The Last Time

Album: single release (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • People tend to make a big deal about the first time they do something but often overlook the last time until it's too late. In "The Last Time," country singer Tenille Townes sings about appreciating every moment because we never know which moment will be the last. She told Songfacts in a 2023 interview:

    "We always put a special frame around the first time we experience something because we know it's going to be important in our story. But the last time is never a guarantee. It just comes or goes, or it never comes, and we didn't get a chance to put a frame around it. To me that's a reminder to make every moment and pay attention to it and enjoy it for the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Let's be present and take it in."
  • Townes came up with the idea after having a conversation with her aunt, who was sad that she missed out on a special moment with her son. She explained:

    "She was telling me about how her youngest started driving himself to school, and was feeling sentimental about it, saying, 'I remember his first day like it was yesterday. I don't remember the last day I dropped him off. It must've been a few weeks ago, but I didn't make a moment of it. Now he's just been driving himself and I'm sad that I missed that.' I was like, 'I'm really sorry for your sorrow, Auntie Sue, but I'm gonna steal it and write a song about it.' So that's where the spark for the song came from."
  • Townes wrote this with her "Jersey On The Wall (I'm Just Asking)" co-writer Gordie Sampson, along with Ben Goldsmith ("Neon Church").
  • This is Townes' seventh Top 10 single on the Canadian Country chart. Her first was her debut single, "Somebody's Daughter," which went to #1 in 2018.
  • Townes performed this at the 2022 Canadian Country Music Association Awards, which she co-hosted with Blanco Brown. She also won several trophies, including Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (for Masquerades), Songwriter of the Year, and Single of the Year (for "Girl Who Didn't Care").

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