Tag Archives: Keith Whitley

Reviews

Album Review: Kayla Ray–Yesterday & Me

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Rating: 7/10

I was recently prompted by a discussion on Twitter to think about how many listens it takes me with an album before I can make a decision on it. Some people said they only need a few listens, and others contended that they have to absorb an album continuously for a few days in order to have anything to write. As for me, I said it depends on the albums, and I think as music listeners, sometimes we can forget that, both because of streaming allowing us to hear literally everything and because we get caught up in this cycle of never-ending releases. There are albums I’ve heard that have clicked with me instantly, and I’m sure it’s like that with all of us. You shouldn’t force yourself to like something or try to understand where others’ appeal comes from if that appeal isn’t there for you–after all, with the aforementioned streaming, if you don’t like something, you can move on and find something you do enjoy. There’s too much music, and life’s too short. That said, some records take time to grow; that’s the case for me, and probably for many of us; before streaming, you bought an album from an artist based on a couple songs, and if you didn’t love it at first, you still listened to it past that first time because hell, you paid for it. And magically, on the fourth or fifth take, you might have started loving other parts of that record. I’ve mentioned Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose before on this platform as being one of my three favorite albums of all time–the whole truth is that I bought the songs from that record on iTunes literally one at a time, as each grew on me. The only song I liked on first listen was “The Morning After.” It just continued to grow on me, and I kept coming back to Ashley’s songs one by one. That process took months, and that album has grown to be one of my favorites ever. All that to say, writers and fellow music listeners, don’t force yourself to like anything, but at the same time, give music its fair time to impact you. Treat it like the art that it is instead of the commodity which streaming has made it.

Kayla Ray’s Yesterday & Me is an album where this caution feels especially warranted because on first listen, it may not capture everyone and did not fully capture me. So much of its beauty reveals itself over time. True, with her extremely traditional leanings, there are some people that will enjoy this in about two seconds flat, the same people who shut off the new Sam Hunt song that quickly simply on principle. In sound, the only record that’s been this traditional thus far in 2018, aside from Joshua Hedley’s almost painfully rigorous exercise in making a traditional record earlier this year, has been Vivian Lev’as Time is Everything, and though not quite as minimalist as that project, it is definitely a sparse affair. Jason Eady had a hand in producing it, which will almost make too much sense to anyone even remotely familiar with his work when they listen to the minimalist production utilized here on this project. And that’s also why you can’t give it one or two listens and be done, and precisely why some will–because on that first casual exploration, it can come off a bit sleepy.

The two songs that did stand out to me that first time, and the reason I kept coming back to this, are the only two on the record that Kayla Ray didn’t write. I would certainly say she’s further along as an interpreter than as a songwriter, but her subtle style of writing contributes to this, and the beauty in her own songs comes through with subsequent listens…but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The two she didn’t write are the opener, “Rockport,” a simple little song detailing the demons that follow us around no matter how far we run, and a previously unreleased Keith Whitley tune called “Once a Week Cheaters.” This one is a duet with her friend and fellow songwriter Colton Hawkins. Although she didn’t pen these songs, Kayla ray showed great instinct to select them, as they both fit the album and her vocal delivery quite well. The next resemblance to Vivian Leva comes vocally, as Kayla Ray can come off slightly frail as a singer, but she does a fine job selecting songs and stories that suit her and make that a feature rather than a flaw. “Rockport” remains the highlight of the whole thing for me and the one I recommend if you only listen to one song here.

As for Kayla’s writing, it’s very subtle and something it took a few listens for this listener to appreciate. Then it clicked with me–she’d rather paint a sparse picture with less words and let the listener imagine the rest than spell it out with descriptions. That’s not to say that her writing is vague, but we often hold up incredibly descriptive, detailed songwriters as the best, and this style is different to that, telling a story in often few words and letting the listener draw their own conclusions. It makes a song like “Fair Warning,” which deals delicately with domestic abuse, all the more touching because she talks of the hell she endured but doesn’t really tell us what that entailed. It leaves the track more relatable to different people because it’s somewhat open for interpretation. Other self-written songs that stand out here include “Camel Blues,” “Things Only Years Can Teach a Woman,” and the autobiographical “1963.”

