Garth Brooks has released over 60 singles since his “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” came out in 1989. So it’s understandable that some of his songs are forgotten. These three Garth Brooks songs hardly anyone remembers, even though they’re really good.
“Standing Outside The Fire”
“Standing Outside The Fire” was released as a single in 1993, on Brooks’ In Pieces album. Written by Brooks and Jenny Yates, the anthemic song says, “We call them weak / Who are unable to resist / The slightest chance love might exist / And for that forsake it all / They’re so hell bent on giving, walking a wire / Convinced it’s not living if you stand outside the fire.”
Brooks includes “Standing Outside The Fire” on several of his compilation albums, including his 1994 record The Hits, where he expounds on this song.
“I was in Los Angeles in 1992, hanging out with a good friend, Jenny Yates,” Brooks writes (via Wide Open Country). “In a conversation, I was describing something that I thought was really close, but for me it just stood outside the fire. There was that brilliant moment of silence when we just looked at each other and smiled. Within an hour and half, this song was written.”
“Mom”
Wynn Varble and Don Sampson penned “Mom.” The sweet song is on Brooks’ 2014 Man Against The Machine album. The project was his first in 13 years, since Scarecrow in 2001. Perhaps that’s at least partly why “Mom”, released by Brooks in 2014, only reached the Top 35 on the charts.
“Mom” is about a conversation with a baby and God, before the baby leaves Heaven to be born. In the song, Brooks sings, “So, hush now, baby / Don’t you cry / ‘Cause there’s someone down there waiting / Whose only goal in life / Is making you sure you’re always / Gonna be alright / A loving angel, tender tough and strong / It’s almost time to go and meet your mom.”
Brooks is not the first person to record “Mom”. One year before he released his version, rocker Bonnie Tyler, best known for her 1983 “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” single, included it on her Rocks And Honey record.
“We Shall Be Free”
“We Shall Be Free” is on Brooks’ 1992 The Chase album. Written by Brooks and Stephanie Davis, the powerful song says, “When the last child cries for a crust of bread / When the last man dies for just words that he said / When there’s shelter over the poorest head / Then we shall be free.“
The song did spark some controversy when it first came out. Some radio stations didn’t want to play the song. Reportedly, it was because of the lines, “When we’re free to love anyone we choose / When this world’s big enough for all different views.”
In 2023, Brooks shared his thoughts on the song while speaking at Vanderbilt University.
“After 30 years, I believe in those lyrics more than I did back then,” Brooks says (via The Tennessean).
Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
