I heard Brad Paisley’s new song “Welcome To The Future” on the radio for the first time this evening and couldn’t wait to get home to see if I could find a version to post to the blog. Here’s what I found:

I hope Paisley, who will be performing near us on July 25, releases an official music video soon. The storyline is made for video.

Paisley is one of my favorite musicians. He’s just a few years younger than me, and his hometown (Glen Dale, W.Va.) is about a half-hour from mine (Paden City). I love songs like “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” “I’m Still A Guy,” “Letter To Me,” “Mud On The Tires” and “Ticks,” because they remind me of my youth in the great Mountain State.

“Welcome To The Future” reminds me of how blessed I am to be living when “every day is a revolution.” I especially love the closing verse:

I had a friend in school,
Running back on a football team.
They burned a cross in his front yard
For asking out the homecoming queen.

I thought about him today,
Everybody who’s seen what he’s seen,
From a woman on a bus
To a man with a dream.

That allusion to how far America has come in race relations in the past 50 years was even more powerful because it was totally unexpected after the lighthearted and technologically oriented lyrics of the first two verses.