Song Review – “The Driver” by Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum
The only thing good that could come from Charles Kelley releasing solo material is that it hints that maybe Lady Antebellum is on the rocks. And since the word is that this is not the case and the band is just taking a short hiatus, not even this can be celebrated as a positive development.
Ahead of what is apparently an upcoming full blown solo release, Charles Kelley has released a single called “The Driver” with cameos by Dierks Bentley and Eric Paslay. And despite some fans and critics falling over themselves to crown this song as a positive development, and a deep and moody opus, if you take a second to actually extricate yourself from the swooning production and truly listen, you’ll discover that “The Driver” is in fact shallow, calculating, and in segments, pretty terrible, especially since it tries to pull one over on the listener as emotional balladry.
“The Driver” is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, with the wolf being a a somewhat moderate and plaintive, but still unmistakable Bro-Country song, and the sheep being the paper-thin coverlet of a majestic tear-jerker. Removed from the production, “The Driver” a fist-pumping, self-affirming concert anthem, padded by excessive “ooh ooh ooh’s!” where the writers got lazy.
“Oh, easy come easy go, yeah we rock then we roll out of town.
But for now, why the moment is here shine a light, drink a beer, let’s get loud.”
Well I guess it’s good for Charles Kelley that he was able to nab this song before Florida Georgia Line could cut it. Let Joey Moi sink his fangs into this and it could have turned into the second coming of “Cruise.” This song is deep like Luke Bryan’s “Drink A Beer” was deep, which means not deep at all, only touching on the essence of depth, but not actually willing to take the plunge. Honestly I was a lot more intrigued by Charles Kelly’s performance as Ronnie Bunns from the band Dick Fantastic and the Fabulous Foreskins singing “My Maria” with Dierks Bentley’s alter ego Douglas Douglason & Hot Country Knights.
“The Driver” is yet another Bob Seger song rehashed (in this case, “Turn The Page”), just without the soul and a set of cutting lyrics. It’s about bands coming to your town, playing music, enjoying the moment, and then leaving, yet it relies more on ambiguity and buzzwords like “beer” and “cornfield” as opposed to story to string verses and choruses together. I’m not saying the lyricism is terrible. It’s certainly better than some. But that doesn’t make it good.
And as for the music, it’s rising, which is important, but pretty obvious in the approach, flimsy under scrutiny, and certainly not country in any capacity. But because it’s not terrible, we cheer. It says a lot about the state of music when a song like “The Driver” is where we place our hope.
If Charley Kelley is bored during the Lady Antebellum hiatus, perhaps he needs to take is $1,600 haircut and go star in a soap opera or something. I’m not feeling this one even a little bit. I also want to introduce a theory I will call “The Cam Effect.” Cam is the one-named curly-haired girl with the song “Burning House” that nobody knows what it’s about but has somehow wiggled its way to near the top of the charts. Good for her, but I have a feeling this will result in more songs with stripped-down production and ambiguous meanings that people will swoon over as progress, but still sell the public short on substance.
Yes, bah humbug.
Feel free to tell me how I have this song all wrong in the comments section below. I mean jeez, I don’t like anything, do I? “Not as bad as some” is about the only accolade I can muster for this one.
1 1/4 of 2 Guns DOWN.
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October 5, 2015 @ 8:57 am
“I mean jeez, I don”™t like anything, do I?”
I disagree. I think you go out of your way to be fair with this stuff, whereas I’ll listen to a song and think “This is the first horseman of the apocalypse.”
October 5, 2015 @ 9:01 am
If you take a 2 out of a math problem, it’s still a 2. To translate: removing this guy from Lady Antebellum doesn’t make him talented, country, or respectable. He’s still a 2; which is crap.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:05 am
I thought that burning house song was alright! Well it was different and i didn’t hear the auto tune.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:05 am
I thought that burning house song was alright! Well it was different and i didn’t hear the auto tune..
