Rain or Shine

I'm gonna love you like nobody's loved you come rain or come shine
High as the mountain, deep as the river, come rain or come shine
I guess when you met me it was just one of those things
But don't ever bet me, 'cause I'm gonna be true if you let me

You're gonna love me like nobody's loved me come rain or come shine
Happy together, unhappy together, won't it be fine
Days maybe cloudy or sunny, we're in or we're out of the money
But I'm with you always, I'm with you rain or shine



I'm singing this a little less than a month from now. Samba with a four bar swing in the middle. It's gonna be incredible.

If you could sing any song with a live band in front of hundreds of people, what would it be?

Overnite

I recently bought Trisha Yearwood's Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love. If you like Jasper County, which was her previous album, this one shouldn't be a disappointment. Her powerful vocals are showcased along with some wonderful songwriting, lyrics, and some cute stylistic songs like "Cowboys Are My Weakness" (my favorite is the lyrics "I wanna be the lady he..." sung in a yodel. So cute and clever). Recommended.

I've been listening to Chris Thile's Deceiver. Great album lyrically, and he definitely did some risk taking with his musical choices. Great when you're tired of the status quo.

At this very moment, it's The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, which I'm still wrapping my head around. I absolutely love it, and every time I listen I find something else to admire about this man.

I went looking for these lyrics, but couldn't find them since they're a bonus track, so I thought I'd do my best with them and post them here. The song sounds a bit like Frankie Valli's "Oh What a Night," probably intentionally.

It's called "Overnite."

i won't ask why
there ain't an answer that would satisfy
so i'll just lie beside you mystified
at things that happen overnite

oh woe was me
whatever you saw in me wasn't much to see
now whatever change it is in me must be
something that happened overnite

was it a change in the weather
was it a change in your scene
did you mistake what i meant
for what i didn't mean
is it not worth the questions
is it one of those things
how deep is the ocean
how long is the string

oh they talk away
tell me rome wasn't built in a day
i know better than whatever they say
i know it happened overnite
i know it happened overnite
i know it happened overnite

New Music!

First thoughts on Josh Ritter:

Reminds me of:
Billy Joel
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Jason Mraz, but more mature
John Mayer
Rolling Stones
Motown
Radiohead
Bob Seger

That was on a first listen through the album. Not only that, but I was hearing things I don't really have the musical vocabulary to express. Most of what I was hearing is less than current, you'll notice, but the combination of these influences makes Josh's music unique and fresh. I highly recommend The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter.



First thoughts on Carrie Underwood:

I love Ashley Monroe, and I love her delicate little voice, but take an Ashley tune like "Flat on the Floor," and add Carrie's powerhouse vocals and you have pop-country perfection.

The rest of the album follows suit. I loved Some Hearts but Carnival Ride is, in my opinion, exponentially better. From the first listen, I just believe that this album is more Carrie, and less management and producers trying to create a strong first album. I'm not knocking that because obviously it worked, but this seems more authentic.

And as long as I've recently brought up the subject of covering songs and how I'm not usually a fan, she lent me another surprise with an impressive take on Randy Travis's "I Told You So," with Vince Gill on background vocals.

Carnival Ride is highly recommended as well.

(embedding is disabled, so this is the new single, All-American girl.)

Home

I decided, in light of the direction my personal blog has taken, to start a new blog just for my thoughts on music. Eventually, the music posts I've written over the past few years will be moved here, but for right now, I have some something pressing to talk about.

My station was securely tuned into country radio, and so when I heard the intro to "Home," originally by Michael Buble, I couldn't help but cringe. I think I actually shouted out loud to the red light in front of me, "No... come on!"

Thoughts of Alabama singing "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You," Mark Chestnut singing, "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing," and Jack Ingram's "Lips of an Angel," raced through my mind. Who could have been stupid enough to think they could do a Michael Buble original any kind of justice?! WHO, I ask!

It didn't take me long to recognize the voice as Blake Shelton's.

But, before you get angry at me, I have to admit, there is a bit of a twist to the story.

"Home," was the very first Michael Buble song I heard. I saw him sing on Regis and Kelly, and I remember my complete and utter disappointment at the impression he was failing to make. He was wasn't bad, but he wasn't fantastic either. The voice was fine, but where was its character? Where was his personality? For whatever reason, though, he won me over eventually, and I did come to hold some sort of appreciation for that song. It never was my favorite on the CD; it just didn't hold the life some of the others did.

It only took Blake a few phrases to convince me. I fell in love with his vocal performance. I am not the biggest Blake Shelton fan in the world. But his voice plus "Home" equals perfection.

Guess what else I heard, once I made myself stop singing along? The song features Miranda Lambert on background vocals. Once I realized that, I understood. This song is perfect. It's perfect in every way.

The arrangement is fairly true to Michael's arrangement, actually. The instrumentation is a touch different (with a pedal steel thrown in here or there) but every change that was made was made with discretion and true musical consideration. In spots, I prefer the country version, especially when the strings reach a climax they never quite achieved in Michael's version.

It's not that Michael's recording is bad. It's really quite good, and the song itself, which he co-wrote, is incredibly gorgeous melodically and harmonically and lyrically. But Blake and Miranda singing this song together makes some kind of sense that Michael couldn't have made alone, even if these kinds of songs were his strength.

I fell in love with it, and that surprised me, but I'm glad I stuck around long enough to be surprised.