Momma always said, "Treat others the way you want to be treated." For the purposes of this post, forget that noise.
The notion that mainstream country radio lacks in quality, especially compared to country or Americana music that doesn't receive mainstream play, is not a new one. Simply put, when an artist (put quotes around that term for some of these jokers) takes a chance and releases something that's actually really good, radio doesn't play it (more on that in the soon to come best country singles of 2013 post). Write a song with the phrase "hey girl" or "beer chillin' in the cooler" or "she did a sexy dance on the bed of my truck and it turned me on so hard" and the chances are likely that you've written yourself a number one hit. And 2013 has proven to be the testiest year yet when it comes to this topic: You can read all about it here: How country music went crazy: A comprehensive timeline of the genre's identity crisis (Entertainment Weekly).
So here's a list of the worst of the worst from what I've heard. It's worth noting that it's comprised of all dudes. Some I forced myself to listen to based on the title alone, knowing I was in for the equivalent of an ear stabbing. Just so you know I don't take myself or this list too seriously, I should tell you there are two songs you may think you'll find on this list that aren't there: Blake Shelton's "Boys 'Round Here" and Florida Georgia Line's "Get Your Shine On." Reason being is that they were the "theme songs" for my family reunion in May and every time I hear them I can only think of fun times drunkenly singing them at the top of my lungs. So when it comes down to it, it's all relative really. (Don't worry, I also introduced them to Randy Rogers Band's "Fuzzy.")
If you like any of these songs, I don't hold it against you. If you like it, you like it; if it makes you happy, it makes you happy. But seriously, though, the songs listed below are terrible, lazy, and borderline offensive. For some unexplainable reason many folks who don't really listen to country radio anymore still care about what gets played there. We hold out hope that one day the tide will turn. Call it torture. Call it nostalgia. Whatever it is, it's fun to call bullshit on songs that continually contribute to the dumbing-down of the mainstream, giving the good stuff a bad name in the process because of the mistaken notion that the two are closely connected.
But I do it for you, the people.
"That's My Kind of Night" - Luke Bryan (Dallas Davidson / Christ DeStefano / Ashley Gorley) - I'm not sure what the worst line of this travesty is: I got that real good feel good stuff/ Up under the seat of my big black jacked up truck or All them other boys wanna wind you up and take you downtown (what is this chick, some kind of wind-up toy?) or A little Conway, a little T-Pain, might just make it rain. Okay, holy shit, the worst line is DEFINITELY that last one. Yes, he just named dropped classic country crooner Conway Twitty and often parodied auto-tune lover T-Pain in the same line. Based on that alone, this song is indeed--as Zac Brown famously said--one of the worst songs ever. In conclusion, I can't decide whether the cheesy faux hip-hop beat makes me want to drown myself in the rain Luke is going to make it do or shoot myself in the face.
"Chillin' It" - Cole Swindell (Shane Minor / Cole Swindell) - Don't let this catchy little ditty fool you, for it totally sucks the big one. Let me tell you why: Pour it on easy now, don't spill a bit/ Nothin' tonight but time, let's get to killin' it/ Long as I'm rockin' with you girl/ You know I'm cool with just chillin' it. I am stupider just for typing that. Did you see that? He rhymed "chillin'" with "killin'" and "chillin'" is a play on "cool" cuz they both mean COLD! Does anybody even know what "chillin' it" means? Do people actually say that? I thought that when I was just hanging out, I was "chillin'." Give credit where credit is due though: The phrase "chillin' like a villain" does not get a shout out, which is a genuine shocker.
"Redneck Crazy" - Tyler Farr (Mark Irwin / Josh Kear / Chris Tompkins) - I mean, you really start to wonder if anyone even cares about lyrics anymore. Please, young people, do not handle a break up the way this douchey narrator does: by drunkenly stalking your ex in the middle of the night and throwing beer cans at her house. Thing is, this concept could perhaps be made into a decent song if there was even the slightest hint of irony or humor. But it's played dead straight, even lines as cringe-worthy as I'm about to get my pissed offon and Nah, he can't amount to much by the look of that little truck. So if driving a little truck means you're a pussy, what does it mean if you drive a Camry (me)? Check that. I don't give a shit. Brantley Gilbert, you have met your match.