I’ve mentioned that it’s traditional and minimal, but it’s not without its variety. “1963” features some nice piano before dissolving into a pretty upbeat, cheerful song to close the album. “Hell of a Day to Drink All Night” provides some energy earlier on the record, and the unexpected tempo change in this one is just cool. As for instrumentation itself, there are times when it’s too minimal, particularly on “Red River Valley’s Run Dry,” but within these parameters, there’s variety as well, from fiddle to steel to dobro. Jason Eady’s fingerprints can be seen all over this because he’s one of the only people who can make a record this quiet and pull it off. It could have had perhaps one more upbeat moment to inject some more life, though.

Fans of really traditional country will probably like this on principle just because of its sound. For people who enjoyed Vivian Lev’as album, there are a ton of similarities to that one–both are sparse and traditional, and both grow on you over time. If you liked that record, I would suggest checking this out. It will no doubt be too sleepy for some listeners, but for the right audience, Yesterday & Me is a solid slice of really traditional-sounding country music.

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Random Reflections

Reflecting on: Keith Whitley–Don’t Close Your Eyes

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Today, (5/9), marks the twenty-ninth anniversary of the loss of one of country music’s greatest voices in Keith Whitley. I wrote a piece in 2017 specifically to make the case that Whitley deserves to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame despite his untimely and tragic death, and his music has meant a lot to me over the years. But even though Whitley’s music has been important to me, I’ve somehow not discussed any of it here, and this seems like a good opportunity to honor him in that way.

Release Date: 1988

Style: traditional country

People Who Might Like This Album: fans of Randy Travis, fans of William Michael Morgan, those who like their country to mix the more traditional and modern

Standout Tracks: “I’m no Stranger to the Rain,” “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” “Some Old Side Road,” “Would These Arms Be in Your Way,” “When You Say Nothing at All”

Reflections: Well, we should all listen to some Keith Whitley today in honor of the one who gave us all of his pain in his music and then succumbed to it himself before he could reap the rewards of his career. There has been no one before or since Keith Whitley who has expressed that kind of pain in their songs, and not many who have left such a mark in so short a time. Because he released so little music before his death, much of it was released posthumously, and much of it was packaged into various compilations. I chose this because it’s the only original album of Whitley’s in wide circulation, the one he chose to take control of and turn toward a more traditional sound, and the one that would become his most successful. It was also the last album released before he was taken from this world in 1989.

I mentioned that Whitley took control of the creative direction for this record, and that makes Don’t Close Your Eyes the best representation of Keith himself, and what he might have become if he had lived longer. He represents part of the tide that included Randy Travis in the late 80’s, the tide that turned country back toward its traditional roots and ushered in the class of ’89. Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Clint Black…all of them were influenced and affected by Keith Whitley and this album.

Whitley is known for the singular way he inflicted emotion into his every syllable. That’s best reflected in his pain, like on the timeless title track, as well as “I’m no Stranger to the Rain,” a song written for Keith about the public battle he was known to be facing with alcoholism, a battle he would lose just months later. But he could also express that emotion with incredibly moving love songs; he’s probably best known for “When You Say Nothing at All,” but “Would These Arms be in Your Way” is just as achingly beautiful. He could also lighten the mood for songs like “Flying Colors” and “Some Old Side road.” “Some Old Side Road” was one of his more modern-leaning songs, foreshadowing the class of ’89’s marriage of traditional and contemporary sensibilities.

I could talk all day about what a fan I am of Keith Whitley and what he did for our beloved country music in such a short time. He is still influencing artists twenty-nine years later, and I’d be hard-pressed to name a current artist in any genre who could make that kind of an impression with the same amount of time and material. Time will tell on that, of course, but the point is, Keith Whitley is a special artist. Honored to have this opportunity to write about someone who has so directly and personally influenced my love for country music.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw89r3UzFY4

Random Reflections

Reflecting on: How I Came to Love Country Music

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It’s written in my half of our writers page that “my first and deepest love will always be country music.” That doesn’t mean I don’t like other genres, and even within country, I’m certainly not a purist. I’ve definitely come to appreciate music from many different styles over the years, and you’ll even find me discussing some of it on this blog. But my first love was country, and it will always be my passion and the one thing I feel qualified to talk about.

