Song Review – Brett Eldredge’s “Lose My Mind”
“But Trig! Don’t lump Brett Eldredge in with all the bros. He’s better than that!”
How many times have I heard that in the last year and a half? Plenty, let me tell you. And hey, it was probably true. Brett Eldredge didn’t deserve to be lumped in with the worst perpetrators of crimes and misdemeanors against country music, many of whom were at the heart of the Bro-Country movement. But that is what has been so sinister about this new trend emerging in the sun setting of Bro-Country. The new sexy R&B era (or Metro-Politan if you will) takes no prisoners, and there doesn’t seem to be a male country artist in the mainstream immune to its sway.
It’s like a bad teen summer zombie movie where the protagonist is running around his hometown, and one by one all his friends are slowly turned into flesh-eating monsters until he’s the last one standing with any sanity. Eli Young Band? Of course, what do they have to lose? Gary Allan? Sure, why not. Brett Eldredge? He’ll go along with it too apparently. At least Bro-Country felt like a country music subset. This new Cancer threatens to permeate every corner of the genre.
As the first single from his currently-unnamed sophomore album, Eldredge dons an expensive suit and does his best Justin Timberlake impression as he sips on a Scotch and lets the impossibly-hot Rachel Hilbert playing nurse feel him up. Because what could be more country than that? Oh, and there’s a song mixed in there somewhere too called “Lose My Mind.” It’s about a hot girl that’s so hot it makes him crazy. By the end of the whole exercise, Brett Eldredge isn’t the only one requiring a straitjacket and padded room to keep from hurting himself or others.
Eldredge skirts just above the worst of this new R&B and EDM trend by avoiding clearly electronic beats. But the presence of claps and snaps, some deftly-hidden digital zings and zangs, and slightly urban annunciations on certain phrases still can be marked as faux pas for the country music realm. That’s really the story of “Lose My Mind”— finding subtle ways to sell a total Timberlake Top 40 hit to country radio without really getting on the wrong side of the wrong people by making it too obvious. Strip the track all down though and it still has all the earmarks of country gone urban.
Written by Eldredge with Heather Morgan and Ross Cooperman, this lyrics aren’t particularly offensive as much as incredibly pedestrian. This is a dance song. And whenever you see one of the writers credited as a producer, which “Lose My Mind” has with Ross Cooperman, you know it’s all about maximizing a catchy melody in the chorus and focus-grouping the hell out of every decision until you have a hyper-single almost certain to crest at #1. It’s not coincidence all of Brett’s last three singles have reached #1 on country radio.
This is what’s happening to country radio right now ladies and gentlemen. Labels and producers are falling all over themselves to rush out these R&B-style country hits in hopes to capture the commercial windfall of the trend before it evaporates. Many don’t even have a parent album or a plan of what to do next. And despite Brett Eldredge’s track record, charm, how nice he is in his fans, or how well he cleans up in three piece suits, he’s just another hamster spinning on a wheel with this one. About the only redemption this song and video could have offered is if Los Straitjackets busted out of the walls like the Kool-Aid guy and started throwing down some mean surf guitar. Call me crazy…
1 3/4 of 2 Guns Down.
April 22, 2015 @ 7:44 pm
I know this isn’t about the music but this dude has some seriously messed up eyes. They freak me right out.
April 22, 2015 @ 8:30 pm
Never heard of him. I just wanted to see if my picture worked.
April 22, 2015 @ 8:52 pm
This irritates the crap out of me, he showed so much promise with “Raymond” It was fresh, had a story and sounded great. Where did this guy go?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_kEUJU-QVY
April 25, 2015 @ 10:58 am
We got to him. We offered him money and power and he became one of our agents willingly! Always remember, if you cut off one head, two more shall take its place.
HAIL HYDRA!!!!
April 27, 2015 @ 9:54 am
I have “Raymond” and “It Ain’t Gotta be Love” (his first two singles) on my computer, and while I don’t go out of my way to hear them, they’re decent enough, in my opinion. I don’t believe I’d heard his three subsequent singles but I looked them up. Dear god, they’re bad.