"Get Me Some Of That" - Thomas Rhett (Rhett Akins / Michael Carter / Cole Swindell) - I'm not shocked to discover that one Cole Swindell had a hand in writing this
turd. If you look at the title again, you already know what this song's
about. Shockingly, the production here isn't faux fratboy cock rock or
something Luke Bryan could shake his glitter covered ass to, but rather
it goes for a softer, more sensual vibe, something I would perhaps call
"rapey mid-tempo adult contemporary." The chorus does not, I repeat,
does not help: You're shakin' that moneymaker, like a heartbreaker, like your college major was/ Twistin' and tearin' up Friday nights/ Love the way your wearin' those jeans so tight/ I bet your kiss is a soul saver, my favorite flavor, want it now and later/ I never seen nothin' that I wanted so bad/ Girl, I gotta get me, gotta get me some of that. Ladies, if that does it for you, please, for the love of yourself and your future daughters, do a little self-reflection and realize that if any man every truly said that to you at a bar, you would kick him square in the gonads.
"Makin' This Boy Go Crazy" - Dylan Scott (Dylan Scott / Glenn Whitehead) - This song almost isn't worth writing about. I've never heard of this dude, and I'm not sure where I even heard about the song. But it might be the most derivative and boring one on this list. Here are some words that people actually wrote down and thought sounded good together: Never seen a tan look so good ... The way your hair blows in the wind, takes me to heaven and back again ... Oh girl, you make me feel like whoa (I'm not even kidding) ... I can catch a buzz without a drink, that's what your body does to me/ Every kiss is like a sip, I wanna taste, over and over. It's official: rapey is the new trendy down at the Music Row machine.
"Aw Naw" - Chris Young (Chris DeStefano / Ashley Gorley / Chris Young) - Well, it was bound to happen I suppose. One of the last great hopes of country radio gave in to industry pressure. Though I've liked some more than others, I've at least partially enjoyed every single Young has released, but "Aw Naw" leaves such a bad taste in my mouth that I'm not sure I'll ever give him another shot. I barely was able to get through his new album even once (there are maybe one or two decent songs on there, I can't remember and haven't gone back to listen). The story goes, or so I remember reading (you'll forgive me if I do not care enough to do a quick Google search), that Young and his co-writers were sitting around, someone said "Aw Naw," and someone else said, "Hey, that'd make a cool song." Well, two things: one group already wrote that song, and the song Young and Co. ended up writing is one of the dumbest, most pandering, most clumsily produced pieces of music you will ever lay ears on. And it being Chris Young, it kind of pains me to say that. The chorus, for your amusement: Aw naw, somebody just bought a shot of that Patron/ Hang on, I just might have to stay (YOU KNOW, CUZ PATRON!)/ Aw naw, look at the time y'all/ What happened to coats on, long gone/ I should be halfway home, but aw naw. Farewell, Chris Young.
I've written a few times about "Neon" on this blog before, and I've made no secret about the fact that I love the song. But contained in the clip that follows is what may be my favorite version of it, a phenomenal acoustic rendition that I'd never come across until a few weeks ago. In it Chris Young speaks about falling in love with the song upon first hearing it, so much so that he gave his last album its title. If you need evidence that Young is one of the--if not the--best male vocalist working in mainstream country music today and not just another gussied-up pretty cowboy who sounds mighty shaky live, look no further than this video.
10) Shooter Jennings - "The Real Me"(released in May, did not chart) From the album Family Man Songwriter: Shooter Jennings
His calling out of John Mayer this past year on Twitter was rather pointless, and came off as someone who thinks they should be more popular whining about people who actually are. But Shooter Jennings is not some talentless guy trying to ride his father Waylon's coattails. You cannot listen to one of his albums with realizing the amount of raw and eclectic talent that was obviously passed along from his father to him; quite literally, it's in his blood, and "The Real Me" is proof positive of this. It is a song with a great sense of humor, tongue planted firmly in cheek, about whiskey and the devil and the transformation that happens when they take over. It is 100% traditional country but is still different in enough ways that modernize it and make it appealing to an audience for today. There are hard rock elements, southern rock elements, massive changes in tempo. After the first chorus--a chorus that is frenetic both musically an lyrically--when he settles back into the verse with the sweet ring of a steel guitar, it's a thing of a beauty, and it was the point I realized this song was something special. Read the lyrics of the chorus and tell me you don't want to hear how he fits all these words into a couple bars of music:
And I'm a double-talkin', chicken lickin' Meaner than the dickens, sick and wicked Hole-diggin', pickin', son of a gun And I'll love you like the devil Bite you like a snake and then forsake And break everything I don't take before I am done
The pre-chorus is just as good, but I will spare you those lyrics and just let you listen for yourself. Lastly, I can't help but love a song that begins with the line, "I wake up with my children, right around the crack of noon."
