The devastating premise for this song is laid out in the first line: "If you're reading this, my mama's sittin' there / Looks like I only got a one-way ticket over here / I sure wish I could give you one more kiss / And war was just a game we played when we were kids." It's a delicate balance, especially for a country performer, to show your support for the troops and the sacrifice required of those troops while slipping in a subtle anti-war theme. "If I walked around at all, it was in bits and pieces of a jagged heart / You kissed me and every piece went back in place, every pain got erased / You held me up to the light." And now, he's magically unbroken. "If I lived and breathed before you loved me, I don't recall," he begins. It's a love song, effectively setting the tone with the sort of superlatives that have been making significant others swoon since sweet talk was invented. But it topped the country charts regardless. The production finds McGraw straying into alternative-rock territory and the chorus is straight-up pop-rock. "Funny the things you thought you'd never miss," he sings, "in a world gone crazy as this." This one peaked at No. And with that, the stage is set for another song about the longing for the way it was back when at mama's, where the porch light's on and supper's on the stove. It begins with McGraw in a truck he can't afford, setting up "I'm runnin' out of credit and find a little Cash on the radio," which is clever enough. The latest in a long, successful line of duets he's recorded with his wife, Faith Hill. And it's more sweet than clingy, setting the tone with "Gotta hold on easy as I let you go / Gonna tell you how much I love you though you think you already know / I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm / You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born." It's a tear-jerker, naturally – probably more so for actual fathers of actual daughters. This richly orchestrated soft-rock ballad sounds like it was written to be played at weddings while the father of the bride is dancing with his little girl. He just happens to miss the old, outdated way of life, "back when a hoe was a hoe / Coke was a coke / And crack's what you were doing / When you were cracking jokes / Back when a screw was a screw / The wind was all that blew / And when you said I'm down with that / Well it meant you had the flu." This one topped the country charts. And the honky-tonk flavor of the music definitely suits that tone. Nostalgia for the way life used to be has been a common country them since long before the times McGraw proclaims nostalgia for in "Back When." But he gets the tone right – more bittersweet man out of time reading "Street Slang For Dummies" than raging cantankerous coot. But it ended up topping the charts and staying there for three weeks, so at least he got away with it. He recorded the song for inclusion on "Number One Hits," which is kind of a risky move. "But it felt good on my lips." The stadium-rocking chorus lays it on a little thick, but the scrappy guitar solo more than makes up for it. Then, the drums kick in and the song settles into a countrified power-pop groove as McGraw spins a yarn about a Spanish girl who "tipped the DJ to play her favorite song / A Spanish little number that was a-rockin' on strong." He doesn't understand a word but he finds himself singing along by the second chorus. The atmospheric opening has a moody U2 quality. With McGraw on his way to the Valley for a Thursday performance at Ak-Chin Pavilion, here's a playlist of his 25 best singles, from "Don't Take the Girl" and "It's Your Love" to "Diamond Rings and Old Barstools," his current hit. 1 last year with "Shotgun Rider," one of four hit singles from his latest album, "Sundown Heaven Town." 1 on Billboard's country chart with a heartbreaking ballad called "Don't Take the Girl." And he was back at No. Last year marked the 20th anniversary of Tim McGraw's first trip to No.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |