Songfacts®:

• Lead singer Randy Owen wrote this track about going home again, "back to the good life I left behind," where life is simpler and "peace and love can still be found." It was not only the band's first single through RCA Nashville, but it was also their first #1 single on the country chart and the beginning of a hot streak that would include 26 more chart-toppers throughout the decade.
  
  With a name like Alabama, it's not surprising the band would make a career out of embracing their Southern roots, a theme that runs strong throughout their repertoire.
• Owen, along with Jeff Cook and Teddy Gentry, grew up in Fort Payne, Alabama, where the Tennessee River flows nearby.
• Alabama recorded this with Jason Aldean for their 2013 reunion album, Alabama & Friends, and performed with him onstage for the accompanying concert at the Ryman in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Country singer Darryl Worley, who grew up in Savannah, Tennessee, sang about the river for his 2002 track "Tennessee River Run."