#JASONISBELLANDTHE400UNIT #THENASHVILLESOUND This is a gorgeous song about time and relationships. And, not assuming that you will have a lifetime together. Time is so fleeting. If life affords you the opportunity, to tell your beloved how much they mean to you, how their presence in your life makes it better and more meaningful. More fulfilling and joyful. That you can't imagine having lived so many wonderful years alone, without them. It's because of their love, that your life is so satisfying. That you are extremely grateful for them 😀👍👍👍💜💖❤️🧡💚💙💛
The first time I heard this, I could not stop crying. It’s not just lovers, it’s children, it’s sisters, mothers, fathers, dogs, all of the souls that we touch and are touched by...the haunting truth that one day we will let those souls go...
that line about hands searching in the darkn and nails leaving love's watermark makes it just a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit awkward for "anything besides lovers" but i'm gonna let it slide.
Living this song now, wife of 39 years now with terminal brain cancer. Met her 1 week after her 18th b-day. married her at age 20. My darling and all of me. Hoping for that miracle.
You are in mine and my wife's prayers every minute of every day. Hoping a miracle happens for you both. Met my wife in my teens, married her at 21. May you be be blessed.
My grandfather played this song for my whole family today after his wife of 49 years passed away at 3:11 on May 3. Tonight and many nights to come I will fall asleep to this song and hopefully have the strength to help my family through these hard times.💔🕊
You are one of the good ones. Marriage is one of the greatest blessings this plane of existence has to offer, and having the clarity to be able to step back and remember why you love your husband is another blessing that you should also cherish.
This song is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I didn't know if I would ever find this kind of love. Now, in my forties, I found it. All of it. Every word hits me straight in the gut. I don't want to take a single second for granted.
The first time I heard this song was the day after my wife of 40 plus years passed away. By the end of the song, I was crying like a little baby. I feel that somehow this song was written for me. I still cry every time I hear it.
I lost part of my soul this year. He regularly expressed to me his fear that I might go before him and he would have to live without me. We didn't find one another until our 40s. We had seven years. This song speaks the the words the soul cannot otherwise express.
I'm sorry. I also lost my soul in 2020 she was 43. bone cancer. 28yrs gone in 6 months. Every day gone is one day closer to eternity. I hope we make it Tracy xx
Wow ...this is deep. Married 33yrs and dated for 5 years before the big wedding day. So really we are together now 38 years. Cant wait to go home and give her a hug and remind the both of us how much we need to cherish what we have. We do tend to take things for granted. This song kind of slapped me in the face and woke me up to the fact that we are not going to be around forever and we better appreciate each other RIGHT NOW. Damn near made me cry sitting here at work with my earbuds on.
This weekend I am photographing a wedding where the bride and groom are in their 70’s. Second wedding for them both and they don’t want to be alone. This song is so fucking right.
LYRICS It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in Or the light coming off of your skin The fragile heart you protected for so long Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong It's not your hands searching slow in the dark Or your nails leaving love's watermark It's not the way you talk me off the roof Your questions like directions to the truth It's knowing that this can't go on forever Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone Maybe we'll get forty years together But one day I'll be gone Or one day you'll be gone If we were vampires and death was a joke We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke And laugh at all the lovers and their plans I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand Maybe time running out is a gift I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift And give you every second I can find And hope it isn't me who's left behind It's knowing that this can't go on forever Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone Maybe we'll get forty years together But one day I'll be gone Or one day you'll be gone It's knowing that this can't go on forever Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone Maybe we'll get forty years together But one day I'll be gone One day you'll be gone
We had 40 years together, and I was the one who was left behind. This beautiful song is heart breaking and haunting...but also comforting like a celebration of the time we had together holding hands.
It got me through my husband's sudden death after 31. We almost got "40 years together." I'm blessed to have the love of my life an I listened to this song at 8 am. He was gone 5 months later. This man is a healer with words.
I want to love someone that much, that every word of this song is like a punch in the gut. That visceral feeling, that thoughts just won't do justice to.
That is a hard kind of love. Deep and difficult. The mountains of pain, emotions, gut wrenching fights, coming back together again... it’s the longest journey. It’s not easy. It’s work everyday.
I loved someone like that once. For 30 years. But he turned out to be unworthy in the end. At least I know I CAN love someone that way and may yet love again one day.
I knew Jason had a song in him for this time in my life. We only had 32 years together, not 40, as of November, 2016 - the days alone are not easy, so prepare yourself and love with all your heart and soul until you are gone.
Most people don't have 32, I know so few people with lasting marriages. Some last that long, but many are just putting time in. Glad you had 32 years together that you treasured. As an Oncology nurse, I learned early, "Plan for tomorrow, but live for today." Even those fights and aggravations will be missed. Happy to say that my spouse and I are hitting 40 years--first date Labor Day 1977, engaged 10/29/77, married March 1978. People said we got married too quickly--I said more happy time for us. Don't get me wrong--struggles ensue, fights happen over the stupidest things, it's a normal life with another person that we've managed to maintain. Some years even we are surprised that we made it through.
Thank you for sharing Jon. Honestly I think Jason wrote a song that applies to all love we are lucky enough to share love with. ESPECIALLY the wonderful animals that seem to love is so much more than we will ever love ourselves.
Perhaps it's not, but knowing the dogs I've been lucky to meet, they're special. The worst with losing them is comming home and there isn't an overentusiastisk creature from god that loves you no matter what to greet you. My mom use to say that they've gone to a happy place and one day I get to see them again, might not be the comfort one is looking for, but I eagerly await the day we're united again. To cut the melodramtic note of my message, I plan to live my life to the fullest, but knowing that I once again will hug my dogs again is a comfort, for me at least.
