“If Tomorrow Never Comes”
Garth Brooks
Written by Kent Blazy and Garth Brooks
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
November 10 – November 17, 1989
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
December 9, 1989
The first time that Garth Brooks came to Nashville, he stayed less than 24 hours.
He was already a local superstar in his home state of Oklahoma, earning thousands of dollars every weekend in his Stillwater stomping grounds. But that 1985 overnight trip became permanent in 1987, when Brooks moved back to Nashville to pursue a dream that had been passed down to him by his mother, who recorded for Capitol Nashville in the mid-fifties.
Brooks took to sports first, and he’d bring that competitive energy with him when he pivoted to music in college. He was a rocker to start out with, but hearing George Strait sing “Unwound” brought him back to his country roots. On that second Nashville stint, he was turned down by multiple labels in town before joining the roster of his mother’s old label.
He started hot with the top ten single “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” which was on track to peak much lower until Brooks hired independent promoters to pitch the song to radio. It was an early indication of his business acumen, and he followed it up with an early indication of his talent as a songwriter.
“If Tomorrow Never Comes” originally started with the second verse, opening with the line, “I’ve lost loved ones in my life who never knew how much I loved them.” Writing with Ken Blazy, Brooks agreed with his suggestion that a new first verse was needed to set the stage for that powerful second verse. The quiet opening of Brooks laying awake and watching his wife sleep hits hard with its intimate immediacy, welcoming us into our narrator’s most private fears in the middle of the night.
Even more predictive of the Brooks phenomenon is the song’s coda, where Brooks breaks the fourth wall and makes his message explicit to his listeners: “Tell that someone that you love just what you’re thinking of, if tomorrow never comes.” Brooks would break through every preconceived limitation for a country music artist on the strength of his direct and powerful connection with his fans, and he puts them on notice with his very first No. 1 single.
“If Tomorrow Never Comes” would be a career record for any artist, and it certainly was for Garth Brooks. But he was just getting started. His story continues with his next single, “Not Counting You,” which is included in our Every No. 1 Country Single of the Nineties feature.
“If Tomorrow Never Comes” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the Eighties
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The opening salvo of (love him or hate him) the most consequential artist in country music history. I got on the Garth train early, once again because of my county fair. They booked him for a double show with Lorrie Morgan in August 1990, and their timing was once again golden given how great of a year Garth had. I was taken aback by his maniacal stage persona as I didn’t see that coming from the guy who sang “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and “The Dance”. My future best friend, who I hadn’t even met yet at the time, was in the audience experiencing the same WTF moment. More so than me, he’s still a Garth superfan 34 years later.
Onto the music, I first must give proper due to “Much Too Young To Feel This Damn Old”, a first-rate debut record that never reached the top but deserved to. I’ve always referred to it as “the best George Strait song that George never recorded”. The follow-up single was a totally different vibe but also hit the right note. “If Tomorrow Never Comes” effectively sells a notably gloomy premise, and Garth sings it with an intensity that simultaneously enhances its dark vibe and raises its emotional stakes. The closing lyric personalizes the song in a compelling and urgent way. After listening to it, I feel genuinely inspired to express my love for those I hold dear. It’s pretty rare for a song to be that inspirational, and there was little doubt after these first two singles that Garth Brooks was destined for big things.
Grade: A
I am not the biggest Garth fan but his early material was very good. This was a great song and I like the interesting tidbit about his mother. I wonder if there are YouTube clips of this mother? I will need to look.
I wouldn’t consider myself a Garth Brooks fan, but the songs of his I enjoy, I really enjoy. This is obviously one of them, but I will also go to bat for Much Too Young, which is probably my favorite Garth song. His debut album is definitely my favorite.
Easily the best song Garth ever recorded. Kent and Garth hit a grand slam with this one
A+
I always thought that “If Tomorrow Never Comes” was as universal a song, well beyond country, as we’ve seen in the last 50 years or so. Its subtext, in my humble opinion, is that tomorrow is promised to no one.
Of course, it will be discussed endlessly as to just what kind of an impact Garth has had on the country genre, as it should be (IHGO). He did indeed help bring the country genre to a level of popularity it had never seen before in its history, bringing in fans who might not have ever touched the style with a barge pole; but in the minds of some, he also made it to where it became largely, if not indeed entirely about business and arena/stadium spectacle. For that reason, Garth Brooks is the most consequential country artist of this era, if not for all time, but also arguably its most controversial as well.
I feel bad for British people who only know Ronan Keating’s terrible decountrified version. But that version doesn’t ruin the song for me, it actually gives me a greater appreciation for the original.
I think we are being a little unfair to Ronan Keating, whom I had never heard at all prior to reading this article.
I pulled up Keating’s version of this song (and several others) and while I do not think he is a good singer (in the same sense that Rod Stewart is not a good singer) he does have the ability to sell a song. I checked on Wiki and found that Keating’s version was a top ten song in ten countries (top five in eight countries including #1 in the UK and Austria); moreover, he has considerable success in Europe, Australia and New Zealand with country songs. His recording of the Keith Whitley classic “When You Say Nothing At All” was an even bigger hit going top 5 in nine countries including # 1 in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand
Bruce Bouton’s transcendental steel guitar runs in the chorus were a sign that this new generation of stars was for real. It still gives me chills bumps at every listen. The song takes me somewhere everytime.
The entire performance captured the spirit and essence of a country performance for the reasons already shared.
This song, along with Vince Gill’s entire “Pocket Full of Gold” album stood as testaments to the tradition while also driving it forward. They were essentially contemporary faith statements.
If anone challenges the significance of new country music or Garth Brooks, send them here.
This is a benchmark recording, brilliant, beautiful, and enduring.