Song Review – Jamey Johnson’s “Sober”

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#510 and #515 (Traditional Country, Country Gospel) on the Country DDS.

Jamey Johnson has never been the most animated or enthusiastic performer out there in country music. Even in the early portions of his career, his laconic, borderline lethargic nature is what had some people characterizing his music and performances as a bit boring. But when Johnson is at his best, he exploits his slow and plodding, but passionate and purposeful nature, building up tension and power in his music like a bulldozer to ultimately barrel you over with emotion.

You hear this approach in classic Jamey Johnson songs such as “In Color” and “Can’t Cash My Checks.” After Johnson’s nearly 15 year lapse since releasing new, original music, we were hoping for some songs along those lines to accompany a burst of new song releases, which has now seen four new song in as many months. We get that with “Sober.”

The song was co-written with James Slater, who appropriately also co-wrote “High Cost of Living” with Jamey released back in 2009. Johnson says, “I am 13 years sober now. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since 2011, and I know that could end this afternoon. It is a day-to-day, hour-to-hour decision. Most of the places I play are bars, or I am still hanging out in bars. That’s where most of my friends are. Now I can hang out in them and not be drinking like I used to. That is what ‘Sober’ is about.”

Songs about sobriety and the difficulty achieving and maintaining it are nothing new. But Johnson really captures the difficulty of the decision where all your buddies and co-workers are still on the sauce, and here you are sipping on club soda. He then loops in the severe judgement sober people often face when they try to lean on religion to help them through the process. It’s not just the personal dependence itself. It’s how society makes it even harder to extricate yourself from self-defeating habits.

As insightful and introspective as the writing is, it’s the organ that helps build that boiling tension and passion behind this song while giving it just enough of a Gospel feel to fit the reverence of the song’s intent. Then the harmonica comes in and really sets “Sober” off.

Though Johnson’s Memorial Day anthem “21 Guns” was admirable, his cover of “Trudy” by Charlie Daniels was entertaining, and “What A View” was a fine love song, “Sober” is really where we hear Jamey Johnson in top Jamey Johnson form, turning in a country song that you sense will be around and beloved for many years to come like the top selections from his back catalog.

Whether you’re clean or not, “Sober” is the Jamey Johnson song you’ve waited 15 years for.

8.5/10

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