Heard It In a Love Song
Have you ever noticed how the really good love songs are usually these 'cry in your beer, my
dog just died, my woman ran off' country tunes? Country just seems to rule the roost when it
comes to 'come on honey, let's get together' songs. So how does country do it? Is it the singer,
the songwriter, that "down home" feel? What is it?
Take a song like 'Best Of Intentions' by Travis Tritt. He's a 'down on his luck' kind of guy
who promised everything but couldn't deliver on anything but devotion. Or how about 'Amazed'
by Lonestar. I've heard it at more weddings in the last year than any other song. And then
there's Faith Hill's 'Breathe' - a slow, steamy, sultry song that helped her cross over to
the pop charts.
I've sat and listened to these songs and others - from John Michael Montgomery to Randy Travis
to Martina McBride to George Strait. I've noticed that the feel of the song (and not always
that 'down home' feel) is always the same. Every word seems to come from the heart. Even when
they perform them live that same feeling is evident.
This isn't to say that other genres can't do the same. Edwin McCain blew me away with 'I'll
Be' and 'I Could Not Ask For More'. Steve Tyler poured more emotion than is humanly possible
into 'I Don't Want To Miss a Thing'. And what about all those R'n'B singers like Teddy
Pendergrass and Al Wilson? Even All-4-One had two big hits with 'I Swear' and 'I Can Love You
Like That'. (Of course, John Michael Montgomery did them originally. Think the record producers
knew a good thing when they heard it?)
But I always end up coming back to country for the good love songs. They just seem to have
cornered the market on love songs and have had a quite a few cross over hits. Of course, I
know it's not the singer or the songwriter or the 'down home' feel. Not by themselves anyway.
It's all three put together. And when the combination is right, the end product is enough to
make you stop in your tracks, put that beer down, forget about your dead dog and your girl
friend who just ran off with your ex-best friend and say, 'I like that...I like that a whole
lot.'
So to all the country artists and songwriters out there...Hey, don't lose that 'down home'
feel. And keep those love songs coming. 'Cuz there sure ain't enough of them in this world.
Like Paul McCartney sang - You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs /
But I look around me and I see it isn't so / Oh, no...
- Richard Blaine
* Richard Blaine's views and opinions do not necessarily
reflect the views and opinions of the staff at Twin-Music.