April 22, 2015 @ 9:01 pm
I find the video to be far more disturbing than the song. I appreciate politically incorrect humor more than most, but there is absolutely nothing funny about old-time fascist psychiatric prisons. It’s like joking about slavery.
The “padded room” verse in the song would have been much better if it had been left as a metaphor.
April 22, 2015 @ 9:47 pm
I’m glad that you said that. I’d be lying if I said I am somehow offended by the song or the video because I’m not, but I did ponder the lack of political correctness in the way everything is being illustrated here. There’s just something very last century about it. I think I might take more issue with it if the entire thing wasn’t throwaway to begin with.
Again I don’t take exception to the padded walls and straightjackets, but I can see how someone could.
April 23, 2015 @ 1:21 am
Your comment reminds me how my sister reacted when I told her about the Dierks Bentley chorus “5-1-5-0, somebody call the po-po”. She got really serious and told me the song was incredibly insensitive. I didn’t know she had stayed up all night with a schizophrenic friend one night and had to call 5-1-5-0 and watch him be taken to psychiatric hospital. If more country fans were from California, like me, Dierks probably would have been called out. He probably couldn’t have gotten away with using the psychiatric number of Tennessee or a southern state.
April 23, 2015 @ 7:28 am
That songs sucks too. Commercial Dierks trying to please the lable with “Sideways II.”
April 23, 2015 @ 1:08 pm
The video was clever. To call it offensive is crazy (pun intended). It was just a fun video.
April 22, 2015 @ 10:48 pm
Well…how bout that.
April 22, 2015 @ 10:52 pm
Huh. It kind of sounds like all those other songs written and played by all those same guys in that same ol’ washed up town that’s soon to just be a big complex of condos – not soon enough.
April 24, 2015 @ 7:05 am
New condos is right.
I have to drive through (or around Nashville) tomorrow.
I think that 2/3 of all the cranes in the state are in downtown Nashville.
I haven’t figured out why yet, but I will let you know if I do.
April 23, 2015 @ 12:08 am
This song is best listened to on Mute.
April 23, 2015 @ 1:53 am
Funny, I am a rock fan, so actually, as I have said often in my posts, the rock aspect of the bro country era didn’t bother me much. I know everyone here hates Jason Alden for his crimes against country music, but I liked his big guitars. This does bother me, and it must be said, I am not a r’n’b fan. I always bought and liked Eli young’s stuff, but man that last ep release was pure awful. My kid likes this version of country (she is 25) which I don’t understand because she was raised on good music (bob Marley, g’nr, Eagles, ac dc, queen, among others were mainlined into her ears since she was two years old and she still loves that stuff, so I am puzzled that she can’t see how bad this is).
Anyway, to my real point (there was one), I think this now shows us how justin Timberlake will make his “country” album sound. Most likely, his usual r’n’b with a banjo strum thrown in. …and it’ll sell to the young “country” audience by the truckload and “country” radio will play the hell out of it. Maybe Timberlake knew a year ago when he made that announcement that this trend was coming and had already targeted the new audience, he certainly has the inside scoop and this insidious takeover may well have been planned way in advance by the suits. And no doubt, he would be in tight with the suits. Guess he is a pretty savvy businessman.
April 23, 2015 @ 8:18 am
I think if/when Justin Timberlake makes a country album it will be much better than this and it will sound more country because it will come from a point of passion, not pandering for attention. Timberlake has the attention to be able to do what he wants, and everyone will listen. He’s a leader, while most all the males in today’s country are followers. But we’ll see…
April 23, 2015 @ 4:21 pm
Timberlake doing country will be the end of the world as we know it . Like S. Tyler and Swift , it will be an insult to the people who have loved , supported , written , played and recorded REAL country music their whole lives . A cash grab , an offense and SO lacking in integrity it should be criminal . And THIS is coming from a Timberlake fan . He’s brilliant , he’s creative , and personable . But his ‘country’ record will just be a HUGE slap in the face to REAL born and bred country music fans and artists .
April 23, 2015 @ 10:02 pm
As I have said when judging other artists coming into country music, the principle that should be observed here is “tabula rasa”, or “all country artists are created equal”.