9) Zac Brown Band - "The Wind"(released in June, peaked at #11 in September) From the album Uncaged
Songwriters: Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, Levi Lowery
It is no surprise that "The Wind" was Zac Brown Band's first single not to crack the top ten on the Billboard Country charts. With its ferocious picking, breakneck lyrical delivery, and a sound unabashedly and heavily influenced by bluegrass music, it's a small wonder that it reached number 11. The song moves so fast that it's over before you know it, like a gust of wind that blows your hat off or your skirt up before you know what happened. The bizarre animated music video made by Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge is also worth a watch.
8) Kacey Musgraves - "Merry Go 'Round"(released in September, currently at #20 Airplay and climbing) From a hopefully soon-to-be-released album Songwriters: Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally
Who would have thought a song that is the antithesis of small-town romanticism would be one of the most talked about singles of the year, and would actually wind up being a mild success (a huge success actually, for a song like this; it's #20 and still climbing) on mainstream country radio? I certainly didn't think so. Musgraves' voice is often compared to Miranda Lambert's, but I don't think such comparisons give enough credit to Musgraves. Not to say her voice is definitively better than Lambert's, but on "Merry Go 'Round" she's able to vocally conjure up frailty and jadedness in a way I've yet to hear from Lambert. Which is a good thing, especially when you have cynical--what some would call "downer"--lyrics such as:
If you ain't got two kids by twenty-one You're probably gonna die alone At least that's what tradition told you
And...
Mary, Mary quite contrary We get bored so we get married And just like dust we settle in this town
And...
Mama's hooked on Mary Kay Brother's hooked on Mary Jane Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down
It takes a truly talented singer to sell such lyrics, not merely as bleak, but as realistic and heartfelt, painful though it may be for Musgraves and her co-writers to hold up such a broken mirror. The wonderfully understated production (softly plucked banjo, weeping steel guitar, simple percussion) compliments such lyrics perfectly (Nashville producers would do well to learn that even lyrically mediocre songs become instantly better when they're not loud wall-of-sound monstrosities). I look forward to the full-length album from Musgraves that hopefully releases sooner rather than later.
7) Kellie Pickler - "100 Proof"(released in April, peaked at #50 in May) From the album 100 Proof Songwriters: James T. Slater, Leslie Satcher
A song about 100 Proof love, not liquor, the title track from Kellie Picker's 2012 album seems to me a good representation of what the young stars of today could do to "update" traditional country music for today's mainstream market. Not that traditional country music needs that, but let's be honest: Country radio programmers are most assuredly not going to play songs that sound like "Mama Tried" or "Stand By Your Man" in today's market. Well... umm... it turns out they aren't going to play songs like "100 Proof" either. The mix of traditional instrumentation and lyricism with classic vocals and pop sensibility (in terms of it being immediately catchy), this song still wasn't enough to impress programmers and listeners. It starts out with a killer first line (of which, if you've read this blog more than once, you know I am a huge fan of): "Ain't no rain as cold as the look she just gave him." A melody plucked on an acoustic guitar guides the verses to a soaring steel guitar-soaked chorus ending with, "We got love, 100 Proof." Essentially, it's a song about two different kinds of relationships. One is where the couple likes to go out and party and have a good time very, very often, the night usually leading to drunken fights, the man usually the arbiter of wanting to stay out later and later and get drunker and drunker, the woman begrudgingly staying by his side. The other, of which the narrator is proponent and part of, is the kind where the love is built on a more solid foundation; it's a relationship that's strong, solid, and healthy, a "beautiful truth" they get to wake up with every morning. It's a love that "ain't in no shot glass, no bottle." The song is a nice twist on what the title makes you think it's going to be about.
To give you hope about the state of mainstream country music: Pickler was dropped from her label after dismal sales of the traditional-leaning album 100 Proof and the disappointing radio performance of its subsequent singles. That pretty much sums up where we are. Pickler, an American Idol alum of all things, has proven herself in 2012 to have more balls than the hyper-masculinity of Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan (well, let's not get crazy labeling his schtick "masculine"), Brantley Gilbert, and "Truck Yeah" combined, which honestly isn't surprising seeing as Pickler was all but made a commercial outcast for doing her part in trying to bring integrity back to the airwaves.
