вЂњвЂ™Through The YearsвЂ™ holds a very dear place in the scope of my songwriting career,вЂќ Dorff says. Steve Dorff also e-mailed American Songwriter to talk about the importance of the song. The refrains pivot from hopelessly trying to envision life before her or without her to instead celebrating all that she has brought and taught him: Through the years, I never had a doubt/ I learned what lifeвЂ™s about by loving you.вЂќ He comes to the conclusion that he doesnвЂ™t ever want anything to change, as the past becomes the future: вЂњAs long as itвЂ™s okay, IвЂ™ll stay with you through the years.вЂќ вЂњ I canвЂ™t remember what I used to do/ who I trusted, whom I listened to before, Rogers sings, suggesting that maybe those the narrator previously relied upon had steered him in the wrong direction. It insinuates that what was there before wasnвЂ™t really worth remembering anyway, because his life only truly began when she entered the picture. The song is told from the perspective of a narrator attempting in vain to recall his life before his partner entered it. But it was a reciprocal connection, as Rogers was also sinking his teeth into heartfelt lyrics and a melody that soars in all the right places, including a final-act key change that brings down the house. Not many interpreters could have brought off the earnest emotional content in the way that he did, letting the feelings show without overdoing it. What Panzer and Dorff created sat right in RogersвЂ™ wheelhouse. вЂњHe not only loved it but wrote the melody to the lyric before dinner was served.

вЂњSteve said, вЂTell me the lyric,вЂ™ and (tears streaming down my face), I read him the lyric,вЂќ Panzer remembers. ThatвЂ™s why I wrote the lyric to вЂThrough The Years.вЂ™вЂќДЇrom there, Panzer took it to Dorff, a frequent collaborator, over dinner and got emotional presenting the song. The only relationships I knew and valued. вЂњButвЂ¦ I couldnвЂ™t think of a song that spoke about the great joys and benefits of long-term relationships. вЂњI realized that there were a hundred (if not a thousand) songs about falling in love, memorable affairs, losing love, regrets, and the pain of lost love,вЂќ Panzer says. In this case, lyricist Marty Panzer and composer Steve Dorff wrote вЂњThrough The Years.вЂќ Panzer tells American Songwriter in an e-mail what his motivation was for writing the lyrics. Rogers was a master of taking the sentiments of disparate songwriters and making them his own with ease thanks to his smooth, reassuring delivery. But you could argue that its themes of love and fidelity strengthening over time have made it one of his most enduring songs. вЂњThrough The Years,вЂќ found on RogersвЂ™ 1981 album Share Your Love, came up a bit short of that mark, settling in at No.

In a stretch between 19, Rogers amassed eight Top Ten singles. No country artist crossed over to the pop charts in the late вЂ70s and early вЂ80s with as much ease as Kenny Rogers.

Kenny rogers through the years youtube