and Pal Rakes thought so too, so we wrote it. I think everyone from time to time has a relapse of one kind or another.
The Promise (co-written by Earl Thomas Conley)
When Nelson Larkin played this song for me, I knew immediately we needed to cut it. This song (along with "She Took His Breath Away") reminds me of "He Stopped Loving Her Today." This is the kind of ballad that can pull at people's heartstrings and it's the kind of ballad I can really sink my teeth into.
She Took His Breath Away
The first time Frank Dycus played this song for me, it gave me cold chills. It still does every time I play it. The song tells a story about a man that drinks himself to death because of his wife's infidelity. Drinking only hid the pain he was feeling inside. I think people who drink to extreme in most cases do it to hide or run from something they don't want to face head-on.
Time Flies
This is a fun song about a guy who falls in love and the only thing he can think about is his woman; he forgets all about the other things he used to do with his buddies just for fun.
Heaven Sent Me You
I wrote this song for my wife when we lived in Nashville. I wanted to write it in such a way so that anyone who listens to it could relate to it in their own situation; whether it relates to their husband, wife, parents, children or pets.
My World Is Turning Again
I think this song relates to a lot of couples; people who have experienced failed marriages or relationships. Once you find the "right one," the others don't matter. Some folks have said, "This song will do for Len Doolin what 'I Swear' did for John Michael Montgomery." So now, you know...I'm looking for a farm, and a hunting cabin, and a new truck, and making plans for a new house! ("A guy can dream, can't he?")
Silence Says It All
This song is covered with clever lyrics. The jest of the story is...the wife tries to change her husband's bad habits and finally gives up. She leaves without saying a word (she's been trying to tell him), and her leaving (in silence) is the only thing that finally makes everything (that she's been saying all along) sink in.
Heartaches and Honkytonks
This is a bar room anthem. As soon as I heard this song, I immediately fell in love with it. If you just read the lyrics, you would think the song was a ballad. I like up-tempos like that!
Girl With a Bassboat
A song with a Cajun beat everybody loves. I have never written or sung a song that's been more requested than this one. The inspiration behind this tune is an old joke. A guy places a want ad; he's a man looking for a woman with a boat and the ad reads: "send a picture of the boat!"
Once In a Lifetime
I think just about everyone has had that one person in their life that could control his or her every move, thought and feeling. This ballad conveys how much power a woman can have over a man. It describes how someone leaving (a relationship) can be as devastating as any natural disaster.
