A Country Music Conversation: Introduction and Index
Previous Entry: Day 14: “The Long Goodbye” to “Love Hurts”
Day 15 features tracks from Collin Raye, Miranda Lambert, Bobby Bare, Kip Moore, and Taylor Swift.
“Love, Me”
Collin Raye
Written by Max T. Barnes and Skip Ewing
Collin Raye was one of the nineties’ great balladeers, and while he never quite made it to the A-list, he had a string of memorable hits that had some real substance to them. The first of those hits – the gorgeous “Love, Me” – is still my favorite thing that he’s ever done.
Other Favorites: “Little Rock, “Someone You Used to Know,” “In This Life”
“Mama’s Broken Heart”
Miranda Lambert
Written by Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, and Kacey Musgraves
It’s easy to take Miranda Lambert for granted, but her talent truly does go beyond just having a good song sense and the ability to write great music on her own. Check out the original demo of “Mama’s Broken Heart,” performed admirably by co-writer and future star Kacey Musgraves, and then listen again to the Lambert’s hit version. She brought all the underlying psychosis to the surface, dramatically increasing the emotional intensity without compromising the song’s believability.
Other Favorites: “Little Red Wagon,” “Two Rings Shy,” “Vice”
“(Margie’s at) The Lincoln Park Inn”
Bobby Bare
Written by Tom T. Hall
If “Harper Valley P.T.A.” was songwriter Tom T. Hall’s public denunciation of small town hypocrisy, “(Margie’s at) The Lincoln Park Inn” was his peek behind the private walls of a small town home where hypocrisy lived. The internal monologue of a serial cheater, he alternates his thoughts of his mistress waiting for him at a motel with reflections on his work with the Boy Scouts and what he’s going to teach in Sunday School next week.
Other Favorites: “Jason’s Farm,” “I Just Came Home to Count the Memories,” “Macarthur’s Hand”
“Mary Was the Marrying Kind”
Kip Moore
Written by Dan Couch, Kip Moore, and Scott Stepakoff
I love that the digital marketplace brought back the single, and that you don’t have to wait for an album release anymore to own a lead single that you like. But the odd flip side of that now is sometimes the lead singles don’t even end up on the album, much like “Mary Was the Marrying Kind” was left off of Kip Moore’s solid debut album. It would’ve been an even better album if this had been on it. It’s still my favorite song of his.
Other Favorites: “Beer Money,” “Crazy One More Time,” “Up All Night”
“Mean”
Taylor Swift
Written by Taylor Swift
Like I wrote earlier, Taylor Swift’s music is much more enjoyable to me now that I’ve realized that she’s an unreliable narrator. This brilliant song is what prompted that realization. Here, she is claiming to be the victim of bullying, and even brags about how “the cycle ends right now.” Then she gets to the bridge, and unleashes a vicious onslaught of personal attacks against her alleged bully. She lives up to the title more than her target does.
Other Favorites: “Tim McGraw,” “Blank Space,” “Back to December”
Up Next: Day 16: “Mine All Mine” to “A Night to Remember”