So where did I get that love for country music? You might think living in Oklahoma, I was ensconced in it from the day I was born, but my parents were mostly into classic pop and rock, and it’s these styles which make up my earliest memories of music. It was later, when I started school, that I first began hearing country songs, and they came from my grandma. She’d pick me up from school, and she always had our country station playing in her car. These days, it plays 80’s and 90’s and 00’s country, but back then, in the late 90’s, it was a mix of classic and modern. She and I generally gravitated toward different sounds, but that was okay because the same station that played Merle Haggard also played the Dixie Chicks, whose record was one of the first country albums I ever owned. I remember my parents” reactions at first, not believing I was getting so much into country. Both of them eventually followed me into the genre and enjoy a lot of country from the late 90’s and early 00’s.

I didn’t always love her brand of country back then, but I did get into Merle Haggard and Keith Whitley. She didn’t always love mine, but she dearly loved Brad Paisley’s “We Danced.” We could agree on George strait in equal measure, as he seemed to bridge the gap between our generations. She always loved “I Just Want to Dance With You” and “Living and Living Well.” We drifted some as I grew older, for reasons which aren’t important here, and we didn’t see each other as much as we had when I was young. But we still had that time, that few minutes between leaving school and reaching my house, and we still had that music to share.

When I got into high school, I branched out some from country, starting to get into pop and rock and modern Christian music. I never drifted too far from country music during that time, but I was always careful throughout my time in school to not completely show my obsession with it. But it was there in full force; I sang records till I could perfect them, and I also started to write songs. And even though I was discovering other genres of music at the time, my love of country music only grew stronger. And it was during this time that my grandma was diagnosed with cancer. She fought it most of the time I was in high school. We didn’t speak much about it, and it’s not like our relationship changed, but that time we had in her car and the music we shared came to mean more. She eventually went into remission, and when I graduated high school, she was well.

I went to college for my passion, and it was there that I really became exposed to different styles of music, both through friends and through popular music courses. At this time, I drifted away quite a bit from my first love and began to explore all kinds of other music, and it’s something for which I’m still thankful. I got an appreciation for all different types of music and a newfound respect for the art of making it. Country was also going pretty much off the rails by this time (2010), so I was listening to it less and less.

But no form of musical expression can speak to real-life situations like country music, and I found my first love again when my grandma’s cancer returned, this time without hope for a cure. I wanted to listen to the music that she introduced me to, and it brought me comfort during those last days as we took care of her. We eventually lost her six years ago Sunday (Nov. 19th.) I listened to Merle Haggard and Keith Whitley and George Strait nonstop after that because it was the only thing that helped me. “I Just Want to Dance with You” will always make me think of her.

Her music brought me through that time like only music can, and it’s her love of country music that still lives on in me. I am so thankful that she introduced me to it and instilled that love in me, for music is the one thing that has always been there for me no matter what. It’s the one thing I have counted on to get me through loss, divorce, loneliness, and pain. And I can never, ever thank her enough for that gift.

Commentary

The Case For Inducting Keith Whitley into the Country Music Hall of Fame

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It is that time of year when we start anticipating the names who will be added to the famously selective Country Music Hall of Fame. The Hall has been notoriously careful about preserving an elite class of members, to the point there is now a significant backlog of artists, writers, and musicians who probably should already have been inducted by now. I am not writing this to assert that Keith Whitley deserves to be in before say, Alan Jackson, whose exclusion has become almost ridiculous, or to discount others worthy of the distinction. This is why I mentioned the backlog, as Keith Whitley is one of several names who have earned their place here and have yet to receive it. But I do consider it a travesty that Keith Whitley’s motorcycle, pictured here, has made it into the Hall before Whitley himself. So perhaps because of the seeming uncertainty among many that Whitley deserves this honor at all, or perhaps because I want to explain why I signed the petition started by his fans to have him inducted, or perhaps simply because Keith Whitley’s music is one of the biggest reasons I fell in love with country music and still carry a passion for it to this day, I feel especially compelled to reach out and explain why Keith Whitley deserves a place alongside his peers and his motorcycle in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Career

Keith Whitley grew up in Kentucky and first made a name for himself performing in Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys. He was fifteen at the time, and he and fellow singer Ricky Skaggs became widely respected in the world of bluegrass. In 1983, he moved to Nashville and later signed with RCA Records. At first, he made more contemporary country music. His biggest chart successes during this time included the singles “Ten Feet Away” and “Miami, My Amy.” He also married fellow country singer Lorrie Morgan in 1986.