I can't remember a more poignant song in years. This is as good as anything that Dylan or Paul Simon ever wrote. The idea that love is so special largely because we are mortal is so true and brilliantly stated by Jason.
This song made me think of my darkest and saddest moments after my marriage ended. I use to pray to God that someday in heaven I would see my ex-wife and there would be no more anger or sorrow. That was before I opened my eyes and realized she couldn't leave the pain of her childhood behind and despite the fact I was probably the one person that was loyal to her and loved her had in fact become alienated by her because of her inability to form bonds and trust people because of the way she was raised and betrayed on numerous occasions by the two people that were supposed to love her most in her childhood, her mother and father. It's so sad how the past can't be undone in someone's life. I sincerely hope my ex-step daughter doesn't repeat the sins of her mother and has a happy and fulfilling life as she begins her marriage but I will never know because neither she nor her mother acknowledge my existence. That's what this song made me feel. Jason Isabel is an American treasure, especially as a songwriter.
I’m 26. My girlfriend of 6 months is 22. She has a chronic and very painful, but not life threatening condition. I know we’re both still very young with the rest of our lives ahead of us! I just love her so damn much and I pray that we won’t be living this song for many happy decades. I’ll love you til my last breath Grace!
Best Love Song Ever! Beautiful Lyrics and beautiful Music. My parents are 85 and 83, had been married for 60+ years. When I heard this song in Philadelphia, I thought of them and how one of them may follow the other due to "heart break."
I love this song. I have been with my wife for 17 years. Since I was 16. I love her more today than I ever have. We have ups and a ton of downs but worth every second. We have four beautiful kids. I can only say I hope I go first because I couldn't live in this world without her.
I’m 55 and my husband is 61. He is the fairy tale true love of my life. This song makes me cry, makes me smile, and makes me wish we could live forever. I hope everyone could find this much happiness.
This was our first dance song at our wedding. We have been through a lot and this expression of sobering gratitude for the gift of whatever time we have together resonated deeply with us. We sang it to each other as we danced and we both had tears running down our faces. It was the most beautiful moment of my life so far.
I have to say, I didn't expect a song titled "If We Were Vampires" to offer such a poignant set of thoughts on love, aging, and the blink of time our lifetimes afford. This breaks your heart, beautifully.
My son-in-law lost his battle with depression 19 days ago. He had a facility for discovering incredible music. My daughter said that he loved this song. I know that she will always love it too.
I am SO very terribly sorry for your loss. At one point in my life, I too, was perched on that crumbling precipice of depression and desperation that claimed your son-in-law. I managed (barely) to stay here, but it gave me a HUGE empathy for those that didn't. I pray for peace for you & yours.
I'm truly sorry for your loss. I too, battle depression. I was crying by the 3rd line of lyrics. I heard the song before, but this time.... I lost my sister to brain cancer in July. She'd fought it for 2.5 yrs. It was super aggressive.
My wife and I will celebrate 44 years of marriage in June, it's true and I cry that one of us will spend some time alone North Alabama will breed loneliness deep into a person's soul
Heard this for the first time yesterday, I was listening to music while BBQing... I literally stopped..so engrossed in the music and beautiful lyrics and just sobbed. Tears came from such a deep place......this hit such a deep nerve not for just for lovers....but for anyone that contemplates mortality. I just lost my Dad- the ache is like nothing I have ever experienced in my life. No one can tell you about the missing..how the person you loved is gone and deeply missed, there is no warning of the triggers. It's like being cold cocked, you never see it coming. Jason frames this thought process of love and loss so clearly it is like being cut with glass.
Music is supposed to invoke a feeling and this one does without question...thanks for your kind words. In an sometimes ugly word kindness goes a long way in my book.
I finally listened to this song today. Wow, I'm not in love, but I lost my dad too (4 years ago.) and relate to your comment about the incomparable ache...I had 44 years with him, he was young. I thought Elephant spoke to that...but you're right, this song speaks to that loss too.
Thanks for your comment....I have found that is does not matter if you had your Dad 44 years or 75 years it is an unwanted hard loss. For me the end of the world would not h ave been enough time. I am sorry for the loss of your Dad...it has been 4 years but I suspect it feels like yesterday...
Greg Birkle Agreed, the amount of time doesn't matter. In the song it talks about 40 years and that seems like a long time, but when death comes, we know it's not a long time. I think I was just relating the my time to the song. I didn't mean to diminish anyone else's loss just because they had more time. I'm sorry for your loss and could identify with your pain by what you wrote. Peace.
When I first heard this song it hit a nerve that many who've been married close to 40 years think about. Time passes so quick , many of the first years of marriage or even just in a relationship are spent positioning ourselves within the relationship that we lose tract of time. Our jobs our kids our dreams all take its toll on the reason you got married in the first place Then one day hopefuly..... you realize it's time to refocus on the reason you got married. By then you realize your on the second half of your life. This song reminds me to spend what little time I have left with my wife to make the best of it. Not always easy when life's distractions have messed with the majority of my attention and what's truly important.
I know this song is about a long marriage, but I as a single 16-year-old have related to this song for years. Ever since my dad showed it to me back in 2017 or 2018. Every time I hear it everyone I love flashes through my head. My mom and dad, my brother, and most of all my best friend. I cried the first time I heard it and still cry now years later.
I was married for 20 years when my wife died of cancer. It wasn't enough time and this song brings all those emotions back. Love is only real because it is transitory.
Saw you guys in 2018 in Ithaca (Feb 13)... we hugged and got weepy. 25 years married so far, plus two years living together... almost lost him in a car accident... we always say "I love you" before we hang up. XOXO
Easily one of the most beautiful songs he's written - and the hardest to listen to. Harder than "Elephant". Harder than "Live Oak." Harder than "24 Frames." Jason can express more emotion in four minutes than I have in my entire life.