We should wait until Timberlake’s first country single or album is released before making a critique.
April 23, 2015 @ 4:25 am
Another forgettable song from Brett that’ll go to # 1.
April 23, 2015 @ 5:58 am
I love that one of the tags in this post is “girl in Brett Eldredge’s ‘Lose My Mind’ video”. Way to draw in traffic, Trigger.
April 23, 2015 @ 6:00 am
yeah, this is very disappointing. It’s actually a decent song, but it doesn’t belong anywhere near country radio.
April 23, 2015 @ 6:31 am
His face reminds me a little of Steven Baldwin. Or maybe a character from one of those Hooterville sitcoms. I’m thinking Eb from Green Acres, maybe. Great name, Eb.
Not remotely country. But don’t lump him in with all the metro-bros! He’s better than that! 😉
April 23, 2015 @ 4:24 pm
” I”™m thinking Eb from Green Acres, maybe. Great name, Eb.”
Haha ….yes …Eb IS a great name …too funny . Here I thought we were talking about a guy named
E flat…which is pretty funny too , come to think of it
April 25, 2015 @ 10:36 am
speaking of Green Acres..
April 23, 2015 @ 6:34 am
I don’t listen to Justin Timberlake’s music, but I know he is talented and puts out an excellent product for what it is. This, Thomas Rhett’s new song, and to a lesser extent, Sam Hunt, are just really bad Timberlake impersonations. This song couldn’t be more uninteresting.
Trigger, although I know female country talent has been largely ignored in recent times, do you think this new “r&b funky” phase will extend to the ladies? Because female acts really couldn’t fully adopt bro-country because of the very nature of the topics (although there were some examples), I could see the top ladies getting on board with this, especially if it proves to be successful. And, although I’d rather not hear anybody on country radio sing this crap, if I had to pick, I’m choosing Carrie singing r&b over Thomas Rhett-Timberlake.
April 23, 2015 @ 8:13 am
It will be interesting to see but so far country’s recent mood swings haven’t involved the ladies whatsoever. At the same time, ladies aren’t being played on the radio whatsoever. There’s probably a connection there, but no, I do see the women following this trend on a large scale. Maybe a few outliers.
April 23, 2015 @ 7:32 am
I cannot stand this Bret Eldredge. He makes my skin crawl. His songs suck too. I know it is easy for me behind this computer to down this guy. I will never buy his music or ever see him live. So What! I am sure tons of BE fans will pick up my slack…….We will not be talking about this guy by next summer. He is very forgettable.
April 23, 2015 @ 8:21 am
Just a personal preference but I prefer the DMX version.
April 23, 2015 @ 9:12 am
Well, well, well… guess what Zac Brown’s new single sounds like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D05NewQpqxg
I’ll give you a hint: it’s “funky.”
April 23, 2015 @ 9:45 am
Funky? Zac brown and funk have never been in the same room. He’s whiter than Archie bunker
April 23, 2015 @ 9:59 am
Not that I 100% agree with you, but I would have gone with Pat Boone over Archie Bunker. Tutti Frutti, Oh Rudy.
April 23, 2015 @ 4:27 pm
“Funky? Zac brown and funk have never been in the same room. He”™s whiter than Archie bunker ”
Hahahah .
I guess if the radio says you gotta be funky this year you’d better be funky . Hey …. Isn’t that a website “FUNKY OR DIE ” ?
April 23, 2015 @ 10:20 am
Not trying to defend Zac Brown Band who I have fixed feelings on (like some of their songs, hate others). However, at least with them it “fits”. They have always bounced between genre’s on their albums. Sometimes the results have been good, other times they have been terrible, with that song falling in the latter category. Eldredge, Rhett and others just feel like they are trying to hop onto the Sam Hunt bandwagon and ride the next trend at Country radio.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:22 am
Don’t forget that the Zac Brown Band already experimented with R&B on their previous album, though.
The album cut “Overnight”, which features Trombone Shorty, was an unmistakable stab at that style. I thought it sounded pretty good, though lyrically was cringe-worthy at times.