6) Kix Brooks - "Bring It On Home"(released in September, peaked at #39 & #44 Airplay in October) From the album New To This Town Songwriters: Rhett Akins, Kix Brooks, Dallas Davidson
While Ronnie Dunn was getting nominated for Grammy awards, Kix Brooks somewhat quietly released a few singles that are much better than I expected, especially this one. It shouldn't have been surprising though, with one of my favorite Brooks and Dunn songs being "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone," one of the few on which Brooks assumes lead vocal duties (and absolutely kills it, by the way). In this video, Kix calls "Bring It On Home" a tribute to his wife. It tells the oft-told story of a traveling musician who misses home, but Brooks so nails this particular version of that tale that originality simply does not matter. I heard this song on the radio about five times within the span of a week driving around in a box truck. I had no idea who it was singing the first time, I just knew that it stuck out like that guy at the party you remember was drunker than everybody else. A healthy does of steel guitar, a few splashes of mandolin here and there, and an emotionally invested yet fun vocal by Brooks truly make "Bring It On Home," and it is immensely re-listenable. The deal-sealer for me is when the "All my life" part kicks the chorus off. Great stuff.
5) Tim McGraw - "Better Than I Used To Be"(released December 2011, peaked at #5 in June) From the album Emotional Traffic Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson
Despite
releasing in late 2011, I first heard "Better Than I Used To Be" some
time in May, and I honestly could not believe it was Tim McGraw. Even more surprising is that it's a track of his last and seemingly infinitely-delayed album for Curb Records, Emotional Traffic, which was released after many public scuffles with the label over artistic freedom and their releasing of countless "greatest hits" packages that were not McGraw-approved. Perhaps yet more surprising than that is it came after several flat-out bad singles over the course of a few years from the usually solid veteran: "Last Dollar (Fly Away)," "It's A Business Doing Pleasure With You," "Still," and the abysmal "Felt Good On My Lips." McGraw's strength has always been as a ballad singer, and "Better Than I Used To Be" is one of his best. Co-written by progressive bluegrass band Cadillac Sky's former front man Bryan Simpson, and Ashley Gorley, who co-wrote one of Trace Adkins' best singles, "You're Gonna Miss This," this is a song about the lifelong pursuit of trying to become a better person.
From opening lines "I know how to hold a grudge, I can send a bridge up in smoke" to the climax of the chorus, "I can finally stand the man in the mirror I see/ I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm better than I used to be," McGraw gives an effortless vocal performance. These are the kinds of songs he was meant to sing. Here's hoping not only that McGraw chooses to record songs like this more often, but that Gorley and Simpson choose to collaborate as writers more often. Mainstream country music could use a lot more songs like this.
4) Turnpike Troubadours - "Gin, Smoke, Lies"(released in July, did not chart) From the album Goodbye Normal Street Songwriters: Evan Felker
If you like your banjo tunes to rock, then this is the song for you. I already attempted to put into words how much this song kicks ass back in July, so call me lazy if you must, but I'm just going to copy what I wrote back then here:
I hope to write a little more on this here blog about Turnpike
Troubadours, though no amount of praise, written or shared, that I could
heap on the band would do them justice, not to mention that said praise
would often venture into hyperbole, for better or worse. Quickly to the
point, this is one of the best, if not the best, country bands
making music today. The lyrics are sharp: if they aren't making you
chuckle then they're making you cry (or at least feel like you could).
The musicianship is tight, skillful, and nuanced: I challenge you to
find a band of any genre that uses instrumentation so perfectly to the
degree that each song calls for as well as these guys. The vocals are...
