20 years ago, on December 10, 2005, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were married. The ceremony, held on Brooks’ Oklahoma ranch, came after a friendship that lasted more than a decade, and when both were single and ready to say “I do.”
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In honor of their 20th wedding anniversary, we found three songs to help celebrate the milestone.
“Where Your Road Leads”
“Where Your Road Leads” seems like it is tailor-made for Brooks and Yearwood, and their sweet love story. But the song, written by Victoria Shaw and Desmond Child, is actually the title track of Yearwood’s 1998 studio album, three years before the couple started dating.
Still, Brooks sings with Yearwood on “Where Your Road Leads”, which seems indicative of their future relationship. The song says, “Someday we’ll look back and see / Our footprints in the sand / Sometimes you would carry me / And sometimes you would be in my hands / If we can love forever / That won’t be long enough for me / I wanna hold you tender / Be your shelter, all you need / Where your road leads I will follow / When your heart bleeds I’ll be there for you / When your night grows dark and you can’t find your tomorrow / Then you can follow me.”
“Merry Christmas, Valentine”
Yearwood includes “Merry Christmas, Valelentine” on her latest Christmastime album, released last month. The song is written by the husband and wife, although Yearwood says it originated with Brooks.
“When Garth and I were talking about ‘Merry Christmas, Valentine,’ it was his idea,” Yearwood says. “He had this great idea of, you know, if you’re in love at Christmas, it kind of is Valentine’s Day.”
“Merry Christmas, Valentine” says, “To celebrate this true forever love / One holiday is just not grand enough / So let the days of love and joy combine / The greatest gift is still your hand in mine / Merry Christmas, Valentine.”
“In Another’s Eyes”
It may seem odd to include “In Another’s Eyes“, a song about being with someone while wanting to be with someone else, on a list celebrating the 20th anniversary of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. But it’s “In Another’s Eyes”, released in 1997, which is the couple’s first duet. It is also an early foretelling of the kind of music they could make, together.
Brooks wrote “In Another’s Eyes” with Bobby Wood and John Peppard. The song says, “In another’s eyes / I’m afraid that I can’t see / This picture perfect portrait / That they paint of me / They don’t realize / And I pray they never do / ‘Cause every time I look I’m seein’ you / In another’s eyes.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Brooks didn’t write “In Another’s Eyes” as a duet. It was his keyboard player who suggested he add a female voice. Brooks reached out to Yearwood, who at first said she was too busy.
“She just had too much stuff going and just couldn’t … We tracked it with another female singer!” Brooks says.
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
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