I’d hardly consider “Loving You Easy” in the same offending vein as this song we’re discussing by Eldredge. It’s obviously radio fluff, but at least this sounds like an authentic foray. In some ways, it reminds me of Kristen Bush’s “Trailer Hitch”: a song I also enjoyed.
April 23, 2015 @ 11:59 am
Yeah, I agree that “Loving You Easy” is a cut above “Lose My Mind” in terms of quality, as is usually the case with the Zac Brown Band.
It’s just so weird how country radio is turning into an R&B / funky disco format.
April 23, 2015 @ 9:50 am
HELLO NURSE.
Got the cliché joke out of my system.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:01 am
GOOD NIGHT, NURSE.
Me, too.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:07 am
Terrible song. I’ll admit I was one of the people that felt Brett Eldredge was “better” than some of the other guys lumped in with him. I was never a huge fan, but rather than being offensive in it’s terribleness like with Swindell, his music was more simply forgettable.
This song just sucks. Sorry, but the production is awful, the lyrics are awful and any of the good will he had built up with “Raymond” is officially gone.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:10 am
First I hate the song and the insulting video. Looks like something Playboy would make. Second Trig, although I rarely disagree with you, Justin Timberlake is no leader in music. He is former Disney boy band singer. His music is his way of trying very hard to be the new Michael Jackson. But his voice is whiney, thin, and childish. It is often altered by computers.His lyrics are immature and lack any authentic reality. He has no real passion because he is can’t even be himself. He just wants your attention, but there real no pay off because there is no depth there. Just watch him act. He can’t act because he has no truth or no way to get to the truth. And he is no more country than Sam Hunt.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:04 pm
I disagree about his lyrics. They can sometimes be great, like with “Mirrors”.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:18 am
Doesn’t surprise me Eldredge has taken at least the lead single this direction.
“Bring You Back” was a most frustrating debut of a listening experience for me. From what I’ve read and heard, Eldredge had brought in much more substantive material to Atlantic Records Nashville to cut for his debut album, most notably “What Am I Gonna Dream About Now”, “Shade”, “Adios Old Friend” or the song he cut for Gary Allan, “I Think I’ve Had Enough”……….but they intervened and wouldn’t allow him to release most of the cuts and favored, instead, safe fodder that radio would eat up.
Eldredge at least succeeded in getting “One Mississippi” and “Signs” on the album, but even there it felt like Eldredge caved in to peer pressure and re-recorded both songs to where they felt more polished with less emotional payoff (still good songs regardless, just search out the earlier cuts for more poignant versions). They just didn’t feel quite as impactful. And a cursory glimpse at the track listing of “Bring You Back” exposes the main problem with that album……………there were too many cooks in the kitchen. And usually when that happens, you wind up with the lack of a distinctive flavor.
That obviously influenced its songwriting as well. Now, I give Eldredge props for releasing “Raymond” as his debut single. As overproduced as it was, too, it was still somewhat gutsy to tackle the subject of Alzheimer’s on a debut release: namely about the narrator meeting an elderly woman named Katherine Davis while working a minimum wage job at Ashbury Hills: who calls him “Raymond” because he looks just like her son who died in 1971 but still believes it’s 1943………..and to make her happy, decides to run with it and keep her company. At least he tried to inject some substance into the mainstream then.
Unfortunately, it only became a minor chart hit…………and “It Ain’t Gonna Be Love” misfired altogether…………..and probably after some forceful arm-wrangling behind the scenes, we got “Don’t Ya”: a breezier brand of bro-country song that opens with the cringe-worthy line: “Girl, you cut those jeans just right…” complete with a bachelor party music video……………..and of course it became his breakout major hit. And the two hits that have followed is a dime-a-dozen soaring sing-along about love with a beachy vibe (“Beat of the Music”) and an overly pleasant and earnest lovey-dovey ballad (“Mean To Me”).
*
The bottom line is, regardless of his breakout success and “Best New Artist” accolades, Eldredge is a marionette of Atlantic Records Nashville………..jerked around from above by executive overlords. At least he can perhaps take comfort he hasn’t fully submitted on his hands and knees like Luke Bryan has and squeal: “Do your worst! Humiliate me any way you want if it’s what it will take for me to be a superstar!”. But he’s a marionette all the same………………and that’s exactly why we now have “Lose My Mind” and the uneasy video accompanying it.