October 5, 2015 @ 9:10 am
I couldn’t even hear the lyrics clearly. I couldn’t really fine anyplace that had lyrics written down but it might’ve been too early when I went looking. I thought the melody was good at least.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:12 am
I agree with you here. I’ve read a few sites, and tweets from people I think have good taste, praising this song. I don’t really hear it. I think the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” reference here is pretty well dead on. Kelly has a good voice that could pull off a good ballad, the lyrics here are just lacking.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:13 am
Lady Antebellum is pop country and I kind of liked their early stuff, especially with Kelly on lead vocals. I don’t know what to say about their recent stuff, “Downtown” and “Bartender” are both horrific.
I also found it weird that Lady Antebellum released so many Scott-led singles when females were struggling to get radio play and singers like Kelly were doing well.
Anyways, ever since Hello World I haven’t really enjoyed Lady A. I kind of hope Kelly’s album does well, just so the band will go away.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:30 am
This band COULD have been something special . Looked good , had a nice blend vocally , SEEMED more mature than the Perry’s . They lucked out …and I don’t say that thoughtlessly ..with a song about drunk dialing ( that , unfortunately , too many young folk could relate to …) which had an OK generic hook and placed them firmly on that music map . However , pretty much everything they released after that was just coasting , forgettable and riddled with too much ambiguity style-wise and little substance. They couldn’t even trend-chase effectively .Another Starland Vocal Band that got a bit more mileage cuz its easier to do on county radio than pop . ” Downtown ” and ” Bartender” were just WRONG WRONG WRONG for this band .And now we have a more marketable version on Lady A in another directionless bunch called Little Big Town . SOOOO not country ( Listen to ‘Painkiller’ ….or better still…DON”T . It will cause more pain than it will kill ).
October 5, 2015 @ 9:18 am
Another song relying on “ooooooohhh”s and filler like “oh yeah” as lyrics. This always strikes me as cheap and disingenuous. What, the writers couldn’t find actual lyrics so they just used vocal sound to fill in?
Better than most and tolerable to the ear, but it certainly wouldn’t be my first choice to listen to.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:20 am
‘Oh, easy come easy go, yeah we rock then we roll out of town.
But for now, why the moment is here shine a light, drink a beer, let”™s get loud.”
I would be embarrassed to have my name associated with the above lyric
_____________________
“Good for her, but I have a feeling this will result in more songs with stripped-down production and ambiguous meanings that people will swoon over as progress, but still sell the people short on substance.”
Bingo ….and BINGO Trigger .
” If it SOUNDS good , it must BE good right ” ? NOPE
” If RADIO plays it MUST be good …right ” ? NOPE…
” If its a female getting airply on mainstream country, it MUST be good ..RIGHT” ?. NOPE again..
” If she’s a pretty female , it must be good right ..? ” …SORRY ….NOPE .
” If I don’t understand the lyric , it must be ME ..right ..its still a good song ..right ” ..NOPE.
” I just don’t understand this music thing ” . I don’t know WHAT I’m supposed to like anymore …YUP…..EXACTLY !!!!!
October 5, 2015 @ 9:23 am
I love how the cover is a nod to 1960s-era Capitol album jackets yet the song itself is just complete and utter 21st century bullshit.
Well-played, Capitol, well-played.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:35 am
He don’t look like a lady to me.
October 5, 2015 @ 9:40 am
Even before I abandoned country radio I was sick of Lady Antebellum. “I Run to You” and especially “Need You Now” did them in for me before I even stopped to consider how un-country they really were. Their first couple of singles like “Love Don’t Live Here” were pretty decent. Even “American Honey” wasn’t bad. But any time I could actually get past the music, the fact that this is one of the most overplayed “country” outfits of the millennium just kills it for me. Normally I at least listen to a sample of songs that are reviewed; I have no desire with this one, whether it’s above average or the worst thing since mustard gas.
October 5, 2015 @ 1:15 pm
It’s actually quite remarkable to me how rapidly they’ve declined in such a short amount of time compared to Rascal Flatts most notably.
