Thursday, April 4, 2013

Venerable Video: Eric Church - "Over When It's Over"

If this video doesn't prove that Church is on another level entirely than his mainstream contemporaries Luke Bryan and especially Jason Aldean, nothing does. Sure, he may be more polarizing than either of them, and he did himself zero favors by agreeing to sing on Aldean's bland and soulless "The Only Way I Know" (along with Bryan), but -- in addition to his greater talent being, to my ears, plainly obvious -- he simply doesn't reek of the corporate stench emanating from the majority of mainstream artists, Bryan and Aldean being foremost on the list of olfactory offenders. Church isn't cozy with the the machine. Truth be told, he seems least comfortable when he allows himself to get cozy (see: live performances of "The Only Way I Know," which, if I had to guess, he simply agreed to do because he was asked, and he's probably friends with Aldean and Bryan). If you can't already tell that Church sticks out lyrically (often clever, rarely cheesy, sometimes poetic), production-wise both on record and live (no jumbled wall-of-sound bullshit), and in his songwriting (disregarding the fact that he's one of the few mainstream artists singing their own songs, he's a legitimately talented writer), I humbly submit this video in hopes to sway your opinion. If you can't tell a difference in quality between this performance of "Over When It's Over" and, say, "She's Country" or "Crazy Town" or "Country Girl Shake It For Me," well, you're just being stubborn.

About the video: it's actually really well shot and produced, being that it's a cut from Church's upcoming Live CD/DVD. The crowd sings along, everyone's having a great time, and, amazingly, it all sounds very organic. Plus, there's a lady who helps Church with some vocals about midway through who is just phenomenal. I have no idea who she is, but she's probably going places. "Over When It's Over" is the final track on Church's excellent 2011 album Chief.




Lyrics:
written by Eric Church and Luke Laird

It's over when it's over
Ain't it, baby, ain't it?
Rips ya like a dagger,
Can't it baby, Can't it
Wish we could do it over
Damn it, baby, Damn it
We had it in the air, we just couldn't land it

It's the first snap of the last straw,
Where regrets outlast the alcohol
It's a cold sweat, in an empty bed,
And dreams are like a knife,
When you're hanging by a thread
Ain't no "Maybe we can make it if we just play the right cards"

Now it's over when it's over
Ain't it, baby, ain't it?
Rips ya like a dagger,
Can't it baby, Can't it
Wish we could do it over
Damn it, baby, Damn it
We had it in the air, but just couldn't land it

It's a white flag,
It's a stop sign,
It's the last long drag, on a Marlboro light
It's a long night, beating up the past
Know when the first lie, is gonna hit you back
This ain't no gone for good drill,
Or no goodbye false alarm, it's over

Yeah it's over,
Yeah it's over.

There ain't no better way,
We could make it work
It's a blank page,
When you're outta words
Yeah it's a flat line,
It's a heart attack
Yeah it's too far gone, to be shocked back
It's a one way, with nowhere to turn
It's a no brakes, baby, crash and burn
Ain't no map gonna ever bring us back
From where we are

It's just over when it's over
Ain't it baby, Ain't it
Rip ya like a dagger,
Can't it baby, Can't it
Wish we could do it over
Damn it, baby, Damn it
We had it in the air, and just couldn't land it

No comments:

Post a Comment