Let’s be real for a second. Mention the name Chris Gaines in a crowded bar, and you’re usually met with one of two reactions: a confused squint from someone who wasn't around in 1999, or a full-blown eye-roll from a Garth Brooks purist who still hasn't forgiven him for the wig.
But if you actually sit down and listen—really listen—to the track Chris Gaines Driftin Away, something weird happens. You realize it’s actually a damn good song.
I know, I know. The whole project was a "pre-soundtrack" for a movie called The Lamb that never even got made. It was a marketing fever dream that involved Garth wearing a soul patch and a wig that looked like it belonged to a moody Britpop bassist. But beneath the layers of 90s confusion, "Driftin' Away" stands out as a masterclass in blue-eyed soul that Garth Brooks had no business singing as well as he did.
The Soulful Pivot of Chris Gaines Driftin Away
Most people remember "Lost in You" because it actually hit the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the "safe" pop hit. But "Driftin' Away" is the song where Garth—er, I mean Chris—really leans into the R&B influence that defined the fictional character's "second phase" of his career.
Written by Tommy Sims (the same guy who co-wrote Eric Clapton's "Change the World"), the track isn't a country song with a pop coat of paint. It’s a slow-burn ballad that feels more like something Brian McKnight or Babyface would have recorded.
The lyrics are heavy. They deal with that specific, gut-wrenching realization that a relationship is ending not because of a big fight, but because you're just... losing grip.
"And I'm so afraid that you've forgiven me one too many times / And I'm so afraid to give my heart again, just to have a change of mind."
That's a level of vulnerability you didn't often see in the "Friends in Low Places" era of Garth. He was playing a character, sure, but he was also using that character as a shield to try things his country fanbase would have probably laughed at if he'd done them in a cowboy hat.
Why the Song Felt So Out of Place (And Why it Works Now)
When Garth Brooks in... the Life of Chris Gaines dropped on September 28, 1999, the world wasn't ready for a country superstar to go full alternative-R&B.
It was jarring.
Fans were confused by the VH1 Behind the Music special that treated Gaines like a real person. They didn't get why Garth was hosting Saturday Night Live as himself but appearing as the musical guest as Chris Gaines. It was a bit much.
But honestly? Chris Gaines Driftin Away works better today than it did then. We live in an era where Post Malone can do country, Beyoncé can do country, and Lil Nas X can do... whatever he wants. The "genre walls" have crumbled. If "Driftin' Away" were released today by a new artist, it would probably be a streaming giant.
The Vocal Performance
Garth’s vocal on this track is insane. He hits these airy, falsetto notes that he almost never used in his country catalog. He was stretching his range to the breaking point. Some critics at the time called it "turgid" or said it brought the album's pace to a crawl. I disagree. I think it’s the emotional anchor of the record.
Behind the Scenes: The Tommy Sims Connection
You can't talk about the sound of this track without talking about Tommy Sims. Sims was a massive part of the Gaines project, and his fingerprints are all over the soulful, acoustic-driven production.
In the fictional backstory of Chris Gaines, this song was supposed to represent a period after Chris survived a horrific car accident and underwent plastic surgery. He came back with a new face and a new sound. In reality, it was just Garth Brooks wanting to see if he could conquer the pop world.
He didn't quite conquer it, but he did leave us with some fascinating artifacts.
What Really Happened to the Movie?
The biggest reason "Driftin' Away" remains a cult curiosity is because the context—the movie The Lamb—vanished.
The film was supposed to be a psychological thriller about a fan obsessed with Gaines. When the album didn't sell 10 million copies in the first week (it still went Double Platinum, mind you), Paramount Pictures got cold feet. The movie was scrapped, leaving the album as a soundtrack to a ghost.
Without the film to explain the character arc, the songs were left to stand on their own. And for many people, "Driftin' Away" just felt like a weird Garth Brooks side project that they didn't know how to categorize.
How to Listen to Chris Gaines Today
Funny enough, for a long time, this music was hard to find. Garth is notoriously protective of his digital footprint (remember GhostTunes?).
But the "Gaines-iacs"—the small but vocal cult following of this album—have kept the flame alive. You can find "Driftin' Away" on various streaming platforms now, usually tucked away under the full album title.
If you want to experience the track properly:
- Ditch the preconceptions. Forget the wig. Forget the soul patch.
- Listen to the production. Notice the way the acoustic guitar layers with the R&B beat.
- Pay attention to the bridge. It’s one of the most musically complex things Garth has ever put his name on.
The Legacy of a "Failure"
Garth has said in interviews that his "ribs are still sore" from the beating he took over Chris Gaines. It’s often cited as one of the biggest misfires in music history.
But is it?
If the goal was to make a great R&B-pop record, he kind of succeeded. Chris Gaines Driftin Away is proof of that. It’s a song about the fear of change and the sadness of fading away, which is ironically what happened to the Gaines persona himself.
Maybe it’s time we stop treating it as a punchline and start treating it as a brave, if slightly weird, piece of musical history.
Next Steps for the Curious Listener:
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If you actually liked "Driftin' Away," you should check out "It Don't Matter to the Sun." It’s another ballad from the same project that was later covered by Don Henley and Rosie Thomas. It proves that the songwriting on the Gaines project was top-tier, even if the marketing was a mess. You might also want to track down the VH1 Behind the Music episode on YouTube—it’s a fascinating time capsule of 1999's peak-celebrity weirdness.