Now, I’ve never been a fan of either trio. But to the credit of Rascal Flatts, they’ve had some remarkable longevity for a group that is basically the prototypal boy band of country/”country” radio. Between 2000 and 2008, they never had a single one of their five albums released during that span fail to go multi-Platinum. And their first nineteen singles never failed to miss the Top Ten on the airplay chart. That demands some begrudging respect from me.
Lady Antebellum, on the other hand, have failed to harness the insane momentum they received early in their career. They released a debut album that started slow but eventually gained steam to multi-platinum status, then exploded to mainstream prominence with their sophomore album. Then……………….”Own The Night” failed to sell even half of what “Need You Now” sold, and each subsequent album has sold only a third of its predecessor.
Their rapid decline is just fascinating to observe. Whereas Rascal Flatts, while not that relevant anymore either, were at least able to decline in a more natural fashion.
October 5, 2015 @ 2:26 pm
It might be that I’m not the only one sick of their oversaturation. Plus, too many of their songs sound alike. That’s a common complaint about any music or artist that someone doesn’t like, but most of LA’s songs try to appeal to the lowest common denominator with a soft pop sound. They seem unable to escape the love ballad world, and I think it’s finally working against them. Plus, they don’t really fit into the current market of bro-country and metro-bro. Sure, they have a piano, but that’s less distinctive because it’s a personal touch of theirs and moreso because hardly anyone uses the instrument in country anymore.
October 5, 2015 @ 2:52 pm
Right.
And when they DID try to escape the love ballad world like you said with “747”, it seemed so calculated and contrived. “Compass” was a capitulation to the pseudo-inspirational EDM/club boom bandwagon. “Bartender” was a capitulation to the “Yeah, I know life is hard, but let’s drink, put our hands in the air and forget all about it tonight!” club-friendly pop trend. And “Freestyle”………………….yeah…………………let’s just forget that even exists! =P
Oh, right……………and they even had a hilariously desperate attempt to pander to Southern pride with “Down South”. That’s about as authentic an attempt to scream “I’m country!” than a beatbox in an asparagus farm.
It didn’t help matters that, as much as they flailed desperately to escape the love ballad world with key tracks on “747”…………………that they nonetheless mostly regressed right back to that mold with most remaining tracks off of the album………………….with the only difference being that they were mid-tempo songs instead of ballads. “Lie With Me”, “747”, “One Great Mystery”, “She Is”……………….it’s the exact same formula with a different Top Ramen spice flavor.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:50 pm
I also was fascinated by how fast they went from hottest new thing in Nashville/premiere country band to an afterthought.
They started as a somewhat exciting, youth-leaning country pop act that engaged with their fans via MySpace, Youtube and Facebook and scored a huge pop hit with “Need You Now.” Then they transitioned to an adult contemporary band for some reason and lost a lot of young fans.
I think one big issue with them is that they never established their own sound. This was further complicated by having two lead singers that got even time behind the mic.
October 5, 2015 @ 4:00 pm
You raise a great point regarding how social media savvy they were, especially with their weekly Webisode Wednesdays feature. That garnered quite a bit of interest for a long while as far as YouTube video views was concerned.
Yeah, I think you’re right about their failure to develop a sound of their own came back to haunt them. I’ve never cared for Rascal Flatts and their single releases have missed rather than hit much more often than not. But you have to give them credit for at least having a familiar sound (as boring as I generally considered it). Three-fourths of the time being a chicken-fried version of late 90s-early 00’s boy bands and set to a decidedly Adult Contemporary-geared musical template, but the other 25% of their single releases geared to oddities where they try to act all edgier and hip (“Bob That Head”, “Me And My Gang”, “Summer Nights”)…………..and quite unconvincingly I might add.
And it was most effective at that time. That formula never would have worked in this current climate, but their production team had an accurate read of what their audience wanted at that time, and thus enjoyed remarkable mainstream longevity. Lady Antebellum emerged almost a full decade after Rascal Flatts did and, by that time, that style only had a few years left in the tank.
