Randy Travis – Forever and Ever, Amen

About The Song

Songwriter Paul Overstreet migrated to Nashville from his hometown of Antioch, Mississippi at the dawn of the 1980s. He toiled at his craft unknown and unnoticed in Music City for several years until a twist of fate teamed him with another writer by the name of Don Schlitz. Don had already tasted enormous success with his 1978 song “The Gambler,” a mega-hit for Kenny Rogers. Meanwhile, Overstreet had been caught up in the grip of alcoholism for several years. He turned to religion, and fortunately was able to find sobriety and turn his life around just before he and Schlitz started writing together. One of the first songs they penned was Randy Travis’s “On the Other Hand.” Not surprisingly, when that song hit the top of the charts, Randy wanted the team to produce another golden moment for him.
The idea for “Forever and Ever, Amen” was obtained from the combination of a prayer and an exclamation of love. As Don’s wife would tuck their young son into bed at night, the boy would say his prayers and finish up by saying, “Mommy, I love you forever and ever, amen.” Thinking about the sweet innocence in that childhood message, Don took the idea to Paul.
On a warm evening, the two men sat out on Overstreet’s front porch at sundown and began to write. When it became too dark to see, they lit candles, thinking the porch light would attract too many bugs. By candlelight, it became a strain to see well enough to write out the words on a legal pad, but knowing all along that the song was going to be a smash kept the guys motivated to keep writing even with the extremely dim light. In a couple of hours, “Forever and Ever, Amen” was finished, and they went in the next day and recorded a very sparse demo on it, with just voice and guitar.
The two guys hurried over to Warner Bros. offices to play the demo for label executive Martha Sharp, who screened most of the material earmarked for Randy Travis. She agreed that the song would be an immediate hit. Travis loved it, instantly scheduling studio time to record the number for a new album project he and his producer Kyle Lehning were working on, as yet untitled. As Randy and Kyle listened to “Forever and Ever, Amen,” they realized, after some brief thought, that they had the title of Travis’ second album staring them right in the face – “Always and Forever.”
“Forever and Ever, Amen” was chosen to be the lead-off single from the new album, debuting on Billboard’s country singles chart on April 25, 1987. Warner Bros. released the “Always and Forever” album on May 4th. Within two months it had gone platinum with over a million units sold, largely due to the incredible power of “Forever and Ever, Amen,” which had reached #1 on June 13th and stayed there for three weeks, the first single to do that since Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love” seven years earlier. “Forever and Ever, Amen” picked up two Grammy awards and earned honors as “Single of the Year” from the Country Music Association and “Song of the Year” from the Academy of Country Music. Travis also garnered a “Male Vocalist of the Year” trophy at the CMA telecast.
Meanwhile, Randy’s “Always and Forever” album was still racking up big sales and big chart numbers. On July 11, 1987 it became the first country album to reach the top 20 of Billboard’s pop album chart since Kenny Rogers’ “Eyes That See in the Dark” in November of 1983. On June 4, 1988, “Always and Forever” (which by then had gone triple-platinum) completed a remarkable run – 43 weeks at the top of Billboard’s country album chart. That easily eclipsed the previous mark of 28 weeks at #1 for Alabama’s “Mountain Music.”

Video

Lyric

You may think that I’m talkin’ foolish
You’ve heard that I’m wild and I’m free
You may wonder how I can promise you now
This love that I feel for you always will be

But you’re not just time that I’m killin’
I’m no longer one of those guys
As sure as I live, this love that I give
Is gonna be yours until the day that I die
Oh, baby, I’m gonna love you forever
Forever and ever amen

As long as old men sit and talk about the weather
As long as old women sit and talk about old men
If you wonder how long I’ll be faithful
I’ll be happy to tell you again
I’m gonna love you forever and ever
Forever and ever, amen

They say time takes its toll on a body
Makes the young girls brown hair turn gray
But honey, I don’t care, I ain’t in love with your hair
And if it all fell out, well, I’d love you anyway
They say time can play tricks on a memory
Make people forget things they knew
Well, it’s easy to see, it’s happenin’ to me
I’ve already forgotten every woman but you
Oh, darlin’, I’m gonna love you forever
Forever and ever amen

As long as old men sit and talk about the weather
As long as old women sit and talk about old men
If you wonder how long I’ll be faithful
Well, just listen to how this song ends
I’m gonna love you forever and ever
Forever and ever, amen

I’m gonna love you forever and ever
Forever and ever, forever and ever
Forever and ever, amen