And, we can only hope if he keeps his commercial momentum a little while longer, he’ll have the clout to finally stand up and release songs like those mentioned above.
*
Anyway, this is an utterly lame song, but predictably so. Yeah, I’m thinking a 1 3/4 Guns Down verdict too.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:38 am
I really liked the title track to Bring You Back. I hoped that would at least get a stab at being a single, but I guess not
April 23, 2015 @ 11:09 am
I actually kind of like the production of the song. It kind of reminds me of a poppier version of “Little White Church.” Not very country, but decent. Unfortunately, the lyrics make this song a waste of time.
So many of the young male artists these days are trying to become tux-wearing, modern day sex symbols like JT or something. I remember thinking that while watching the ACMs and all the guys were wearing $10,000 suits. But then they go on and on about how country they are and how they don’t have much money but they have enough. Whatever.
April 23, 2015 @ 12:40 pm
I didn’t know jay cutler sang country music
April 23, 2015 @ 12:44 pm
Oh Brett, no. 🙁 This is the same guy who did Raymond and Go On Without Me? Country trend chasing is just the worst.
April 23, 2015 @ 2:49 pm
I agree.
Making fun of people with mental disorders is like making fun of Jerry’s Kids.
Who told this ++++++++++++ (name whatever feminine hygiene product that comes to mind) that this was funny?
I only made it to the 1:56 mark of the song before I had to kill it.
My God it’s deplorable.
And what about it is even remotely related to country music (his target genre and audience)?
April 23, 2015 @ 4:12 pm
Shouldn’t this be in the other thread about dumbing down America ? Generic EVERYTHING from video to beard to suit to forgettable song and absolutely characterless voice . Don’t tell me THIS crap isn’t targeted for an “I don’t care who or what it is as long as its ‘hip’ ” demographic. Hey …and don’t forget that pile of shit Currington just released ( yes….. I said ‘released’ ). I heard that thing half a dozen times on the ‘wallpaper radio station ‘ at work before I could even take a GUESS at the title . Straight up R and B from another T-shirt with a beard . Fuck . What is happening ? This is just so , so sad that our youth have to be subjected to the worst of the worst music being made ….that much worse that they are being lead to believe this is country music . I’d rather have my kids listen to an hour of cleverly crafted , hooky , multi-genre , creative TV ads ….at the very least they’d learn SOMETHING about creativity and freshness when it comes to marketing weed spray or car insurance . Certainly their time and formative years would be spent far more productively . This shit makes me so angry sometimes .
April 23, 2015 @ 7:27 pm
hey don’t be cracking on Billy Currington. the guy is a respectable true country artist. “Don’t It” is far from a bad song, it’s catchy and fun. If you think that song is a “pile of shit” it’s my best guess that you don’t tune into country radio often. It’s one of the best songs on the radio right now along with Mo Pitney’s “Country”, Austin Webb’s “All Country On You”, Kenny Chesney’s “Wild Child”, etc…. Wanna hear garbage? Listen to “It Feels Good” by Drake White or “Turn It On” by Eli Young Band. now that is GARBAGE. I love the fact that Billy can stick true to his roots and give a modern twist on some of his songs.
April 24, 2015 @ 5:31 am
I agree with you about Billy. He is what he is. Especially since he decided to only release “happy” songs, you don’t go in to one of his albums expecting feelings and depth. I think his last album had some really good songs on it that could have been singles, Wingman would have fit in with today’s tone, 23 Degrees and South is good, even Hard To Be a Hippie with Willie Nelson would have made a good single. Billy has many loyal fans, but for some reason, despite most of his singles eventually hitting #1, he’s just never hit that next level.
April 23, 2015 @ 10:08 pm
Nobody “has” to be subjected to this song. If this comes on the radio, all one needs to do is switch the station.