October 5, 2015 @ 5:24 pm
If I remember correctly, they were doing that Webisode Wednesdays thing way before any other country artist had used Youtube to engage fans, with the exception of Taylor Swift. I remember stumbling upon their webisodes when the band was new and thinking, “wow, what a clever way to use Youtube.”
Of course, that was probably in 2008 or something.
October 5, 2015 @ 5:34 pm
Last thing…
They also played at a ton of colleges when they first started playing arenas. I know they played South Dakota State, Murray State, Missouri State, West Virginia University, Georgia Southern University and a couple others during a tour a couple years ago. I remember looking at the tour schedule and being surprised at how many colleges they were playing at.
Florida Georgia Line followed suit and also kicked off their arena touring primarily at mid-sized state colleges.
Point being, Lady A had the youth market cornered early on.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:35 pm
“Their rapid decline is just fascinating to observe.”
Ya gotta have a GREAT song , Nadia . If not , you’d better have the most trend-sounding thing around and steal from every genre or the other to do it . Then pray it sticks . Lady A have been very bad at picking great tunes and , as I said above , very bad at trend-chasing .
I’ll add one other comment and yes , yourself and many others might consider it sexist but I’ve heard it from the powers that be more times than I can count. Lady A’s lady went from being a great looking young woman to a very mom- looking young woman in an awful hurry .NO OFFENSE MOMS . I’m talking marketability -wise . Arguably the guys remained eye-candy for ” that crowd ” but Hillary seems to have become …well…matronly-looking . And you can kid yourself but the fact is , that doesn’t help the marketing department in these times . I think Lady A as a band really has their work cut out for them if they want to stay relevant and successfully dodge that revolving door that country radio has become .
October 5, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
It’s fascinating to me mostly because Rascal Flatts didn’t suffer a similarly steep decline from era to era and, much like Lady Antebellum, they are a trio that perpetually panders to lowest-common denominator fare.
I’ve never thought Rascal Flatts of picking great songs that often at all. I mean, you can argue “Bless The Broken Road” is a modern-day classic that’s so effective that it even makes Rascal Flatts sound better than usual. But beyond that, I’m inclined to think it’s the melodies and the fact they were country radio’s answer to boy bands why they’ve had ridiculous staying power for so long, and minimally to do with song selection.
Lady Antebellum haven’t been nearly as lucky as Rascal Flatts in that department was the point I was making.
October 5, 2015 @ 4:05 pm
Rascal flatts wasn’t the first one to have a hit with it on “bless the broken road” although the other was very marginal. Melanie crittenden had a top 40 hit with it on the country charts, and also released it as a band on the Christian charts. Think it was first released late 90’s or so. That and “these days” are about the only two songs that they have I really like.
October 5, 2015 @ 6:37 pm
Additionally, it was first recorded in 1994 by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band … although I am not sure if it was released to country radio as a single.
It was written by three folks including Jeff Hanna of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
October 5, 2015 @ 10:11 am
I prefer Ryan Gosling as ”The Driver” than Charles.
October 5, 2015 @ 11:08 am
eh, I don’t mind it. One of those, could be worse could be better kind of things. I downloaded, will I listen to it 4 times in a row? not likely. Will I immediately fast forward it, probably not.
October 5, 2015 @ 11:37 am
I often find ambiguous writing to be lazy writing. It is easier to hint than directly stand behind your words. Plus, all of those multiple interpretations creates an appearance of depth and hipsters love that.
October 5, 2015 @ 12:21 pm
I think that the hit songs out now show that people cannot relate lyrically to country music or dig deep enough into the lyrics to actually feel something. I feel like there was so many of the same songs done so many times (bro-country) that now songs that even begin to scratch up even the slightest real emotion seem like they are something special even if the lyrics barely make sense. I just like to use Keith Urban’s song John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 as an example. Somehow with empty statements like “TV dinner trying to figure out the wheel of fortune” it became a hit. I mean WTF? Then this song, its the same crap. I just like that it seems like as long as a song mentions a corn field it makes it a country song, and yeah in the end, this song is just another drinking partying song disguised with a lighter melody. To top it all off the oh oooohs are terrible. They just show the amount of brain power it took to create this song. I am going to college to be a vet and I grew up doing all those stereotypical things like hunting, fishing, farming, and sometimes partying but I know that there are more things to life and certainly to country music that run deeper than those things. I feel despite having country themes, country music is made for people who can relate to country songs on that deeper level no matter where they come from. I just hope that country music can get better and fast because its the only genre of music that I honestly listen to and I love it.
