Music Review: Carrie Underwood "See You Again"

Carrie Underwood

See You Again

Album: Blown Away

Year: 2013

                Memories of her late mother inspire Carrie Underwood  in the trusting “See You Again.”

                  An introspective piano and a chorus of “oh’s” open the single,  setting a mediative tone. Underwood sits on the hospital bed with her mother. She talks with her mom about her part-time job. She tells her mom she doesn’t want to be stuck there. Her mom replies she’s a talented, smart young woman and will find her niche. She needs to be patient. After sharing some childhood stories, she kissed her mom goodbye on the cheek and headed back  home.

        A couple hours later she gets call from her brother. Her mother has become nonresponsive and she needs to come back as soon as she can. In her mother’s room, she sees her family around the hospital bed, silent. She hugs her weeping father. The slow beeping of the heart monitor thunders in her brain. A half hour later, she is gone. It is a year later and the night her mother passed has stayed with her. The memories she had stay with her and every where she goes, she sees a piece of her mother somewhere. It helps to remain strong through the terrible days. Her mom’s words guide her through every decision. (“Said goodbye, turned around/And you were gone, gone, gone/Faded into the setting sun/Slipped away/
But I won’t cry/Cause I know I’ll never be lonely/For you are the stars to me/You are the light I follow.”)

          In the chorus, she believes she will reunite with her mother. She still talks to her mother about her day. She won’t ever forget her encouragement to keep trying and not to give up. (“I’ll see you again, oh/This is not where it ends/I will carry you with me, oh/Till I see you again.”)

           The wind is blowing the trees outside, stretching their branches. She remembers sitting with her mom on the porch, watching the rain drip from the awnings. They would chat about school and her friends. She thinks of her mom in heaven and she knows her mother isn’t in any pain. She stares at the clouds and grins, imagining her mother running to the porch to see the pouring rain. (“I can hear those echoes in the wind at night/Calling me back in time/Back to you/In a place far away/Where the water meets the sky/
The thought of it makes me smile/You are my tomorrow.”)

       The chorus is sung again.

       In the bridge, she misses her mother. Some days she breaks down while in her apartment, wishing she had her mother to talk to in her person. She pulls herself together by repeating her mother’s last words to her. (“Sometimes I feel my heart is breaking/But I stay strong and I hold on cause I know/I’ll see you again, oh/This is not where it ends/I will carry you with me, yeah yeah.”)

              The chorus is sung again,.

            The chorus of “oh’s” are repeated with her interjections of “till I see you again.”

           Part of the first verse ends the single. (“Said goodbye turned around/And you were gone, gone, gone.”)

Underwood’s devout, stable vocals are accepting. It may be a year later but she still grieves the loss of her mother. She was suffering towards the end and no amout of medication would’ve helped. Her mother wanted her to believe in herself, which at that time she didn’t. Her words have led her to quit her job and find a full-time job where she is succeeding.

       The touching “See You Again” celebrates the lives of those who encourage, looking after us in small moments.