"Twenty Years Ago" is a song written by Dan Tyler,

Wood Newton Wood Newton (born September 16, 1946 in Hampton, Arkansas, United States) is an American songwriter and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Newton was born in Hampton, Arkansas, and graduated from Hampton High School in Hampton, Arkansas ...

, Michael Noble and C. Michael Spriggs. It was recorded by

Juice Newton Juice Newton (born Judith Kay Newton; February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 198 ...

for her 1983 album '' Dirty Looks''. In 1986, the song was covered by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

and released in January 1987 as the second single from his album '' They Don't Make Them Like They Used To''. Backup vocals were provided by

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago (band), Chicago from 1 ...

. It reached number two on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart and #15 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

Content

In the song, the narrator talks about visiting the old town where he grew up in and mentions how much simpler and possibly better life was back then. He mentions the old movie house and the drug store where he worked and his childhood friend who died in Vietnam. The music video was shot in

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is a city in Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tennessee, fifth-most populo ...

largely on Franklin Street.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Kenny Rogers 1983 songs 1987 singles Juice Newton songs Kenny Rogers songs Songs written by Wood Newton Songs written by Dan Tyler RCA Records singles