October 5, 2015 @ 1:08 pm
I think mainstream listeners would be shocked to hear a truly deep song on the radio. You can tell these writers are trying to fulfill the “deep” space in country music, but they are purposely pulling up from saying anything too deep that isn’t objectionable sentimentality about someone dying of Cancer or something. I think there’s a stigma against deep songs; a mandate to writers not to even touch that type of material.
October 5, 2015 @ 4:34 pm
Yeah definitely, but now that you mention cancer in a song it reminds me of a song Brad Paisley did. I think it was called “This is Country Music.” Its funny to see the similarities and differences in country music from back in 2011 to country music now through the song. I wonder how it would do on radio nowadays? If they did an updated version I couldn’t even imagine it! Although it does mention drinking beer, mama, and jesus already, I bet it would have black suits, EDM, more partying, selling out, no fiddle or steel guitar , autotune, rolling into the club, lots of blatant sexual innuendos, going to church after a night partying and sex and still “loving jesus and mama” all while sounding everything but country. Someone should do a parody of it.
October 5, 2015 @ 12:24 pm
I wonder if we’ll see more artists releasing pseudo-deep songs to avoid being tagged “bro.” We’ve already seen songs like “Dirt,” “Meanwhile Back At Momma’s,” “Who I Am With You,” “Burning House” and “Drink A Beer” become pretty successful despite not being particularly good. They just seem meaningful compared to everything else on country radio.
I really don’t like half-baked ballads. Half-baked party songs or dance songs are slightly more tolerable to me because at least you know they aren’t supposed to be taken seriously. But the ballads are supposed to be taken seriously. Which exposes their flaws.
October 5, 2015 @ 12:31 pm
Good point.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:40 pm
AMEN , Six String
October 5, 2015 @ 12:41 pm
“Burning House” is a good song. I find it intriguing. And what’s this about being ambiguous makes it bad? There’s a lot of songs that are considered masterpieces BECAUSE they are ambiguous. What’s wrong with “Burning House,” Trig? It’s beautiful, and she sounds beautiful singing it. I am enamored by the aurora of mystique that cloaks that song. You’re putting it in the same category as “The Driver?” Trig, I agree with you 99.9% of the time, but I think you miss the point of “Burning House.”
October 5, 2015 @ 1:10 pm
I don’t think “Burning House” is bad. I just don’t think it nearly lives up to the hype it’s receiving, and replaces the need for true depth in music. But I gave it a positive review, however slightly.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/song-review-cams-burning-house
October 5, 2015 @ 2:36 pm
I have to agree with you, Kale. Burning House isn’t all that country, but I think it’s a beautiful song, and I absolutely hate most mainstream country these days, even the ones that are supposed to have more substance.
October 6, 2015 @ 4:33 pm
I don’t think Burning House is ambiguous at all. She has a dream where a former lover is laying next to her in bed and the house is burning around them, but she holds them tight because she misses them and can’t hold them anymore in real life since the relationship is over. The burning house is a dream metaphor for their relationship. I’m not sure what else people can get out of it. But if you’ve lived through that dream (read: nightmare) then you know it can’t be interpreted any other way.
October 5, 2015 @ 12:56 pm
I don’t mind this song, but I also feel like a lot of the praise it is getting by some reviewers is because it is a mainstream song by mainstream artists that isnt offensively bad. Basically, mainstream Country music has become that Baseball team that loses 110 games every year for like 5 years in a row and improves enough to only lose 95 games. That’s what this song is, not a great song that looks and sounds damn good in comparison to Luke Bryan or FGL, but fails miserably when comparing it to something by Isbell, Moreland, Boland, etc.