Whitley asked to have his second full-length studio album shelved, feeling that the music wasn’t really his style. Back then, the concept of labels actually listening to artists and giving them creative control was not so foreign, and the result was the 1988 release Don’t Close Your Eyes. This was a more traditional-sounding album, similar to the music being put out by Randy Travis and George Strait. IN fact, Whitley had previously recorded both “ON the Other Hand,” later a hit single by Travis, and “Nobody in His Right Mind Would Have Left Her,” which became a #1 hit for Strait, on his 1985 album L.a. to Miami. Whitley’s vision for Don’t Close Your Eyes proved successful, as the album produced three #1 singles in 1988 and 1989. These included the title track, “When You Say Nothing at All,” and “I’m no Stranger to the Rain,” all of which have become timeless songs. As a fan, I can say they are three of my favorite country songs of all time. “I’m NO stranger to the Rain” won him his only CMA Award and a Grammy nomination. It was expected that Whitley was on his way to becoming a country superstar.

Untimely Death

One of the biggest reasons for the success and popularity of Keith Whitley was the raw emotion he conveyed in his songs. His last producer stated,

There was no Pro Tools at that point. Pitch accuracy and things like that were important. But someone who could express the emotion and really own the song, so to speak, that counted for a lot. And Keith certainly knew how to do that.

Many modern singers have identified Whitley as the one who taught them to bring out this emotion in their songs, not just to sing, but to tell the story of a character.

But the emotional power in Keith Whitley’s voice came at a high price. despite his musical success, Whitley’s life was troubled. He could express pain so easily in a song because he lived it out. His alcoholism was an ongoing battle, made harder by depression and by the fact he had lost both his brother and father by 1987. The country music community was well aware of his struggles with alcohol and were pulling for him; Keith made the issues quite public, and “I’m NO stranger to the Rain” was written about it. He seemed to be trying to deal with it, but on May 9, 1989, at the age of thirty-four, Whitley died in his home of what was ruled to be alcohol poisoning. His blood alcohol level was stated to be .47, the equivalent of 20 1-ounce shots of 100-proof whiskey. And thus, tragically, Keith Whitley’s career had ended just as it had begun.

Influence

So the question is, after only a handful of hit singles, does Keith Whitley deserve country music’s highest honor? As I stated above, there is no doubt that there are many others also deserving of this recognition, and certainly there are names whose inclusion is long overdue. The problem that arises with Keith Whitley is whether or not his career was impactful and long-lasting enough to warrant him such a distinction. Would he really have been a superstar, or does his legacy elevate his status? Does a career as short as Keith’s merit equal respect and consideration with that of someone like the aforementioned Alan Jackson, who is well-liked by the industry and has been churning out quality and commercially successful music for two decades? What sets Keith Whitley apart from the countless others who charted a small string of hits and then faded into irrelevancy?

The answer is Keith Whitley’s legacy and influence. He continued to produce top 5 singles after his death, and several compilation albums were released. Some of his previously unreleased material would come out in subsequent years, and a tribute album was made in his honor in 1994. Alison Krauss’s version of “When You Say Nothing at all” was released as a single from the tribute album; it became one of her biggest hits and has since been covered by other artists. Whitley is considered to have helped open the door for the class of ’89 which included Jackson, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, and now Hall of Fame member Garth brooks. Garth initially tried to turn down his induction in 2012 because he felt others, including Whitley, deserved to be admitted before him. Tim McGraw, inspired by Keith Whitley’s music and passion, famously arrived in Nashville the day Whitley died and has also cited him as an inspiration for dealing with alcohol issues of his own. Vince Gill began writing “Go Rest High on That Mountain” after Keith’s death, and although Gill finished it several years later following his brother’s passing, the song remains a tribute to Whitley as well; this is embodied in the line, “You weren’t afraid to face the devil, you were no stranger to the rain.” The song won the 1995 Grammy for Best Country Song and has become a standard at funerals and arguably Vince Gill’s signature song. Ironically, Gill said of “Go Rest High on that Mountain” in his own 2009 Hall of Fame induction, “Turns out, if anybody remembers any of my songs, it’ll be this one.”