well, I'll just say that lead singer and principal songwriter Evan
Felker has quickly become one of my favorite voices; twangy, earnest,
and emotive (some friends I have compare him to Ryan Adams, though I
enjoy Felker quite a bit more). "Gin, Smoke, Lies" is the first single
from their recent May release, Goodbye Normal Street, and it's as
ferocious a first single as you're bound to hear. Banjo, fiddle, and
heavily pounding drums (think "We Will Rock You") round out the
production, and Felker's lyrics are as biting and sharp as ever: "Well a
spade is made for diggin' dirt/ and an ax is made for choppin'/ Darlin'
my heart's hard as nails they hammer/ in a hardwood coffin/ In a
hardwood coffin." The "coffin" line is sung twice to drive home the
starkly bleak imagery, you know, just in case you missed it. In the end,
it's a stone cold country song that flat out rocks, a cheating song the
likes of which you've never heard before. CMT.com somewhat surprisingly
debuted the video (which I believe was the group's first ever) for the
song earlier this week, and if it catches any sort of mainstream
traction, I can honestly say it might be the best thing to happen to
mainstream country music this century. Turnpike Troubadours are simply
too good not to want the rest of the world to hear. (no chart position...yet)
Unfortunately, "Gin, Smoke, Lies" still did not chart in the latter half of the year, but I'd be willing to bet mainstream commercial success isn't high on this group's list of goals. They still had great year, with the album Goodbye Normal Street debuting high on the Billboard 200 back in May, and that collection of songs going on to become album of the year on many year-end lists, including mine.
3) Chris Young - "Neon"(released in March, peaked at #23 in August) From the album Neon Songwriters: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Trevor Rosen
"Neon"was one of my favorite songs of 2011, contained on his album of the same name and of that same year. Back then I wrote of the song: "If Young's label doesn't release this as a single in 2012, it will be a country music travesty." Well, the label did release it, and the result was probably more of a travesty than it would have otherwise been as an overlooked gem of an album cut. But as it stands, "Neon" is the first single of Young's not to reach number one since "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)" hit the top spot back in October of 2009. Hell, it didn't even crack the top twenty. I mean, it had a super cheesy-ass music video and everything (the performance at the Opry embedded below is a much, much better video to watch). The single's commercial failure is pretty historic in my opinion. Young has for years been one of country music's fastest rising stars, but he released a neo-traditional drinking-song classic, and it caused his career's momentum to have the proverbial rug pulled out from under it. "The light at this end of the tunnel is neon," or at least it used to be. Now the light more closely resembles fake tans or bleached teeth or the headlights of a truck driving out to the backroads where they build the campfire and blare Nickelback over the speakers. Boom, boom.
2) Eric Church - "Springsteen"(released in February, peaked at #1 in June) From the album Chief Songwriters: Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell
This is the song that will be looked back on as the one thattook Eric Church to a different level of success. It's not totally country but sounded totally unique on country radio; I mean that in a really good way. I wrote a full review of the song here, and though a bit wordy, it's been the most viewed post at Abundant Ramblings since this blog's inception. Here's an excerpt:
"Springsteen" is a glorious testament to the fact that Eric Church
understands music to be a powerful and emotional force rather than a
commercial and formulaic one. In the musical atmosphere of country
radio, such an understanding feels like a minor miracle. With Church,
music's power is more than just lip service, and with "Springsteen," he
does a service to fans of music everywhere, helping us to understand
that though we are struggling human beings living in an insane and real
world, music has the power to keep us young in spirit and at heart,
which may just--in the long run--not only help us to find our way, but
help us to survive.
1) George Strait - "Drinkin' Man"(released in April, peaked at #37 in July) From the album Here For A Good Time Songwriters: Dean Dillon, Bubba Strait, George Strait
I have hope that George Strait won't go the way of Alan Jackson and fall completely out of the good graces (somehow) of country radio. But if the chart performance of "Drinkin' Man" is any indication, the end is nigh, my friends. It's not a happy song. It's not an upbeat song. There is no silver lining at the end of the song. There is only the silver lining that comes with going through the struggle that this song is about; the silver lining is in the journey of the fighting. Here's what I wrote about the song last summer:
It's nearly unforgivable the way radio has treated what is the best
single of the past five years from country music's elder statesman.
"Drinkin' Man" tells the heartbreaking story of one man's lifelong
struggle with alcohol, starting at the tender age of fourteen. We
sympathize profoundly with the narrator because he talks about how he's
tried to quit and how he knows his reliance on drink is hurting those
closest to him who love him the most. Take, for example, this
chill-inducing line: "Stayed sober once for nine days in a row, I quit
cold turkey/ Damn near almost made it ten/ But that's a hell of a lot to
ask/ of a drinkin' man." In a similar way that Wade Bowen sings a
different tune about Saturday nights, George Strait sings a different
tune about alcohol. Many songs on country radio (and pop radio for that
matter) glorify night after night of drinking to excess, but "Drinkin'
Man" trades glory and good times for something a little more poignant,
dangerous, and real. And it doesn't matter that it's sung and co-written
by King George; radio programmers wouldn't touch something this
authentic with a thirty-seven foot pole. And they didn't.