October 5, 2015 @ 1:00 pm
I’m relieved you came to this conclusion.
Critics are fawning over this, probably only because it’s a power ballad that tries way too hard to elicit an emotional response but forgetting you actually need incisive lyrics to do so. I’m also relieved you compared this to “Drink A Beer” because that song epitomizes the worst of shallow tripe passing itself off as “deep”………………..and being lapped up by the press anyway as setting the gold standard for emotional depth! -__-
My take on this isn’t as negative as “Drink A Beer” as a whole, and if asked to explain why, I guess it’s because this song at least tries to run with a cohesive arc that I felt Zack explained best in his review of the track on This Is Country Music. We have a driver, a dreamer and a singer making up the roles between the three verses and, if you were to disregard the absolutely lazy chorus that basically screams nothing more than “Hey y’all, put your lighters in the air and sing ‘Whoa oh oh!’ with us!”………….there’s at least an interesting concept and continuity between roles here that would have easily made for a powerful song entirely. As Zack explains in his review:
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“Charles is a driver, but he’s out there dreaming of other things while out on the road. Eric is a dreamer, but he has a desire to be a singer. Dierks is the singer and while this might seem like the penultimate role in this series, I feel like Dierks is also a driver, just of a different sort. He’s out there driving a crowd every night, and driving himself to deliver a dynamite show to his fans.”
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I may have a significantly unimpressed take on the song as a whole compared to Zack, but I completely get where he is coming from here. So I felt the writing in the verses potentially point to a striking, poignant song………………but “The Driver” smacks as a sort of scenario where the song’s three writers were putting some genuine degree of effort in the verses, but then abruptly got tired and got smitten with writer’s block and, worse yet, had only 12 hours to hand the song over to the label before the album’s production deadline. So, they thought: “Hey, let’s just give it a ‘Whoa oh oh!’ touch and call it a day?”………………thus settled for mediocrity in filling between the lines.
As for the production? Well……………it isn’t grating on the ears, so that’s got to count for something. And yet, it hardly plucks the heartstrings either. Am I SUPPOSED to feel something from this? In the end, the only adjective that pops in my head to describe the production is “tepid”.
*
Yeah, I’d say your rating is near about where I’m at with this track. I’m probably going to be slightly more generous and give this a Decent to Strong 5 out of 10. Just one of those “take it or leave it” songs for mainstream country fans, and something I doubt traditional country fans will care for.
October 5, 2015 @ 1:14 pm
I feel like some people are assigning this song a narrative that may or may not be there, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If it means different things to different people, that’s a sum positive. But in this case, all of these narratives seem to be a stretch to me. I think the writers were just trying to put together a hit song, hit all the bench marks, and then decided to shake it up by giving it a emotional production as opposed to a party anthem production.
October 5, 2015 @ 2:37 pm
I admit I was a bit too nice in my grade of this, and that I don’t really think it’s the masterpiece I originally thought it was. I was a gullible fan, I admit it, though I’m the type of fan who actually likes some ambiguity in songs, as it allows me to interpret my own personal meaning into the song. And my personal take was expressed in my review.
So yes, I like this and I like “Burning House”. I hate to be known as one of the critics who’s fawning over this, as I feel like I have a legitimate reason for liking this. That’s what all reviews are – opinions, and I certainly don’t disagree with what Trigger is saying, but I don’t know if I necessarily agree either. Different strokes for different folks I suppose 🙂
October 5, 2015 @ 2:42 pm
Hey, no worries. I didn’t want nor intended to make you feel ashamed of your grade either! =)
Like I said, I thought you made a very valid point in your review. That’s exactly why I quoted it. I find myself nodding affirmatively to what you were getting at, though my overall take on the single initially was significantly more negative than how you reviewed it, at least initially, because I thought the way they dressed up that lyrical skeleton was the lowest-common denominator approach. And it just didn’t sit well with me.
But, hey, no one is the arbiter of all musical knowledge and certitude. We’re as diverse a critical community as we are musical lovers! =D
October 5, 2015 @ 5:52 pm
Well thank you Nadia!
