Kane Brown Delivers His Most Heartfelt Song Yet, “When You Forget,” a Devastating Tribute to the Man Who Raised Him
“When You Forget,” the closing track on Kane Brown’s latest project, isn’t just a song—it’s an intimate window into a deeply personal experience the artist and his family are currently navigating. In a heartfelt Instagram post, Brown shared a photo of his grandparents, revealing that his grandfather’s ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s served as the emotional foundation for the song’s creation.
Describing his grandfather as “the hardest working man I know and will ever know,” Brown expressed profound admiration, saying he can only hope to live up to half the example his grandfather has set throughout his life.
The writing process, Brown admitted, was emotionally taxing. “This is the only track on the album that brought tears while we were putting it together,” he confessed. He went on to share that his grandfather had been experiencing memory loss, calling Alzheimer’s a “terrible disease” and offering his hope that listeners facing similar struggles would find comfort and connection in the lyrics.
In a final note within his tribute, Brown simply said, “I love you pepaw,” a message that encapsulated the emotional gravity behind the song and the album as a whole.
Brown has often written music inspired by the people closest to him, and his new album, The High Road, features not only emotional solo tracks but also two moving duets with his wife, Katelyn. The record, while sonically polished, is rich with personal significance.
He recently opened up in an interview with Holler about how much the song also affected his grandmother—his grandfather’s wife. The song was just as much for her, he said, as it was for the man she’s stood beside for decades.
Brown recalled the emotional moment when he called his Nana to share the idea of writing a song for his grandfather. “As soon as I told her, I could hear her voice crack,” he remembered. “You could tell she was trying not to cry.” That call became the start of something that would ultimately touch thousands.
The High Road officially dropped last week, and since then, “When You Forget” has quickly become one of the most talked-about songs from the album, praised for its vulnerability and stripped-down emotional clarity.
Kane Brown, “When You Forget” Lyrics:
I walked in the room, looked in your eyes / And I could tell right then you didn’t recognize / The man I’ve become, and it tore me up / But that’s just what time sometimes does
Your memory’s fading, it’s breaking my heart / If you look in that mirror and wonder who you are
Chorus:
You’re still our hero / You’re still the man / Hell of a father and a damn good friend / You can fix any problem with a wrench or some words / The backbone of our family in the front of that church / You kept every promise / For worse or for better / I’m writing you this / So when you forget, you can remember
We were turning them roads when you taught me to drive / You’ve been wearing that ring since July of ’55 / You kept food on that table, lights on in that house / So don’t ever question, no don’t ever doubt
Repeat Chorus
Your memory’s fading, it’s breaking my heart / If you look in that mirror and wonder who you are…