Totally agree. I listened to this twice in a row for the first time today, and though I wanted to, I couldn't do it a third time. This song hits you hard.
Last month made five years widowed for me. This song will speak to me forever. I suggest it to my friends often and I love to watch them listen to it and then realize that the two of us see it from different sides. I love that it speaks to the romantic and the heartbroken alike. It's bittersweet in a way that's perfectly executed. Thank you for this one, Jason.
Watched an interview where Jason said after he wrote this song he couldn't sing it to his wife without crying, and that he was getting choked up in the studio trying to sing it. I feel like in parts you can almost hear his voice quiver as he tries to pull it together...adds so much
This song found my ears when I was sitting by a fire with my two little kids sitting on my lap after chasing fireflies. I'm 39 and so is my wife of two years. If we all get 40 years together we will be blessed. Thank you for this song.
I told my significant this song rings true for us, I made her listen to it with me and it didn’t take 2 minutes before we both started to weep into our glasses of wine. Thank you Jason Isbell for that moment. Thank you for sharing your gift.
This song makes me cry for a different reason. Its the fact I lack love like this with someone. I hope someday I'll be able to play this with my future gf/wife
The love that Jason and Amanda have for one another, and bringing their daughter into that fold has left its mark on both their music and my heart. I aspire to that in my own family, and wish them as many years of happiness as is possible.
I remember seeing him like 13 years ago in a parking lot in Wilmington North Carolina. the truckers were putting on a hell of a show and all the sudden he comes out with goddamn lonely love. I don't think I moved an inch the entire song. I knew I was in the presence of greatness
Only just discovered this … fabulous but it brings me too tears. My mum died at 67, 46 years with my Dad. They were true soulmates. I can Imagine my Dad crying to this as well … they were both beautiful people.
Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. I am 46 to his 60, so forty years together can never be. Lately, we've been in a lull in our lives; aging, work pressures, political differences, aches and pains and replacement joints. Waning feelings when you know you love each other deeply but maybe today (and yesterday too), I didn't like you very much. I needed to hear this, and I thank you.
It all depends on the individuals... I knew a lovely couple who married when she was in her early 70s & he was 89... he was amazingly energetic and full of life til he died at 100. In her 80s, still vibrant, she attracted another nice fellow in his 70s. She ended up caring for him through his last days, then continued an energetic work and volunteer schedule until a few months before her own death at 93. She would have outpaced most 40 or 50 yr olds right to the end. You never know how people will age...
Dr No... again, depends on the individuals... note that 100-yr-old I mentioned above. He was still walking around town and serving on committees at 100!
+rockethearse lol, I don't know if you live in Hollywood or something, but to most everyone else, 14 years _is_ a very significant difference - a generational one, even. It's an empirical reality that couples with age differences face higher rates of divorce (the bigger the age gap, the higher the risk of divorce); there's a greater risk even when you statistically compare spouses who are within 12 months of one another and spouses who are between 1-2 years apart.
I’m here listening to this again, thinking of my parents. They were together 35 years, but cancer took my mother too soon. Jason Isbell is such a prolific writer ♥️
Simply the greatest written and played song ever. The play on words and connection is simply amazing. It touches your soul and makes you feel great about something most would expect you to be scared of
Jason, my husband played this song to me yesterday and I have to admit I fell in love with him all over again... The soul and heart that you put into this incredibly beautiful song, the melody, the lyrics has touched us to the core of our love for each other. When David and I first started living together back in 2002 he woke me up in the middle of the night and sang Years From Now by Dr Hook... I feel in love with him then and after all these years He has found a new song to touch my heart... Your "If We Were Vampires". Thank you for writing, recording and performing the love in your heart. Keep expressing yourself in such a beautiful way for us old romantics... Love from Melissa
I just discovered this song today. Hubby and I are celebrating 10 years together- 10! If we only get 40 years, then we're a quarter through. Thank you for this song that reminded me to value every precious moment with him.
We had 38 years together until FTD took her from me. I never dreamed I'd be the one left behind. Jason's song has helped me frame what happened in a better light. I am grateful. I still pray it does go on forever in a better place.
This song immediately caught my attention when I saw it performed live at the TN Theater in April. I'm not sure I have ever heard a more hauntingly beautiful song in my 50+ years. Elephant pulls at the heart of any of us who have lost someone we love to cancer (and haven't we all?)...If We Were Vampires pulls at the heart and soul of anyone who loves someone they cannot imagine living without.
This was the song playing the moment my son was born❤️ I think of he and my wife everytime I hear this song. Without doubt, it always brings me to tears❤️❤️
This is one of the most beautiful, sad, heart wrenching love song I have ever heard. I met my husband later in life and wish we had more time together. Thissong just hits home. Makes me cry every time.
Another GREAT song from Mr. Isbell. Lyrics and melody are fantastic. A true slice of life once again. He has a way of seeing the ordinary and making the description sound extraordinary.
Cant say how much this song makes the hurt of losing her more intense. Best friends, soul mates, lovers hand in hand walking this lonely road till the end.
I lost my beautiful wife a year and a half ago.We had been married just over 40 years. I was riding home from a gig recently and heard this song. I'm still listening to it again and again.
Another 33 years here...and my wife cried a little the first time I had her sit and listen to this. We're going to see Jason in May, and I hope we can keep it together if we hear this live.
SO TELL HER!! DON'T just TELL her, CLENCH her in your arms and YELL it to her!!! You have 33 years(!)- I got 34, then that was it. On a few day's "notice". FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T WAIT! I am now going to go "second". Listen to the song again for a tiny sliver of how that feels. TELL HER!!