I apologize for derailing this thread, but I have to say I’m surprised you aren’t a writer. You certainly offer a fantastic opinion as well as fantastic insight with every song, even boring ones that I personally have trouble finding words for.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:24 pm
Hey Zack,
I personally wasn’t singling out anyone in my specific review. I was responding more to the prevailing sentiment out there about this song. I believe everyone has the right to an opinion and no opinion is wrong, and anyone sharing their opinions deserves respect for putt their thoughts out there. Mine were just different from most in this case, that’s all.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:30 pm
Oh no, I certainly understand where you’re coming from. I certainly didn’t feel like you were singling me out, it’s just that since my words were quoted, a large array of people were bound to see them, and I just didn’t want people reading it and thinking that I was Mr. Taste Of Country or anything. My defensive response was just so people didn’t get the wrong idea about WHY I liked the song.
October 5, 2015 @ 4:07 pm
Oh, I didn’t think that at all! =)
I was surprised you thought that glowingly of the song, but I knew it was straight from the heart as opposed to sounding like mechanical PR-firm fodder. After all, you thoroughly went into detail unpackaging the lyrics and backing up your thoughts on what the lyrics and the symbols/roles meant and how they corresponded with one another.
With respect to the following sites (in that I know they serve a whole other purpose but that doesn’t make them wrong at all), I haven’t seen Taste of Country, Roughstock or The Boot specialize with that in reviews. They may italicize the lyrics of a song’s hook and critique how effective it is as a hook, but I don’t see them deconstructing lyrics to any given track more thoroughly. They analyze a song more along the lines of “Who is this for?” and “Will this speak to mainstream country listeners?” It’s a more commerce-minded means of evaluating material than of its artistry.
And no, let me get this out of the way: I wasn’t suggesting that those three sites lack any heart at all. What I’m saying is, I think the way they write is decidedly impersonal. They write primarily trying to get into the average listener’s head and guesstimate how they’re going to feel or relate to any given song, rather than give one’s own opinion or take. That’s not my style, but I get why they exist.
So no, This Is Country Music doesn’t strike me as anything remotely like the aforementioned three sites.
October 5, 2015 @ 1:31 pm
People are raving about Justin Bieber’s new song and how great it is and I’m always going meh- but compared to his other songs I realize it is GREAT to those who like pop or hate Bieber. And compared to much of what is out there in mainstream pop it is great and much better than any EDM the bros are spitting.
So in context I can admit I like a song but I agree with the, “Not as bad as some” comment.
And come on folks when listen to as much music as Trigger does or me or any music fan how can you not get jaded over these many years, you’ve heard the heights music can reach and so you know when it doesn’t reach that height. I am explaining this to young people all this time in music discussions.
October 5, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
I always try to measure music against its peers, because you’re right, you can get jaded and begin to think all modern music is crap. So you have to find benchmarks outside of your own tastes and perspective to try and measure it against. That’s the reason the rating for this song wasn’t lower.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:53 pm
Not intended to offend, but…
This is an Outlaw Country page; with credible albums waiting for review, why do you waste your time with something that you are guaranteed to dislike.
The Bottle Rockets just released a new album, I would rather read your review on it rather than this.
Trigg, I respect the heck out of you, but enough is enough.
October 5, 2015 @ 3:55 pm
Am I the only one that is surprised at how fast this song was released considering how recently Lady A announced their hiatus?
October 5, 2015 @ 5:08 pm
So I made the mistake of clicking on the link to the performance of “My Maria.” I should know better by now, but obviously do not. Apparently I am also a glutton for punishment, as I then watched more of the Hot Country Knights “performances.” While I understand that these are supposed to be parodies (I think?), I am appalled. Parodies should be done of songs that were questionable to begin with, and done by people who are at least as talented as the original performers. They were making fun of songs that were better than anything most of them have ever recorded, and doing so with weaker voices. It isn’t like I had much respect for any of the “artists” performing in the first place, but now I have none. That was repulsive. And if this is what today’s country fan base finds amusing, country is in worse shape than I thought.