Keith Whitley is still influencing artists today. Chris Young paid $15,000 for Whitley’s guitar and says Keith influenced his singing. Part of Young’s decision to sign with RCA was that Keith Whitley had been on that label. It’s a shame Chris Young doesn’t take his Whitley-like voice and lend it to less boring songs, but I digress. Other artists, including Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, are said to play the singer’s music regularly. Perhaps the most impressive and telling sign of the impact of Keith Whitley came in 2014 when then seventeen-year-old Jake Worthington, a contestant on NBC’s The Voice, auditioned with “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” Whitley had died years before Jake Worthington was ever born. The performance became a standout of the season and a hallmark moment for Worthington.

It can be argued that Keith Whitley didn’t do enough in his career to be considered for the Hall of Fame. But few can make the impact he did over such a short time. If he had been able to continue making records, he might be a living legend like George Strait. Or maybe he would have faded into obscurity like so many other artists before and after him. But the fact is, none of this happened, and much like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline before him, his tragic death created a legend and a legacy around him. But it takes more than legacy to explain the kind of lasting impact he had and continues to have on country music. It takes a voice like his that could express such raw emotion, to make songs that inspire people twenty-eight years later. It takes an authenticity and vulnerability rarely seen in music. It takes something real and raw that used to be the foundation of country music, the very thing that is disappearing from the airwaves today. It takes a connection so strong that it can make the kind of impression in a few albums that most artists struggle to make in twenty. Keith Whitley lived out the pain in his songs, and it’s that honesty, that part of himself left behind in his music, which transcends the years, influences generations of artists, and has earned him a place among the most elite in country music.

The Petition to Induct Keith Whitley into the Country Music Hall of Fame

In 2015, a group of dedicated Keith Whitley fans drafted a petition for the singer’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The petition has gained 7,600 signatures so far and states, among other things, that Keith Whitley’s love for and influence of country music should be recognized by the Hall.

Sign the Petition

Commentary

Country Music vs. Good Music: Does Genre Matter?

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There has been a lot of talk lately about genre lines and how important they really are. Does it matter that an album sounds country if the lyrics are bland? Is hearing songs rife with fiddle and steel on the radio really an improvement in itself, or have we gone so far that country-sounding music is praised over good music in general? Do we overlook artists like David Nail and Eric Church, both of whom have put out solid country albums in the past year, while propping up more traditional artists like Mo Pitney and William Michael Morgan just because they sound a certain way? All of this boils down to one question: Does genre really matter at all?

Well, that is a difficult question to answer, and there are differing viewpoints on all sides. This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write because of the sheer number of people who may disagree, and I could ignore it, but I feel inclined to address it, and to be honest with myself and all of you. Honesty is absent everywhere in music right now, and that is one of the driving factors behind Country Exclusive’s existence, so I am going to do my best to provide it.

The simple answer is no, genre doesn’t matter. Good music is good music regardless of who is singing or what genre it is labeled. This is why I gave Carrie Underwood’s Storyteller two different grades–one as a country album, and one as simply an album. It makes a pretty good pop album. Kelsea Ballerini made a decent pop album too and then sent the singles to country radio–and not the best singles either, I might add, but that’s a different story. I wrote that Courtney Marie Andrews defied genre lines in Honest Life, and while not being the most country album, it is the best album I have reviewed to date. Good music can and does come out of every genre, and that is what we should be looking for the most.

To add to that, I want to say that country can be good without having fiddle and steel. I have written in several Red dirt album reviews a sentiment like, “This isn’t the album to buy if you want fiddle and steel,” followed by praise of the album. Red Dirt has a raw honesty that often surpasses genre, and this is evident in the massive sonic difference between Jason Eady and Reckless Kelly, both of whom have produced an inordinate amount of great music during their respective careers. There’s good pop country too, like the aforementioned Carrie Underwood and David Nail. Eric Church produced one of the better albums of 2015, both musically and lyrically, and you won’t find fiddle or steel anywhere on it. I have written a great deal about Maddie & Tae, advising strict traditionalists to give them a chance because they were bringing country back to radio, even if it was pop country. I praised Aubrib Sellers and her debut album which she labeled “garage country.” I’m far from a country purist, ready to criticize something immediately because it isn’t what country “should” sound like.