He sang this when I seen him in April in Richmond, Ky, but it was a new song and I didnt know the words. Loved the melody. But now, oh my God!! Now that I have really listened to it, over a few times...My heart is wrenched! The feels are way too real. I just think this man gets it, he understands and he makes you feel it, good or bad, you are gonna feel it and cry, laugh, rejoice, but you are gonna feel. I love him!
Just heard this. Stopped me in my tracks and made me cry. Wife is a cancer survivor and we've been 26 years together. This one means so much to so many I'm certain. Put me on that list. Thank you for writing such a beautiful and powerful song!
Even Jason's sweetest songs have a subtle dark undercurrent. It gives his work such a devastating emotional power, and allows us a glimpse into both his soul and our own.
There's not a time that goes by when I listen to this Great Artist's songs that I'm not moved, when I don't reconsider my own inner misconceptions and failures and that I don't have tears in my eyes. In addition, he is humble, down to earth, funny and kind. If the world can be made a better place by those who are able to share who we are, what we we dream, run from and rejoice in, then as an old gunman from a western that changed the face of cinema said "it ain't like before but it'll do". In a truly sad year filled with the basest of human behavior, fear and hopelessness and the loss of Grand Maestro Ennio Morricone, we have another light in the world........Thank you Maestro Isbell.
first time I heard this song on the radio: I had just pulled into the parking lot of an Aldi and I just... sat there, listening to it play. Listened to it all the way to end, crying and crying. I was a wreck going into Aldi and everyone probably thought I was a lunatic but I didn't care.
Genuine Love is a gift, a blessing. Like the love for our children, parents, and special people in our lives. Thanks, Jason, for the beautiful reminder nudge that your song gives us.
My mom was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008. Got a stem cell transplant from her fraternal twin brother who was a 10/10 match. She got better but I can't help but think of my parents when I hear this song and hope they get more than 40 years.
This makes me think of how hard it was for my grandpa after my grandma died, and how, towards the end, he looked forward to her coming for him. I can only hope my partner and I keep a love like that. They had nearly 60 years. We have nearly 8, so far, and our child is due next month. What a beautiful song. Jason always speaks to an ingrained truth in us all.
My husband and I danced to this on our last marriage anniversary, knowing he wouldn't make it to the next anniversary. We shall see each other again!
My heart beats for you.
#JASONISBELLANDTHE400UNIT #THENASHVILLESOUND This is a gorgeous song about time and relationships. And, not assuming that you will have a lifetime together. Time is so fleeting. If life affords you the opportunity, to tell your beloved how much they mean to you, how their presence in your life makes it better and more meaningful. More fulfilling and joyful. That you can't imagine having lived so many wonderful years alone, without them. It's because of their love, that your life is so satisfying. That you are extremely grateful for them 😀👍👍👍💜💖❤️🧡💚💙💛
The first time I heard this, I could not stop crying. It’s not just lovers, it’s children, it’s sisters, mothers, fathers, dogs, all of the souls that we touch and are touched by...the haunting truth that one day we will let those souls go...
This. 💛 Spot on. There's a beauty and a deep sadness to it.
that line about hands searching in the darkn and nails leaving love's watermark makes it just a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit awkward for "anything besides lovers" but i'm gonna let it slide.
Me too. Still. There was a period of time when I would smile so big when I heard it. Now it’s darker for me.
😢
Living this song now, wife of 39 years now with terminal brain cancer.
Met her 1 week after her 18th b-day. married her at age 20. My darling and all of me.
Hoping for that miracle.
Al Pascarelli I hope you get it! Prayers..
Lord, have mercy!
That's crushing.
You are in mine and my wife's prayers every minute of every day. Hoping a miracle happens for you both. Met my wife in my teens, married her at 21. May you be be blessed.
Al Pascarelli Brought me to tears. Im praying for you sending love, hope, prayers. If nothing else peace
At 67 years old, my wife and I together for 43 years, this song really hits home , beautifully written and performed.
Such a beautiful song
💛
such a meaningful song.
This was our song. I still love him, addiction sucks. I miss him.
My grandfather played this song for my whole family today after his wife of 49 years passed away at 3:11 on May 3. Tonight and many nights to come I will fall asleep to this song and hopefully have the strength to help my family through these hard times.💔🕊
Prayers my brother
What a beautiful song to play in her honor rip...
I want someone to love me like your grandfather loved her. You have a beautiful patriarch. ❤
My late wife and I loved this song she been gone little over 4 years now and I have to play it than and again. We made near 35 years together.
Millions of people have tried to be songwriters, millions are song writers...every so often someone rises above the rest.
Agreed. He’s astonishing
I listen to this every time I feel I'm taking my husband for granted. It puts me in the place I should be.
You are one of the good ones. Marriage is one of the greatest blessings this plane of existence has to offer, and having the clarity to be able to step back and remember why you love your husband is another blessing that you should also cherish.
This song is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I didn't know if I would ever find this kind of love. Now, in my forties, I found it. All of it. Every word hits me straight in the gut. I don't want to take a single second for granted.
May 14 marks our 40th year together. This song has been one of my favorites since it was released.
The first time I heard this song was the day after my wife of 40 plus years passed away. By the end of the song, I was crying like a little baby. I feel that somehow this song was written for me. I still cry every time I hear it.
I lost part of my soul this year. He regularly expressed to me his fear that I might go before him and he would have to live without me. We didn't find one another until our 40s. We had seven years. This song speaks the the words the soul cannot otherwise express.
God I'm sorry.
💜💜💜
Sorry..
Love you for this.