I still can't get over that "Damn near almost made it to ten" lyric, one of the best lines of the year, to be sure.Strait sings this song not only with the respect it deserves, but with the yearning its narrator feels compelling him toward change. By the end of it the listener realizes that quitting is going to be a lifelong struggle for this person, full of false starts and giving up and pain. And Strait and his co-writers give us no promise at the end that the narrator will ever totally conquer the demon. Perhaps the only appropriate response after hearing this song for the first time is, "Damn." Even if it's something you've never gone through personally, sometimes a song just hits you when it delves into subject matter that's dark and real. As with Kacey Musgraves' "Merry Go 'Round," sometimes it's painful to hold up a broken mirror, but that doesn't mean someone shouldn't still hold it up.
There are bright spots to be found on country radio; songs that don't name check trucks, songs trying to keep traditional country alive to the small degree that it can be done in the Clear Channel era, and even a few pop-country guilty pleasures. The following is a list of my favorite songs released to country radio this year that radio actually gave, or is giving, a chance to succeed, slight chance though it may be for some of them. They are in no particular order except for the top five at the bottom.
Greg Bates - "Did It For the Girl" - I just heard this song the other day and was immediately impressed with it. Sure, it's nothing new, but it sounds good and is so damn catchy. It's about as neo-traditional as country radio gets these days. We'll see what his album sounds like, but with the sound of this new single, Greg Bates has a chance at becoming the new Easton Corbin.
Big & Rich - "That's Why I Pray" - Call me crazy, but I think the new one from Big & Rich sounds unique in the mainstream country landscape, partly for the unmistakeable harmonies and a verse style that makes the song stand out. Big & Rich display here an ability to write and sing positively about personal faith without pandering or putting down those who don't believe.
Eli Young Band - "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" - Another song with a positive message, this is one that begs the listener to keep on dreaming no matter what. Failure is not only an option, it's a guarantee. But you keep doing whatever it takes no matter how many times the odds reload against you. Veterans of the Texas music scene, Eli Young Band have taken country radio by storm. Here's hoping they stick to their Texas roots and don't go too corporate Nashville on us.
Easton Corbin - "Lovin' You Is Fun" - His upcoming album is one of my most anticipated of the year. "Roll With It" and "Leaving a Lonely Town" from his impressive debut were both stunning songs. "Lovin' You Is Fun" is, well, a fun song about being in love, and probably a good choice for a first single off the new album. It's catchy, light-hearted, and confessional, and every Easton Corbin song already starts out with one advantage: his voice.
Gloriana - "Kissed You (Goodnight)" - I check the singles charts every Thursday. I kept seeing this song for a few weeks without ever hearing it, thinking, "Dear Lord, what have they come out with this time?" But much to my surprise, when I heard it for the first time I was already singing the chorus before the song was over. It tells a pretty good story, simple though it may be, that we can all relate to. Call it a guilty pleasure if you must, but this is one of the most infectious singles of the year.
Lady Antebellum - "Dancin' Away With My Heart"- Okay. I would totally get it if you stopped reading right now. Gloriana and Lady Antebellum back to back on a 'best of' country radio list? Well... oh well. This one sells nostalgia beautifully, and the group's best asset, their harmonies, really shine on this one. For me, it joins the company of "Lookin' For a Good Time" and "American Honey" as one of their best singles.
Little Big Town - "Pontoon" - Without a doubt, the song of the summer in my opinion. I'm honestly surprised at how slow it's rising on the country charts (currently it sits at number 15, but it's at number 13 on the all-genre iTunes singles chart). I wouldn't be surprised in the least if it becomes their first number one, but I also wouldn't be surprised if radio programmers shaft them yet again. Somehow they always seem to find a way. (My earlier review of "Pontoon" can be found HERE.)
Tim McGraw - "Better Than I Used To Be" - One of his best singles in years, especially coming after the lazy unabashedly aiming-for-the-soccer-mom-deomagraphic "Felt Good On My Lips," which is one of the worst of his career. "Better Than I Used To Be," with its poignant self-reflective lyrics, conjures up similar feelings to past McGraw singles "My Next Thirty Years" and "Angry All the Time." I only wish we were going to get more like this from the singer after his departure from Curb Records, rather than embarrassing, pathetically bad songs like "Truck Yeah." (Do yourself a favor and check out Sammy Kershaw's excellent take on the song as well.)
