOVE AND WAR arrives tomorrow! You’ve already heard Brad’s number-one song “Today,” and his current single “Last Time For Everything” from the new album, but now Brad is sharing how the sequence of the album is important when listening to the music. Brad says “The record, when ingested as a whole like this, when you go beginning to end, I like to think that you will take dips and the valleys and the peaks and laugh…You’ll feel all of these things. It should feel like the ups and downs of a movie or a concert or anything like that.” Songs like the album’s first track “Heaven South” not only has a connection to the next song “Last Time For Everything,” but it also has an affect on the twelfth song on the album “The Devil Is Alive And Well.” One of the special moments for Brad on this album is when John Carter Cash, son of the late great Johnny Cash, presented Brad with some of his father’s unfinished lyrics, and allowed Brad to write the song “Gold All Over The Ground.” Brad says that, that song also has a direct connection the song immediately following it called “Dying To See Her,” which Brad co-wrote with Bill Anderson. The title and some of idea was Brad’s, but Bill came into the song writing session with the thoughts of his dad, and when sequencing LOVE AND WAR, Brad realized it was also the story of Johnny and June Cash. You can check out all the musical connections for yourself in less than 24 hours when Brad Paisley’s LOVE AND WAR becomes available in stores and online.
Brad Paisley talks about the connection between the songs “Heaven South,” “Last Time For Everything,” and “One Beer Can” on his new album LOVE AND WAR. (1:29)
“That song (‘Heaven South’) is like . . . I feel like you’re driving through Franklin, Tennessee when you hear that. You could be driving through Albany, NY and hear that and it’s still applies. It’s about seeing life pass you by and not getting lost in that and understanding ‘Oh, things are pretty good.’ Whatever is going on in your life, we have to find a way to see the bright side here. With ‘Heaven South,’ with that beginning, and with this order, what’s important about this record is you’re going to see the way that life changes and the way that you are forced to deal with this. After ‘Heaven South,’ ‘Last Time For Everything,’ it has a hyper focus on those high school years that are sort of that time period when things feel . . . You get the since for the first time in high school that life is a fast moving machine. You also realize that things change and they change . . . once they do they’re changed forever. From ‘Last Time For Everything’ you go to ‘One Beer Can’ which feels . . . again you’re still in that time period a bit. That’s a fun look at a stupid thing that you do at that age. (Laughs) The journey continues from there and one by one some of these mistakes are made and that makes life more interesting. It also makes for better songs that way.”
Brad Paisley shares that having “Dying to See Her,” the song he wrote with Bill Anderson, follow “Gold Over The Ground,” the song Brad wrote with unfinished lyrics from Johnny Cash, was very intentional, because of the natural connection and theme between the songs. (1:22)
“Writing with Bill (Anderson), is so exciting because I love the idea that we are writing something now. This is a man who is 80 years old, who has had a hit in every decade since the 50’s. He’s had a number one song in every decade since the 50’s. Isn’t that insane? I don’t know if anyone has ever done that. It’s a fun thing to think about people ingesting this. I love the production of it as well in the since that it is produced with a lot of reverence towards traditional country but it’s also done in more of a modern arrangement, especially in the verses where it should impact you. It’s very stark and it should impact you what the words are in that first verse with that sort of solo piano and Dobro and stuff that’s happening. Hearing Johnny Cash’s story go into Bill Anderson’s Dad’s story and realizing it’s also really Johnny Cash’s story where June . . . I remember when June died and going ‘What?’ because June seemed like she was much healthier than Johnny at the time and then all of the sudden passes away. All of us in this format thought, ‘Well, It’s probably time to make sure you say goodbye to Johnny Cash because he is going to be joining her as soon as he can, knowing how much he loved her.'”
Brad Paisley says songs that are not even near each other in the sequence of his album LOVE AND WAR, like “Heaven South” (the first track), and “The Devil Is Alive And Well” (track number-14), still have a direct connection. (:40)
“Alright, we start with the bright side on this album (‘Heaven South’) and the bright side being turn the news off, stop reading everything for a second, hug the people you love, watch pay per view and eat beer-battered chicken or whatever you gotta do that makes you realize life is good. Drive down main street and see everybody, or wherever it is, wherever you live. If you know that if you turn it off and look around, it’s just another day in ‘Heaven South.’ It comes full circle when you hear the opening lines of this (‘The Devil Is Alive And Well’), which is surf the web, turn on the news. So you’re turning the news back on in the song at the end. Same ol’ story every day.”
Brad Paisley would like people to listen to his album LOVE AND WAR in the order the songs are, because he thinks hearing all the songs in this sequence will allow you to connect the music dots, and provide a more emotional journey. (:28)
“The record, when ingested as a whole like this, when you go beginning to end, I like to think that you will take dips and the valleys and the peaks and laugh at something like “Selfie” and feel for somebody like “Gold All Over the Ground” to “Dying To See Her,” through “The Devil is Alive and Well” to the very end. You’ll feel all of these things. It should feel like the ups and downs of a movie or a concert or anything like that.”