I'm sorry. I also lost my soul in 2020 she was 43. bone cancer. 28yrs gone in 6 months. Every day gone is one day closer to eternity. I hope we make it Tracy xx
Wow ...this is deep. Married 33yrs and dated for 5 years before the big wedding day. So really we are together now 38 years. Cant wait to go home and give her a hug and remind the both of us how much we need to cherish what we have. We do tend to take things for granted. This song kind of slapped me in the face and woke me up to the fact that we are not going to be around forever and we better appreciate each other RIGHT NOW. Damn near made me cry sitting here at work with my earbuds on.
Good stuff man..
This song literally brings me to tears.
This weekend I am photographing a wedding where the bride and groom are in their 70’s. Second wedding for them both and they don’t want to be alone.
This song is so fucking right.
You can really tell when he says “and hope it isn’t me who’s left behind” he was trying his hardest not to cry. Beautiful.
LYRICS
It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in
Or the light coming off of your skin
The fragile heart you protected for so long
Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong
It's not your hands searching slow in the dark
Or your nails leaving love's watermark
It's not the way you talk me off the roof
Your questions like directions to the truth
It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone
If we were vampires and death was a joke
We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke
And laugh at all the lovers and their plans
I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand
Maybe time running out is a gift
I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift
And give you every second I can find
And hope it isn't me who's left behind
It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone
It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
One day you'll be gone
We had 40 years together, and I was the one who was left behind. This beautiful song is heart breaking and haunting...but also comforting like a celebration of the time we had together holding hands.
So sorry...me too...alone
@@jeannierhodes7343 ... blessed be the broken hearted and their songs...
My wife and I had 13 years together before COPD and pneumonia took her from me last November. I get this song - thank you
im sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry. 3 months ago I lost my mother. She battled COPD. Its one of the worst things you can watch someone you love go through.
It got me through my husband's sudden death after 31. We almost got "40 years together." I'm blessed to have the love of my life an I listened to this song at 8 am. He was gone 5 months later. This man is a healer with words.
I want to love someone that much, that every word of this song is like a punch in the gut. That visceral feeling, that thoughts just won't do justice to.
Me too I hope I find that kind of love.
Neither of you want that.
That is a hard kind of love. Deep and difficult. The mountains of pain, emotions, gut wrenching fights, coming back together again... it’s the longest journey. It’s not easy. It’s work everyday.
Its worth it
I loved someone like that once. For 30 years. But he turned out to be unworthy in the end. At least I know I CAN love someone that way and may yet love again one day.
It’s so hard for me to listen to this song, yet I do over and over…
Just had my first kiddo...son...at 48yo...
My mortality weighs heavily. Hoping for 40 good years with him...
I knew Jason had a song in him for this time in my life. We only had 32 years together, not 40, as of November, 2016 - the days alone are not easy, so prepare yourself and love with all your heart and soul until you are gone.
L T I'm glad this song is there for you. I'm so sorry for your loss.
So well put! Enjoy each day as it's your last!
Lovley comment LT, so sorry for your loss. Strange that Jason Isbell's songs are so poignant for almost everybody.
Most people don't have 32, I know so few people with lasting marriages. Some last that long, but many are just putting time in. Glad you had 32 years together that you treasured.
As an Oncology nurse, I learned early, "Plan for tomorrow, but live for today." Even those fights and aggravations will be missed. Happy to say that my spouse and I are hitting 40 years--first date Labor Day 1977, engaged 10/29/77, married March 1978. People said we got married too quickly--I said more happy time for us. Don't get me wrong--struggles ensue, fights happen over the stupidest things, it's a normal life with another person that we've managed to maintain. Some years even we are surprised that we made it through.
& hope it isn’t me who’s left behind.....life like it is ;-)))))))
Simply beautiful. If someone dislikes this, their soul is in a tragic state. Lift up, anytime you can.
Never married, never will be... but loved a plenty... all gone now, turned away... thank you for those days, and damn you for this heart.
I know this song wasn’t meant to be about dogs but it helped me find a little bit of light in his death today. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing Jon. Honestly I think Jason wrote a song that applies to all love we are lucky enough to share love with. ESPECIALLY the wonderful animals that seem to love is so much more than we will ever love ourselves.
Perhaps it's not, but knowing the dogs I've been lucky to meet, they're special. The worst with losing them is comming home and there isn't an overentusiastisk creature from god that loves you no matter what to greet you. My mom use to say that they've gone to a happy place and one day I get to see them again, might not be the comfort one is looking for, but I eagerly await the day we're united again.
To cut the melodramtic note of my message, I plan to live my life to the fullest, but knowing that I once again will hug my dogs again is a comfort, for me at least.
Hope you don't eat meat lol
Music transcends specific meaning. Sorry for your loss
I feel you.
Just heard this yesterday. Broke my heart and now I'm an instant fan. Just beautiful.
They played this song at my grandpas funeral I cry every time I hear it.
"I work hard till the end of my shift. " A perspective I hadn't thought of... Time running out is a gift. Amazing song
My wife and I been together 40 years. Great song.
I can't remember a more poignant song in years. This is as good as anything that Dylan or Paul Simon ever wrote. The idea that love is so special largely because we are mortal is so true and brilliantly stated by Jason.
This song made me think of my darkest and saddest moments after my marriage ended. I use to pray to God that someday in heaven I would see my ex-wife and there would be no more anger or sorrow.
That was before I opened my eyes and realized she couldn't leave the pain of her childhood behind and despite the fact I was probably the one person that was loyal to her and loved her had in fact become alienated by her because of her inability to form bonds and trust people because of the way she was raised and betrayed on numerous occasions by the two people that were supposed to love her most in her childhood, her mother and father. It's so sad how the past can't be undone in someone's life. I sincerely hope my ex-step daughter doesn't repeat the sins of her mother and has a happy and fulfilling life as she begins her marriage but I will never know because neither she nor her mother acknowledge my existence. That's what this song made me feel. Jason Isabel is an American treasure, especially as a songwriter.