April 23, 2015 @ 7:25 pm
This song sucks. And I like Brett Eldredge. It’s a terrible mix of pop, R&B, and country. Florida Georgia Line does this but they blend it together well and make it enjoyable. While being a Jason Aldean fan, I firmly believe him and his label are at 200% fault for making country music what it has been for the past few years. “Burnin It Down” has caused all these labels to make their artists change and cash in on this new R&B crap. IMO Burnin It Down is a decent song (not country but still) but anything that followed in the footsteps of that song like this garbage is a perfect example of how a one hit wonder cannot be recreated. Sam Hunt is majorly contributing to this trend…the guy has extreme talent and hes a great guy but he does not belong in country music unless he steps up and starts incorporating at least SOME country elements in his music. But as for Brett, I’m extremely disappointed. He’s a great artist but this just about did it for me.
April 24, 2015 @ 5:10 am
How did I miss this review?? I’ve been waiting on it since he debuted the single on Booby Bones (not a spelling error). I’m a long time Brett fan and this song makes me sad. The video makes me even sadder. He’s better than this. He can sing, he can write a good song and the fact that he bent over, grabbed his knees and released this subpar nonsense annoys me. The video is like a soap opera version of Penthouse Forums. Hey guys that sing, women don’t enjoy seeing you make out with someone dressed in a nurse costume from Fredericks of Hollywood. We also aren’t interested in the T&A shots. We watch your videos because we think YOU are hot and wound like that too be the focus. There is a fine line between sexy and skeezy and this video jumped right over it. I get that Brett is still relatively new and trying to find his niche, but I prefer the whiskey drinking, well dressed, Frank Sinatra-ish Brett over this guy.
April 24, 2015 @ 7:22 am
I don’t particularly wanna engage in this debate but I do wanna bring one fact to light that I feel like a lot of people seriously don’t know. Thomas Rhett’s Make Me Wanna was released in August 2012….Carry on lol.
April 24, 2015 @ 4:00 pm
This song has the same problem as Thomas Rhett’s newest song, in that it’s lyrics don’t match the tone of the song. The lyrics (at least to me) come off as kind of creepy, yet the song is an upbeat dance track. It throws the song way off for me. Couple that with the fact that it’s just a generic song as a whole, and this song is trash. I liked Bring You Back for the most part, so it’s amazing that he can just switch from songs like “One Mississippi” to a song like this. I really hope that his whole album isn’t like this, but I’ve got a bad feeling that it will be.
April 25, 2015 @ 11:01 am
At this point I am numb. All the singers with promise end up selling out to the bros and soccer moms. Heck, probably Sturgill Simpson will sell out in about 5 years….although I hope and pray he does not!!!
November 21, 2015 @ 2:15 pm
None of this answers the question I’ve had for 10 years. Who IS this guy? Who is his father, his uncle, his family. He was a Belmont student, and even then he was cocky and seemed to see success as a given. He’s some sort of elite, and he’s blatantly Jewish and nobody ever says it. I saw him get the red carpet treatment from his Sophomore year. As a female, i find pushing him as a sex symbol ludicrous, he’s a dork, and he looks like a dork. I’m sorry but something about his whole career just has a disingenuous feel to it. He didn’t pay any dues at all. Im also shocked to see many seem to think he has talent and a “great” voice. Dear God, what happened to people? No discernment whatsoever. His big win this year at the BMI awards seals it for me, he’s a concocted act and about something bigger than the music business, someone in NYC, something nefarious. He has a nice gravely voice, but it is nothing special at all, many many fine singers have the same quality. No there is something to his success that is not about music, talent, or anything artistic at all.
October 17, 2017 @ 8:19 pm
GAWD YES. Postit, you and I should be friends. I just had to look up one of this tool’s songs for a wedding I have to play in a few days; it’s the glorification of no-talent ass clowns like Brett Eldredge that deflates all hope for the future of music.
June 19, 2017 @ 11:12 am
I F*ing hate this song. Especially the intermittent, one note synthesizer bleep every 2 seconds in the refrain. Stupid cheesy sounding.
August 4, 2017 @ 2:13 pm
That repetitive Atari video game sound effect irritates the hell out of me.
December 25, 2020 @ 10:01 am
Brett looks like Bradley Cooper to me