About The Song
If You Ever Come This Way Again by Sammy Kershaw appears on his 1994 album Feelin’ Good Train, released in June of that year on Mercury Nashville. The record peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and No. 73 on the Billboard 200, eventually earning gold certification in both the United States and Canada. While the album produced several strong singles—“National Working Woman’s Holiday” and “Third Rate Romance” both reached No. 2, followed by “Southbound” and “If You’re Gonna Walk, I’m Gonna Crawl”—this particular song was never released as a single and did not appear on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It remains an album track, the kind of quiet standout that fans often return to long after the radio hits have faded.
The song was written by Dean Dillon and Donny Kees. Dillon, already a major figure in Nashville songwriting by the mid-1990s, had a long track record of crafting material that felt lived-in and emotionally precise. Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson produced the album and the track, giving it the clean, traditional country sound that defined much of Kershaw’s work at the time. At just over three minutes, the recording sits comfortably among the stronger non-singles on Feelin’ Good Train.
The story it tells is simple and bittersweet. Someone special is leaving. The narrator hates to see them go, is glad they crossed paths, and knows a smile like that does not come along every day. In a short time the visitor has soothed an aching heart and eased a restless mind. As the plane prepares to take off, the singer offers a quiet invitation: if you ever come this way again, don’t pass by without stopping in. Maybe next time the good times will not have to end so soon. While the other person returns to a nine-to-five life, the narrator stays behind, rocking in the arms of an old boat, hoisting sails, toasting the wind, and remembering the sunset in those eyes.
There is no bitterness in the goodbye, only gratitude mixed with the natural ache of parting. The song captures the feeling of a temporary connection that somehow leaves a permanent mark—the kind of encounter that makes ordinary days feel brighter and then leaves a quiet space when it is over. Listeners have long responded to that honesty. Comments on the track over the years often mention personal memories, long separations, or the simple power of a song that understands how some people pass through your life and change it without staying forever.
Feelin’ Good Train arrived at a high point in Kershaw’s commercial run. Coming after the success of Haunted Heart and its chart-topping “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful,” the 1994 album kept the momentum going with two consecutive near-No. 1 singles. In that company, “If You Ever Come This Way Again” never needed radio support to earn its place. It simply offered a different kind of moment—one less flashy than the uptempo hits, more reflective, and closer to the everyday goodbyes most people eventually face.
Dean Dillon’s involvement helped give the song its understated strength. Known for writing material that could feel both personal and universal, he and Donny Kees delivered a lyric that avoids overstatement. The images of planes, boats, and sunsets do just enough work without crowding the emotion. For an artist whose catalog already contained plenty of rowdier or more playful numbers, this track showed another side: the ability to sit with a quiet farewell and let it breathe.
More than thirty years later, the song still circulates among listeners who know the deeper cuts of Kershaw’s 1990s work. It never charted, never needed a music video push, and never claimed the spotlight. Yet it continues to do what good album tracks often do best—arrive at the right moment, say something true, and leave people feeling understood.
Video
Lyric
I sure do hate to see you go
It’s been a blast, glad I got to know you
Ain’t everyday a smile like yours comes along
You’ve done more in such a short time
To soothe my heart and ease my mind
And I’m sure gonna miss you when you’re gone
If you ever come this way again
I’ll be disappointed if you don’t drop in
Maybe next time all the good times
Won’t have to end
If you ever come this way again
There’s your plane, have a good flight
Roll with the flow in your nine to five life
While I’m rockin’ in the arms of this old boat of mine
And every time I hoist the sails
I’ll toast the wind and wish you well
And think back to the sunset in your eyes
If you ever come this way again
I’ll be disappointed if you don’t drop in
Maybe next time all the good times
Won’t have to end
If you ever come this way again
If you ever come this way again
If you ever come this way again