I LOVE YOU THIS BIG-Scotty McCleery

4:07 Fans' comments might give some insight into the market. The 'qualities' of the lyric and production are not elements in their considerations, as they might be to us as analytical students of songwriting. The girls like the boy singing it. He has some past name/face/persona recognition from American Idol which plays a role in the appeal.

In one listen I found it hard not to drift off to my own thoughts. It's very repetitious. It seems to have one big idea and no support for it. The theme seems to get repeated, lots of concept, and no story came across to me.

REMIND ME-PAISLEY/UNDERWOOD

4:07 Long intro. Very repetitious. I didn't watch the videos as I listened to these songs. I wanted them to sell me with sound, not pretty girl and scenery. The 'Remind Me' concept seems weak to me, not a real punch-line hook.

WANNA TAKE YOU HOME-GLORIANA

3:55 A song of desire. But it doesn't seem to go anywhere as a story. It repeats the desire, all seeming to be in the imagination, not in reality. The whole thing could take place in a guy's head without moving off a bar stool. Sounds like a dance tune, which, again, may account for some of the popularity. Again, most of the consuming public is not as discriminating as you or I might be when critiquing the product in consideration of a purchase.

THE HOUSE RULES-CHRISTIAN KANE

3:54 A party song. There are no characters in a story. It comes close to being a laundry list of elements for a drunken barroom scene. It does a good job of giving me that picture. But it's not my scene, not a place I enjoy being, and seems to admire behavior I don't admire. And the lyric tells me not to come there if I don't like that sort of thing. It's a song about using alcohol, the most widespread and abused drug on planet Earth, and making the mistakes we make while under the influence.

DIRT ROAD ANTHEM-JASON ALDREAN./
3:41 It gets real laundry-listy right away, listing elements to set the scene as country, but the singer-character is barely in a story, not going beyond telling us where he is, what he's doing, but not interacting with anybody, saying what a pleasure it is to be drinking and driving, risking life and limb for himself and others, name-dropping George Jones, snuff (mouth/throat cancer), tobacco (435,000 dead a year, including the Marlboro Man; kills 1 of every 5 Americans who die), whiskey (250,000 dead a year, living lives of misery, creating misery for loved ones, and even strangers).


None of these songs appeal to me as a consumer. I don't want to buy them. I don't even need to hear them again. Of course I'm not their market, age, musical taste, etc. But they sure could use some good songs to sing couldn't they?

The mediocre, forgettable, weak product is adequate to float the industry along, but it's not sparking fire, blowing up big sales like some acts have at various times in the past, is it? There might be some big sellers out there, even among this top five list, but they're probably not as big as 'the good ol' days'. And they're not inspiring a new wave of good product either, in my opinion. They're imitations of what they think country's all about, and others will write imitations of these imitations and on it will go.

Probably none of these will become classics, covered by dozens or hundreds of other acts as time goes on. The fame these songs will garner can keep these acts touring for decades though. And radio will play them and pay royalties to writers and publishers, and probably make everyone involved a nice living for a while. And that's good enough for business. There's a market for each of them. I'm just not in it.
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There will always be another song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com