"When I Get Where I'm Going'" is a song written by George Teren and

Rivers Rutherford Melvern Rivers Rutherford II (born June 17, 1967) is an American country music songwriter. He has written songs since at least the 1990s as a songwriter; he has written several number one country hits including " Ain't Nothing 'bout You" by Brooks ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

. It was released in October 2005 as second single from his album '' Time Well Wasted'' and is his 14th career single (not counting album cuts). The song features harmony vocals from

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

. The song was Parton's 25th ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' No. 1 (and her first since 1991's " Rockin' Years"), and Paisley's fifth.

Music video

The video of this song was directed by Jim Shea, and features footage of Paisley singing in a forest, as well as home movies of himself with his grandfather, Warren L. Jarvis. He also holds up photos of himself with Jarvis and his aunt Rita Takach. The video was filmed in Northern California. The extended version of the video ends with Jarvis in a home movie saying "Come on in and rock a while!" and Paisley smiling when he looks up from his guitar playing and sees this. It also features many different people holding photographs of loved ones who have presumably died. Two notable people featured in this video are

Michael Reagan Michael Edward Reagan (born John Charles Flaugher; March 18, 1945) is an American conservative political commentator, Republican Party (United States), Republican strategist, and former radio talk show host. He is the adopted son of former U.S. ...

, who is shown holding a photograph of his father

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, and

Teresa Earnhardt Teresa Diane Earnhardt (née Houston; born October 29, 1958) is an American former NASCAR team owner. She is the third wife and widow of Dale Earnhardt. She is the biological mother of Taylor Nicole Earnhardt and the stepmother of Kerry Earnhardt ...

, who is shown sitting in front of a painted portrait of her husband,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

. Although she does vocals on the song, Dolly Parton is off camera singing in the video. However, she is shown holding a picture of her grandfather, Rev. Jake Owens, who'd died a few years earlier. She kisses her hand then touches the photograph in this scene. Figure Skater Scott Hamilton is shown holding a picture of his mother. John Carter Cash is featured holding a photo of his parents,

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

and

June Carter Cash Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American country singer and songwriter. A five-time Grammy Award–winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prior to her marria ...

. Also in the video is

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

director

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter ( ; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, a ...

holding up a picture of co-director and fellow CalArts alumnus Joe Ranft who suddenly died in 2005 in a car accident. Various unknown people hold up photos of relatives who have passed on throughout as well. In 2007, after the

Virginia Tech massacre The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, the last slide was dedicated to those lost with the VT emblem shining brightly. On tour in 2008, Paisley also added a picture of actor

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film care ...

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a negative rating. He says that Dolly Parton helped "get this song across the finish line" and states that Paisley is "essentially

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and television host. He portrayed Danny Tanner on the sitcom ''Full House'' (1987–1995) and its sequel '' Fuller House'' (2016–2020). ...

in a cowboy hat." Dan MacIntosh of ''

Country Standard Time ''Country Standard Time'' is a website dedicated to country music and related genres including Americana, bluegrass and rockabilly. It provides news and musical reviews pertaining to the genre. It was established in 1993 by Jeffrey B. Remz as ...

'' was more positive, calling the song a "certified inspirational winner".

Awards

The song was nominated for a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee exce ...

for Country Recorded Song of the Year at the

37th GMA Dove Awards The 37th Annual GMA Dove Awards, also called the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, were held on April 5, 2006 recognizing accomplishments of Christian musicians for the year 2005. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, ...

.37th Annual GMA Dove Awards Nominations & Winners
on About.com; Jones, Kim It won 2

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

for Video of the Year, Vocal Event of the Year and was nominated for Song of the Year. The song also won a

Country Music Association Award The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

for Vocal Event of the Year and was nominated for Single and Video of the Year.

Cover versions

This song was covered by

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...

artist Geoff Moore in 2007 on his album ''Speak to Me''. Moore's version was a Top 15 hit on the Hot Christian Songs and Hot Christian Adult Contemporary charts. In 2007, Christian contemporary trio 33Miles covered "When I Get Where I'm Going" on their self titled debut album. This song was also covered by Susie McEntire on her latest album ''Passages'' in 2010. In 2015, Chris Crump and Krista Hughes make a song choice selected covered the battle song in The Voice (U.S. season 9).

Chart performance

Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton version

The song debuted at number 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week ending October 8, 2005. It has sold 1,021,000 digital copies in the US as of October 2015.

Year-end charts

Geoff Moore version

Certifications

References

External links

"When I Get Where I'm Going" lyrics at Dolly Parton On-LineReuters Music Article
{{CMA Musical Event of the Year 2005 singles Brad Paisley songs Dolly Parton songs Geoff Moore songs Male–female vocal duets Songs written by George Teren Songs written by Rivers Rutherford Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Arista Nashville singles 2005 songs Music videos directed by Jim Shea