This song was a very big hit, and its impact was huge for many upon the first play. This very powerful song spoke to a sect of people that need a voice. In a musical sense, it was a true “story song” and many believed it would revive the true story song genre. Time will tell. There is no doubt that much of country music is “story telling” but this is a true, modern day story song. This also has an exceptionally powerful video that resembles a short movie and that greatly impacted many fans as well. This is emotional, award winning song writing and gritty stuff. This song was also on my 2024 list of the 50 Most Important Country Songs 1980 To today at #39. It’s long, as it chimes in at almost 5 minutes, but if a song truly has something worthwhile to say, that makes little difference. And this clearly, has something important to say.