I’m 26. My girlfriend of 6 months is 22. She has a chronic and very painful, but not life threatening condition. I know we’re both still very young with the rest of our lives ahead of us! I just love her so damn much and I pray that we won’t be living this song for many happy decades. I’ll love you til my last breath Grace!
You both are so blessed!!!
Best Love Song Ever! Beautiful Lyrics and beautiful Music. My parents are 85 and 83, had been married for 60+ years. When I heard this song in Philadelphia, I thought of them and how one of them may follow the other due to "heart break."
Downvotes are people who showed up, and said, "This isn't about Vampires!" Before leaving with a huffy twirl of their cape.
Oh, YES. Yes, sir. You are SO right. /|\
That was hilarious.
This comment. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
downvotes are actually from vampires :)
@@Zeda1002 😂😂😂
I love this song. I have been with my wife for 17 years. Since I was 16. I love her more today than I ever have. We have ups and a ton of downs but worth every second. We have four beautiful kids. I can only say I hope I go first because I couldn't live in this world without her.
Painfully beautiful. Instant Jason classic.
Matt Orendorff - So well put.
I was just texting a friend about this song and said almost
these exact words.
Perfect comment
he's a dark MOFO.....
I would agree with the painful part. He has an annoying voice.
I’m 55 and my husband is 61. He is the fairy tale true love of my life. This song makes me cry, makes me smile, and makes me wish we could live forever. I hope everyone could find this much happiness.
This was our first dance song at our wedding. We have been through a lot and this expression of sobering gratitude for the gift of whatever time we have together resonated deeply with us. We sang it to each other as we danced and we both had tears running down our faces. It was the most beautiful moment of my life so far.
BEAUTIFUL!!! This old "left-behind" widower thanks you!
I have to say, I didn't expect a song titled "If We Were Vampires" to offer such a poignant set of thoughts on love, aging, and the blink of time our lifetimes afford. This breaks your heart, beautifully.
I love how he views our limited time as a miracle to make people feel love deeper and not take it for granted. Well done
My son-in-law lost his battle with depression 19 days ago. He had a facility for discovering incredible music. My daughter said that he loved this song. I know that she will always love it too.
Prayers and love
@@aaronsexton1980 Thank you so very much. He was 38 years old and talented in so very many ways.
I am SO very terribly sorry for your loss. At one point in my life, I too, was perched on that crumbling precipice of depression and desperation that claimed your son-in-law. I managed (barely) to stay here, but it gave me a HUGE empathy for those that didn't. I pray for peace for you & yours.
So very sad, my condolences I?send to you. May God comfort you, and grant his mercy always❤♥️
I'm truly sorry for your loss. I too, battle depression. I was crying by the 3rd line of lyrics. I heard the song before, but this time.... I lost my sister to brain cancer in July. She'd fought it for 2.5 yrs. It was super aggressive.
This year we found out that my wife has stage 4 lung/bone cancer. This song hits so hard. Thank you.
This song reminds my mom of my dad. He just passed away, and I can hear it playing in her room. Thank you for this beautiful song. Just, thank you.
My wife and I will celebrate 44 years of marriage in June,
it's true and I cry that one of us will spend some time alone
North Alabama will breed loneliness deep into a person's soul
Heard this for the first time yesterday, I was listening to music while BBQing... I literally stopped..so engrossed in the music and beautiful lyrics and just sobbed. Tears came from such a deep place......this hit such a deep nerve not for just for lovers....but for anyone that contemplates mortality. I just lost my Dad- the ache is like nothing I have ever experienced in my life. No one can tell you about the missing..how the person you loved is gone and deeply missed, there is no warning of the triggers. It's like being cold cocked, you never see it coming. Jason frames this thought process of love and loss so clearly it is like being cut with glass.
Greg Birkle sorry for the loss of your Dad. Hang in there! Amazing how a song like this can bring out the emotion that one is feeling.
Music is supposed to invoke a feeling and this one does without question...thanks for your kind words. In an sometimes ugly word kindness goes a long way in my book.
I finally listened to this song today. Wow, I'm not in love, but I lost my dad too (4 years ago.) and relate to your comment about the incomparable ache...I had 44 years with him, he was young. I thought Elephant spoke to that...but you're right, this song speaks to that loss too.
Thanks for your comment....I have found that is does not matter if you had your Dad 44 years or 75 years it is an unwanted hard loss. For me the end of the world would not h ave been enough time. I am sorry for the loss of your Dad...it has been 4 years but I suspect it feels like yesterday...
Greg Birkle Agreed, the amount of time doesn't matter. In the song it talks about 40 years and that seems like a long time, but when death comes, we know it's not a long time. I think I was just relating the my time to the song. I didn't mean to diminish anyone else's loss just because they had more time. I'm sorry for your loss and could identify with your pain by what you wrote. Peace.
When I first heard this song it hit a nerve that many who've been married close to 40 years think about. Time passes so quick , many of the first years of marriage or even just in a relationship are spent positioning ourselves within the relationship that we lose tract of time. Our jobs our kids our dreams all take its toll on the reason you got married in the first place Then one day hopefuly..... you realize it's time to refocus on the reason you got married. By then you realize your on the second half of your life. This song reminds me to spend what little time I have left with my wife to make the best of it. Not always easy when life's distractions have messed with the majority of my attention and what's truly important.
