Sacred Ground (song) explained

Sacred Ground
Cover:with story of my life.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Kix Brooks
Album:Kix Brooks
B-Side:The Story of My Life
Released:1989
Genre:Country
Length:2:51
Label:Capitol Nashville 44275
Producer:Rafe Van Hoy
Kix Brooks
Prev Title:I'm on to You
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:She Does the Walk on By
Next Year:1989

"Sacred Ground" is a country music song, co-written and originally recorded by American country music singer Kix Brooks, prior to his joining Ronnie Dunn in the duo Brooks & Dunn. Brooks' version was issued in 1989 as a single, and was included on his 1989 self-titled debut album.

A second version was recorded three years later by the American country music band McBride & the Ride. Released in 1992, that version would become the group's highest-charting hit, reaching a peak of #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts.

Content

"Sacred Ground" is a mid-tempo ballad centralizing on a male narrator, who is talking to another man with whom it is implied that his wife had an emotional (and possibly physical) affair. In the first verse, the singer tells of how he married at an early age, and had to work various jobs to sustain his family. In the second chorus, he expresses his intention to reconcile with his wife and asks the other man to not interfere (possibly out of concern that the wife may continue the affair or at least not discourage his continued attention). He defends his relationship with his wife in the chorus: "We were joined in the eyes of the Lord in the eyes of our hometown / Why don't you leave her alone / You're treadin' on sacred ground".

Kix Brooks version

Kix Brooks' version was released in 1989. It was the second and final single from his debut album Kix Brooks, and it reached a peak of 87 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts. It was his last solo release before he founded Brooks & Dunn with Ronnie Dunn. Brooks did not chart another solo single until "New to This Town" in 2012.

Chart positions

McBride & the Ride version

Sacred Ground
Cover:McBride_and_the_Ride_-_Sacred_Ground_single.png
Type:single
Artist:McBride & the Ride
Album:Sacred Ground
B-Side:Your One and Only
Released:March 2, 1992
Genre:Country
Length:3:18
Label:MCA
Producer:Steve Gibson
Tony Brown
Prev Title:Same Old Star
Prev Year:1991
Next Title:Going Out of My Mind
Next Year:1992

Three years after Brooks's version charted, McBride & the Ride recorded its own version of "Sacred Ground." It was released in March 1992 as the lead-off single to the band's second album, also titled Sacred Ground. The song reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard country charts (having been blocked from #1 by Billy Ray Cyrus' debut single "Achy Breaky Heart"[1]), representing the band's highest chart peak.

Music video

The music video was directed by Bill Young and premiered in early 1992.

Year-end charts

Chart (1992)Position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[2] 39
US Country Songs (Billboard)[3] 44

Notes and References

  1. Web site: McBride & the Ride Remount . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930040645/http://www.cmt.com/artists/news/1455371/20020624/mcbride_the_ride.jhtml . dead . September 30, 2007 . 2007-07-18. CMT.
  2. Web site: RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1992. RPM. December 19, 1992. August 15, 2013.
  3. Best of 1992: Country Songs . . . 1992. August 15, 2013.