However, this idea of good music first has been taken too far. William Michael Morgan got a #1 at radio with “I Met a Girl,” which, while indeed lyrically weak, actually sounded country. It’s a step in the right direction as much as the songwriting on Eric Church’s album or the CMA wins of Chris stapleton. Why? Because something actually resembling country can be heard on country radio for the first time in years. But if genre doesn’t matter, why are we even celebrating? Surely Morgan’s “I Met a Girl” is just more shitty music with fiddle and steel.

It’s because truthfully, genre can’t be ignored completely. If you went to a bookstore and found the books arranged in categories of “good” and “bad,” this wouldn’t help you find a book at all. It’s because these terms are subjective. If you wanted to read crime fiction, you would go to the section marked crime fiction, and from there, you could decide which books you wanted to read. If you found romance in the crime fiction section, you would say the book has been put in the wrong place. Of course, there are books that have elements of both and can therefore be classified as both. Now, let’s apply this to music. Crime fiction might be country, romance might be pop, and the two might blend to make pop country. A book containing many different elements might be labeled just “fiction” or “literature”–in music, this could be Americana, with its blending of many styles. There are probably good books in all the different genres, but since you came looking for crime fiction, you aren’t going to be satisfied with a good romance novel. In the same way, if you want to hear traditional country, you won’t find it in the pop country of Carrie Underwood, the country rock of Eric Church, or the Americana of Jason Isbell.

Therefore, when an artist like Morgan comes along, who actually sounds traditional, it’s right to be excited that he’s getting airplay. It’s right to fight to hear more country on country radio–in fact, many of us ran to underground country simply because of the lack of country on country radio. And it’s right to want to see mainstream Nashville and country radio embrace people like Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price. We can run to Americana and give up on the mainstream altogether, but no matter how you look at it, Americana isn’t country. Some of it is excellent, but it still isn’t country. It isn’t the music we fell in love with, the music we miss. We should praise music of substance regardless of how it sounds, but the lack of country on country radio is just an important a problem as the lack of substance in the music.

I daresay the majority, if not all of us, fell in love with country music, at least in part, by listening to country radio. Maybe you grew up with the legends like Haggard and Nelson. Maybe you remember Keith Whitley and Randy Travis, or maybe you miss the sounds of Alan Jackson, George Strait, and Vince Gill. Maybe you’re like me, and the first country you ever heard was the Dixie Chicks. Regardless, you heard all of them because they were played on country radio and available to the masses, just like their pop country counterparts. Pop country has always been around, but never has it replaced and eradicated the traditional as it has in recent years. Wherever your nostalgia comes from, you fell out of love with country radio after it lost the sound and substance you were drawn to. Today, even though the substance is slowly returning, there is still a noticeable lack of the sound. People growing up with country radio today might associate country with Luke Bryan or Thomas Rhett, both of whom lack the sound and the substance. Or maybe they’ll associate country with Carrie Underwood and Eric Church–they will recognize the substance but lose the sound. But until Morgan and Pardi, there hasn’t been a traditional sound being carried to the masses in years. Pop country isn’t a bad thing, but the complete elimination of the traditional is a terrible thing, and a dangerous thing for country as we know it. Therefore, when an artist like Morgan breaks through and gets a #1 single, we should all be celebrating. There is still much work to be done in Nashville, both in sound and substance, but Morgan, and others like him, are bringing hope for everyone who thought traditional country was lost. He’s not pop country, he’s not country rock, he’s not Americana. He’s just country. And I miss country. I fell in love with country. Country is my passion as a fan and my focus as a reviewer. It’s what I’ll always love the most, even though I praise and listen to plenty of good music from other genres, and it seemed, not long ago, that the music I loved would be lost forever in the mainstream. I am nothing but glad that Morgan and Pardi have broken through, and that young people out there listening to country radio once again have the opportunity to fall in love with real country the way I did. As I said, there is still a lot of work to be done, but let’s all recognize this for what it is, a positive step, and be glad for how far we’ve come.