Zac Brown Band - "The Wind" - ZBB have only had two singles not reach the number one position ("Whatever It Is" and "Keep Me In Mind" only reached number two) on the charts. "The Wind" really shows the band at its bluegrassy best: they are ferocious pickers and players of their respective instruments. The song moves at such blistering speed that the lyrics at first seem unimportant. But after you hear it a few times, you realize the lyrical depth is there, which is rare for a such an up-tempo single. Try sitting still and not singing along or tapping your toe when this one comes on (careful if driving).
Chris Young - "Neon" - The best song on his most recent album of the same name, this neo-traditional classic is--to the surprise of no one-- very slowly making its way up the charts. If I were less cynical about country radio, I would blame the director and whomever else was responsible for the atrocious video for "Neon." But I am indeed quite cynical when it comes to country radio; simply put, they rarely know a good country song when they hear one anymore. If they did, this would be the fastest rising single of Young's career. (My review of "Neon" from earlier this year can be found HERE.)
Eric Church - "Springsteen" - Church's second straight number one is a piano-laced affair driven by steady drums, crisp production, and non-pandering nostalgia. It's a song that, despite desperate wishes to the contrary by some, proves Eric Church isn't going anywhere anytime soon. (More thoughts on "Springsteen" can be found HERE.)
Alan Jackson - "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore" - One of the best singles of Jackson's storied career, this song was all over the video countdowns on CMT and GAC, but of course failed to strike much of a chord at radio. It's only on the "singles that radio actually gave a chance" list because it at least cracked the top 30. Depressingly, Jackson hasn't had a song reach the top ten since 2009's "Sissy's Song," (number nine) and I'm not sure which song on his latest album, Thirty Miles West, would have the best chance at breaking that streak. Another duet with Zac Brown would be helpful, but unfortunately not one that's seven minutes long (see "Dixie Highway" from Thirty Miles West). Perhaps "Talk Is Cheap"? (My earlier review of "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore" can be found HERE.)
5) "Neon" - Chris Young - (written by Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, and Trevor Rosen) - A superb "drown your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle" drinkin' song and probably my favorite mainstream country song of 2011. Chris Young, along with Easton Corbin, has one of the best voices on country radio today, and as long as programmers continue to play neo-traditional artists like him there will always be reason to hope that one day the Nashville powers-that-be will realize the market for authentic country music is still out there, and maybe the Nickelback-knock-off-rock on country radio will begin its (hopefully) steady decline. "Neon" is a song Chris Young was meant to sing. The verses have the narrator listing the wide array colors one finds in the natural word: The sky in Cheyenne, Wyoming is just about as blue as it gets, and if you ain't seen a Santa Fe sunset you ain't seen red. Sure, creation is beautiful and awe-inspiring, but in it the narrator's favorite color is not contained: Neon, the light they always leave on, a weekend on the rocks and an old school jukebox with a little Johnny Lee on, the buzz I love to be on. The last lyric of the chorus tell the listener that strong drink, as it so often does in country songs, has become the narrator's salvation: Put a double on your troubles, the light at this end of the tunnel is neon. It's a clever lyric that says all you really need to know about the themes of the song. If Young's label doesn't release this as a single in 2012, it will be a country music travesty.
4) "Flower" - Amos Lee- (written by Amos Lee) -"Flower" is my favorite song on Lee's 2011 album Mission Bell, and possibly my favorite songs he's ever recorded. It's soulful, catchy, emotional, and hopeful, revolving around the lyric My heart is a flower, that blooms every hour, I believe in the power of love. On paper it comes across as just another romantic sentiment, but Lee's vocal brings passion and meaning to it; he sings it with conviction, and when he sings you listen and believe. Obviously, the song is about belief in the power of love to emerge victorious over all things, helping us stay true to ourselves and our paths in life despite challenging circumstances as well as everything that comes along with self-doubt, namely fear: I'm gonna reach on up over that fear, whenever I'm alone won't you please be near, I know that darkness before the dawn, tomorrow's comin' and yesterday's gone. It's a simple but powerful image touching on human desires that are universal; everyone has heard it before, but again, Lee truly makes you believe it. Considering my affinity for romantic imagery and bodies of water, it comes as no surprise that my favorite lyric in the song is: I'm gonna get my baby and head upstream, fall asleep in her arms and drift away in a dream. The instrumentation includes acoustic guitar, piano, organ, a little steel guitar (I'm pretty sure I hear it, but maybe I just want to), and wonderful sounding percussion that somehow gives the song more soul. Ultimately, the it's a celebration about what is good, and in so being, is a celebration of the song itself. The linked video above is to an absolutely stellar live version from Bonaroo.