October 5, 2015 @ 5:25 pm
Meh. Not outright offensive, but not really worth a second listen either. I made it about two minutes before I got bored and pulled up the new Queensrÿche album on the iPod.
And that’s why you get paid the big bucks, Trigger. I’m over here like, “I’ve gotten so much good stuff in the last two weeks alone, I ain’t got time for that.” The aforementioned QR album, Strait, Henley, the Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland and the Stragglers (got our pre-order for Squelch!)…yeah.
October 5, 2015 @ 5:55 pm
I haven’t heard Charles new song yet but I am a fan of Lady Antebellem. I know they went downhill fast on the country charts for the last 3 years same as Rascal Flatts. They have been been on top for a decade but Lady A for 3 years.
October 5, 2015 @ 7:31 pm
I give Lady A credit for never releasing anything legitimately bro or metro-bro. Hopefully it stays that way. It’s too bad that “Long Stretch of Love” isn’t doing great because it’s the most interesting song they’ve released in quite awhile.
As for this song, meh.
Why can’t he just release an album as Ronnie Bunns?
October 5, 2015 @ 8:07 pm
Ronnie Bunns has the voice of a DAMN angel!!
October 5, 2015 @ 8:24 pm
It’s like someone took a dog turd and sculpted it into a vase. It looks better, but it’s still a smelly dog turd.
October 6, 2015 @ 6:22 am
Taken in context with what is out there now as “country” music, this isn’t that bad. Lyrically the verses have some great lines: “Bringing this circus to town” (certainly says a lot subliminally), “The believer that music can save a soul” (good evocative line). This is a good example of a commercial song vs. a good song that is written from the soul. The oh-oh-ohs are thrown in to give the crowd a sing-a-long moment. The chorus is certainly written with SEO and buzzwords in mind to make it palatable to the current crop of recording artists. Musically its melody lifts and though heavily produced (but then Nashville has always had that tendency. Think back to some of the great Owen Bradley’s work), comparatively it is better than a lot that is charting. I’d give it a 6,
Thomas Rhett Finishes Third; Hardly Strictly Video Archive; IBMA Awards Winners | Country California
October 6, 2015 @ 10:07 am
[…] Country Music begs to differ on that Charles Kelley single that”™s been getting all the buzz. I will say that, although I was […]
October 7, 2015 @ 8:27 am
And meanwhile, if Jason Isbell had released this we would all be cumming all over ourselves.
October 8, 2015 @ 2:47 pm
True, your constant negativity is becoming a tad predictable now. I actually hate maybe 70% of what comes out of major labels in Nashville and I quite liked this.
Not the greatest or most in-depth song ever written but they were trying to write a hit.
How many songs do you hear regularly on the radio that have multi-dimensional characters?
It’s one of the few new singles lately I wanted to listen to more than once.
It’s not a bad song at all. To that extent, yes you are wrong.
October 8, 2015 @ 3:00 pm
Am I wrong, or do you disagree? These are opinions, not facts. If you like the song, that’s all that matters. I’m just sharing my opinion.
October 8, 2015 @ 4:11 pm
Of course. It’s all just opinion.
I just know that when a critic says “tell me if I’m wrong” that’s often an invitation to like-minded people to pile in and reassure him he was absolutely correct in every aspect which, sure enough, is exactly what many did. I took you at your word that you were actually inviting different points of view especially since every other critic seemed to also disagree.
October 16, 2015 @ 8:11 am
So funny that I had a friend just text me today saying there is this new song she heard on Jimmy Fallon “The Driver” and she loves it– I just found it online and I hated it. Boring. I lost interest after 45 seconds, Then I saw your article. Hits the nail on the head.. people are being brainwashed these days and don’t seem to know what good country music is.. ughhhh
February 7, 2016 @ 12:00 am
I find it dull. A real dud. Even he sounds bored while singing it. I listened to his version of Southern Accents and immediately went back to the well, Tom Petty. No comparison. He’s too young to sound this worn out.