I know this song is about a long marriage, but I as a single 16-year-old have related to this song for years. Ever since my dad showed it to me back in 2017 or 2018. Every time I hear it everyone I love flashes through my head. My mom and dad, my brother, and most of all my best friend. I cried the first time I heard it and still cry now years later.
This mans songs are just for people who breath air.We are working on 42 years.
I was married for 20 years when my wife died of cancer. It wasn't enough time and this song brings all those emotions back. Love is only real because it is transitory.
Michael Peterson and love never ever dies ♥️♥️♥️ I just lost my partner and best friend. I’m so grateful for the time we had . Sending love your way
It's never enough time.
Saw you guys in 2018 in Ithaca (Feb 13)... we hugged and got weepy. 25 years married so far, plus two years living together... almost lost him in a car accident... we always say "I love you" before we hang up. XOXO
The limitations of being are precisely what makes it meaningful. This song does a beautiful job explaining that.
Easily one of the most beautiful songs he's written - and the hardest to listen to. Harder than "Elephant". Harder than "Live Oak." Harder than "24 Frames." Jason can express more emotion in four minutes than I have in my entire life.
Totally agree. I listened to this twice in a row for the first time today, and though I wanted to, I couldn't do it a third time. This song hits you hard.
magicmattkelly First time I heard it was live in Richmond, KY. Tears. Sitting next to my wife of 20 years who got the tickets for my birthday.
It’s incredible isn’t it?
Chris Gibbs 3 of my faves
Elephant is still worse... Makes my throat hurt every time. Only song that ever has
Last month made five years widowed for me. This song will speak to me forever.
I suggest it to my friends often and I love to watch them listen to it and then realize that the two of us see it from different sides. I love that it speaks to the romantic and the heartbroken alike. It's bittersweet in a way that's perfectly executed.
Thank you for this one, Jason.
This is the most wholesome TH-cam comments section I've ever seen
No doubt!
every comment makes me cry so I dunno h ha ha
Watched an interview where Jason said after he wrote this song he couldn't sing it to his wife without crying, and that he was getting choked up in the studio trying to sing it. I feel like in parts you can almost hear his voice quiver as he tries to pull it together...adds so much
This song found my ears when I was sitting by a fire with my two little kids sitting on my lap after chasing fireflies. I'm 39 and so is my wife of two years. If we all get 40 years together we will be blessed. Thank you for this song.
I told my significant this song rings true for us, I made her listen to it with me and it didn’t take 2 minutes before we both started to weep into our glasses of wine. Thank you Jason Isbell for that moment. Thank you for sharing your gift.
one of my favorite songs. thanks for this!
This song makes me cry for a different reason. Its the fact I lack love like this with someone. I hope someday I'll be able to play this with my future gf/wife
The love that Jason and Amanda have for one another, and bringing their daughter into that fold has left its mark on both their music and my heart. I aspire to that in my own family, and wish them as many years of happiness as is possible.
I remember seeing him like 13 years ago in a parking lot in Wilmington North Carolina. the truckers were putting on a hell of a show and all the sudden he comes out with goddamn lonely love. I don't think I moved an inch the entire song. I knew I was in the presence of greatness
Beautiful song. Reminds us to treasure time with those we love.
this song reaches depths of my soul i didn't know existed
Only just discovered this … fabulous but it brings me too tears. My mum died at 67, 46 years with my Dad. They were true soulmates. I can Imagine my Dad crying to this as well … they were both beautiful people.
Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. I am 46 to his 60, so forty years together can never be.
Lately, we've been in a lull in our lives; aging, work pressures, political differences, aches and pains and replacement joints.
Waning feelings when you know you love each other deeply but maybe today (and yesterday too), I didn't like you very much.
I needed to hear this, and I thank you.
Spoken with the pure honesty of a Jason Isbell song.
40 years together can never be? Is there a reason it's impossible he'll live to 85??
It all depends on the individuals... I knew a lovely couple who married when she was in her early 70s & he was 89... he was amazingly energetic and full of life til he died at 100. In her 80s, still vibrant, she attracted another nice fellow in his 70s. She ended up caring for him through his last days, then continued an energetic work and volunteer schedule until a few months before her own death at 93. She would have outpaced most 40 or 50 yr olds right to the end. You never know how people will age...
Dr No... again, depends on the individuals... note that 100-yr-old I mentioned above. He was still walking around town and serving on committees at 100!
+rockethearse lol, I don't know if you live in Hollywood or something, but to most everyone else, 14 years _is_ a very significant difference - a generational one, even. It's an empirical reality that couples with age differences face higher rates of divorce (the bigger the age gap, the higher the risk of divorce); there's a greater risk even when you statistically compare spouses who are within 12 months of one another and spouses who are between 1-2 years apart.
Says so much, so well, so beautiful. We met late in life, and if we get 40 years together, it will be a miracle. Thank you Jason.
I’m here listening to this again, thinking of my parents. They were together 35 years, but cancer took my mother too soon. Jason Isbell is such a prolific writer ♥️
Simply the greatest written and played song ever. The play on words and connection is simply amazing. It touches your soul and makes you feel great about something most would expect you to be scared of
Jason, my husband played this song to me yesterday and I have to admit I fell in love with him all over again... The soul and heart that you put into this incredibly beautiful song, the melody, the lyrics has touched us to the core of our love for each other. When David and I first started living together back in 2002 he woke me up in the middle of the night and sang Years From Now by Dr Hook... I feel in love with him then and after all these years He has found a new song to touch my heart... Your "If We Were Vampires". Thank you for writing, recording and performing the love in your heart. Keep expressing yourself in such a beautiful way for us old romantics... Love from Melissa
I just discovered this song today. Hubby and I are celebrating 10 years together- 10! If we only get 40 years, then we're a quarter through. Thank you for this song that reminded me to value every precious moment with him.
Fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. "Maybe time running out is a gift" Well done Jason.,beautiful lyrics.
Easily one of the finest love songs ever. Not many songs manage to be this romantic without being cheesy and universal without being generic.
We had 38 years together until FTD took her from me. I never dreamed I'd be the one left behind. Jason's song has helped me frame what happened in a better light. I am grateful. I still pray it does go on forever in a better place.
every single Jason isbell song Is like a movie he has a way of painting a picture with words only a small few have ever known incredible
Random TH-cam suggestions that make me cry @ work... this is one of them. Fighting back the tears and barely, just barely winning.
I lost my dad 2 weeks ago on my 20th birthday. We bonded over the song elephant and I just found this, safe to say it's perfect 💓
This song immediately caught my attention when I saw it performed live at the TN Theater in April. I'm not sure I have ever heard a more hauntingly beautiful song in my 50+ years. Elephant pulls at the heart of any of us who have lost someone we love to cancer (and haven't we all?)...If We Were Vampires pulls at the heart and soul of anyone who loves someone they cannot imagine living without.
This was the song playing the moment my son was born❤️ I think of he and my wife everytime I hear this song. Without doubt, it always brings me to tears❤️❤️
Everyone always asks me why I love sad music? This is why.
I feel you....I too have always loved sad songs. I'm a sucker for every one I always find a certain beauty that touches my heart ❤💯
HI! I hope someday you will have a chance to hear. Brian Jessy! Sounds like you would become a instant fan!
@@dougpotosky4102 who is that I love discovering new artists. Thank you
I've always said comedians are for making you happy, poets for making you think and musicians for making you cry.
This is one of the most beautiful, sad, heart wrenching love song I have ever heard. I met my husband later in life and wish we had more time together. Thissong just hits home. Makes me cry every time.
guys. live every single moment of your life. every. single. moment.
I thought there werent going to be sad songs on the new record! Beautiful.A hard listen after ending a 25 year marriage, but still amazing.
Possibly the best songwriter of this time.
Another GREAT song from Mr. Isbell. Lyrics and melody are fantastic. A true slice of life once again. He has a way of seeing the ordinary and making the description sound extraordinary.
Cant say how much this song makes the hurt of losing her more intense. Best friends, soul mates, lovers hand in hand walking this lonely road till the end.
I lost my beautiful wife a year and a half ago.We had been married just over 40 years. I was riding home from a gig recently and heard this song. I'm still listening to it again and again.
33 years down so far. Going first without telling her how much I love her is my second biggest fear. Going second is my biggest.....
DogsInAPile83 tell her what she means to you before it's too late.
us too 33 years ..... love this song it made me cry every time
Another 33 years here...and my wife cried a little the first time I had her sit and listen to this. We're going to see Jason in May, and I hope we can keep it together if we hear this live.
SO TELL HER!! DON'T just TELL her, CLENCH her in your arms and YELL it to her!!! You have 33 years(!)- I got 34, then that was it. On a few day's "notice".
FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T WAIT!
I am now going to go "second".
Listen to the song again for a tiny sliver of how that feels.
TELL HER!!
Just reading this brought tears to my eye.
Just so amazingly beautiful...
He sang this when I seen him in April in Richmond, Ky, but it was a new song and I didnt know the words. Loved the melody. But now, oh my God!! Now that I have really listened to it, over a few times...My heart is wrenched! The feels are way too real. I just think this man gets it, he understands and he makes you feel it, good or bad, you are gonna feel it and cry, laugh, rejoice, but you are gonna feel. I love him!
I saw it there too! Stood there in that theater with tears running down my face. Amazing
OMG I was at the same show. Sitting all the way in the back and I was dying to know what this was.
Just heard this. Stopped me in my tracks and made me cry. Wife is a cancer survivor and we've been 26 years together. This one means so much to so many I'm certain. Put me on that list. Thank you for writing such a beautiful and powerful song!
Even Jason's sweetest songs have a subtle dark undercurrent. It gives his work such a devastating emotional power, and allows us a glimpse into both his soul and our own.
There's not a time that goes by when I listen to this Great Artist's songs that I'm not moved, when I don't reconsider my own inner misconceptions and failures and that I don't have tears in my eyes. In addition, he is humble, down to earth, funny and kind. If the world can be made a better place by those who are able to share who we are, what we we dream, run from and rejoice in, then as an old gunman from a western that changed the face of cinema said "it ain't like before but it'll do". In a truly sad year filled with the basest of human behavior, fear and hopelessness and the loss of Grand Maestro Ennio Morricone, we have another light in the world........Thank you Maestro Isbell.
first time I heard this song on the radio: I had just pulled into the parking lot of an Aldi and I just... sat there, listening to it play. Listened to it all the way to end, crying and crying. I was a wreck going into Aldi and everyone probably thought I was a lunatic but I didn't care.
I had this same experience, and to this day find myself a blubbery mess every time I hear it. :(
Genuine Love is a gift, a blessing. Like the love for our children, parents, and special people in our lives. Thanks, Jason, for the beautiful reminder nudge that your song gives us.
This song is incredible. Lyrically, musically, thematically incredible.
My mom was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008. Got a stem cell transplant from her fraternal twin brother who was a 10/10 match. She got better but I can't help but think of my parents when I hear this song and hope they get more than 40 years.
His songwriting alone amazes me, then you add a voice and fingerpicking and I'm in awe
This makes me think of how hard it was for my grandpa after my grandma died, and how, towards the end, he looked forward to her coming for him. I can only hope my partner and I keep a love like that. They had nearly 60 years. We have nearly 8, so far, and our child is due next month. What a beautiful song. Jason always speaks to an ingrained truth in us all.