3) "Victory" - Trampled By Turtles - (lyrics by Dave Simonett, music by TBT) -The album this song comes from, Palomino, was released in 2010, but the song (or at least the video) was released in January of 2011 so I'm cheating a little bit and including it on this list. It's a fantastic and truly contemporary bluegrass tune that was perfectly captured on the recording; the sound isn't pristine by any means, yet isn't rough sounding enough to come off as a overblown. Rather, it comes off as genuinely organic. Trampled By Turtles has one of the fastest banjo players I've ever seen (see video or live versions of "Wait So Long"), but "Victory" is a much more reflective and somber tune (though his unique banjo-playing style is still a highlight). Mix excellent musicianship with poetic lyrics about love and loss, life and death, and this is the result. From the longing sentiment of the opening lines (All of us lonely, it ain't a sin, to want something better than the shape you're in) to the imagery of the last verse (Grown from a moment and a million miles, here lies the stardust and it slowly dies; Borrowed from nothing come back half alive, and the stars they whisper blessings, babe, as you walk by), "Victory" shows that Trampled By Turtles is capable of delving into heavy and hefty themes that deal with the heartbreaking realities of life. In fact, I can't think of one song from Palomino that is genuinely "uplifting" (though some of the lyrics in "Victory" are); that is, of course, unless pure, unadulterated good music from talented songwriters and musicians uplifts and inspires you. If so, this is your thing. The music video, linked above, and probably my favorite music video from 2011, is somewhat haunting and very well done. There's something hopeful about it.
2) "Codeine" - Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - (written by Jason Isbell) - Here is the Wikipedia entry for "codeine." To sum it up, it is an opiate, a painkiller. A song written about this drug should not be so damn catchy and have one of the most singable choruses of 2011, but Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit's acoustic beauty "Codeine" is and does: One of my friends has taken her in and given her codeine. That is all the chorus says. But listen to the song once, maybe twice, and see if it doesn't get stuck in your head. Narratively, the song is about a girlfriend who doesn't come home one night; the relationship has become dysfunctional and neither party seems to be able to do anything to work it out: You oughta come home tonight but you won't, I wish we knew how to fight but we don't. So she stays gone and runs to friends whom she knows has stuff to ease the pain, not just from the relationship but from her life in general. It's a joyful sounding song with a dark subject matter and a wicked sense of humor. Jason Isbell is, in my opinion, one of the most talented Southern (he's from Alabama) and American songwriters working today. To think that the Drive-By Truckers did not explode with overwhelming popularity when he was part of that band is truly dumbfounding -- now that was a rock and roll songwriters' supergroup. Some standout lines from "Codeine" include: Darlin' I'm not one to judge, but if I was then I'd say you don't look so good (how darkly funny); If there's one thing I can't take, it's the sound that a woman makes, about five seconds after her heart begins to break (so the narrator's a pretty good guy); and finally If there's two things that I hate, it's having to cook and trying to date, busting ass all day to play "hurry up and wait" (praise be to Mr. Isbell - the simple, funny truth can be profound). Musically, the song is more acoustically-oriented and closer to country than anything the band has ever done, and it works perfectly. What brings the song home is the fiddle that's played throughout, understated and beautiful, and the female harmony vocals on the chorus (which really add to the sing-a-long quality of the song I mentioned earlier). Here We Rest, the album from which "Codeine" was released, is certainly worth picking up. It's an honest, eclectic, and at times fun mix of songs, and made many "Best Albums of 2011" lists. I can't wait to see what they put out next. (Here's a write-up I did about their song and new [at the time] video for "Alabama Pines," the lead-off track on Here We Rest.) (An aside: while the live-in-studio version of the song linked above kicks ass, it contains neither fiddle nor female harmony vocals; those are on the recorded album version.)
