Who is the mystery Minnesota woman in Garth Brooks' new song 'St. Paul/Minneapolis'?

The true story about a chance encounter appears on his new album, "Time Traveler."

November 7, 2023 at 11:05AM
On his new album, Garth Brooks sings a song about a mysterious woman he met in the Twin Cities. (Chris Pizzello, Invision/AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Garth Brooks has a special connection with Minneapolis.

"This has been the biggest city for us in our career," he said in 2019 before playing two nights at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Despite performing in front of more than 500,000 people in the Twin Cities since 1998, the country megastar said one person here stands out. In fact, she is so extraordinary that he wrote and recorded a new song about their chance encounter called "St. Paul/Minneapolis (A True Story)."

"I don't have a clue who she is. It's the weirdest thing. It was the easiest thing I've ever done. When she started talking, there was something in me that unlocked," he told Billboard this week. "In my dream of dreams, I'd love to run into her again and see if that easy feeling was really that or am I just imagining things."

An understated acoustic ballad sweetened with strings, "St. Paul/Minneapolis" appears on Brooks' 14th studio album, "Time Traveler," which goes on sale Tuesday exclusively at Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's. The 10-track album is included in his new seven-disc boxed set, "The Limited Series."

Brooks never discussed the encounter with anyone, including his wife, country star Trisha Yearwood. He refused to tell Billboard about the specifics of the random meeting "because if this person is going to show up, then she'll know the details that nobody else does and I'll know I'm talking to the right person."

If that doesn't sound cryptic enough, the hugely popular 61-year-old isn't even sure if the woman recognized him. "As I try to go unnoticed," he sings, "I never looked into your eyes." He ran into the mysterious woman "just up the street from where we played."

Brooks sings "life is hard, sometimes harder" and "you were easy as a smile." He's perplexed by her and her situation. "My heart beats in frustration," he croons. "I think of you and wonder why." While his intentions are honorable, his curiosity is unquenchable. "Now I'm not looking for relation/ And I don't wanna change your life."

But as he searches for this woman, he ponders: "Even you don't know who you are."

Brooks penned the new tune without any co-writers. He rhymes "Minneapolis" with "happiness"; hence, St. Paul/Minneapolis instead of the more common Minneapolis/St. Paul.

"Time Traveler" features guest vocalists Kelly Clarkson and Ronnie Dunn as well as a cover of "The Ride," the David Allan Coe hitchhiker tune.

The new album is included in a $29.99 set with Brooks' three post-retirement studio albums — 2014's "Man Against Machine," 2016's "Gunslinger" and 2020's "Fun" — and 2019's three-disc "Triple Live" concert package.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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