So let's see, four out of five of the first videos in this countdown were done by women with Rodney Atkins and the sole male artist represented. What's interesting to me is that this time it's the men who are dominating. There are two women artists featured this time, but both are the duet partner of a man - Gary LeVox and Kenny Chesney to be precise. Which, if you know your country videos, means that you now know two of the five videos featured in this portion of my countdown. But I'll get to them later.
First I need to focus on the man occupying the #45th position and that is none other than the big dog of country music. That would of course be Mr. Toby Keith who enters this countdown with his video for "Made in America", which was directed by Michael Salomon. Found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaAF_3WMJGM&ob=av2e:
First I need to focus on the man occupying the #45th position and that is none other than the big dog of country music. That would of course be Mr. Toby Keith who enters this countdown with his video for "Made in America", which was directed by Michael Salomon. Found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaAF_3WMJGM&ob=av2e:
This is one of the best concert themed videos I think I've ever seen. I mentioned in an earlier blog how videos that were strictly from concerts or awards shows pretty much got the boot automatically. It's not that I dislike them or anything; I think that country video world wouldn't be the same without them. I don't mind watching them. But in order to make my cut for the top #50 they needed to have something more. Which this one does. I call it one of the best ones I've seen of this type because of all the other footage, which as you'll notice when you watch, matches what he's singing about at that point usually perfectly. The editing is great here. Not to mention that I'd consider the song itself to be classic Toby Keith.
Next up we have a video from a guy who I was pretty sure was going to become pretty popular the first time I saw his first video. I was not wrong. To say he's become pretty popular would be a bit of an understatement. He experienced a good amount of success out of the gate it seemed, but shot up into another level of popularity entirely in the past year or so. As his fame as grown so has his confidence. He may not be in the same ranks as say Toby Keith or Kenny Chesney are, but if his career keeps going the way it has been he'll get there in no time. Who am I talked about? Luke Bryan.
At #44 we have Luke's video for "I Don't Want This Night to End", directed by Shaun Silva and found here" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jEDdFm3Nx0&ob=av2e:
This video is pretty straightforward, like a lot of country videos are. You have shots of Luke in the studio singing, shots of him in a barn looking kind of miserable and then there's the shots of his with his leading lady acting out what he's singing about. It's simple: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy and girl spend a good night together so good that out singer doesn't want this night to end. Truth in song titles, hey? This video has a bit more steam than any of his others and in that way in a bit of a departure for him, but then again, he hasn't really had a song like this as a single so it fits. A very nicely done video which is not a surprise seeing as Shaun Silva was the director and his videos are always great. Hands down one of my favorite directors.
What bumps this video up from a good, solid video to one worthy of this position is the fact that it leaves us hanging. Near the end of the video we see a somewhat mysterious conversation between Luke's character and the object of his affection who doesn't seem too keen to tell him anything about herself. Not her name and where she's from doesn't mean that's where she's going to be. And when asked where she's gonna be, she doesn't know, but she's there now. Way to be both cryptic and obvious there, video girl. The morning dawns and Luke is left all by his lonesome. We conclude with a scene with Luke and Shaun that involves Luke asking Shaun to leave a ticket for him. The ending shot? A black screen featuring the words "to be continued..." The cliffhanger...not a very commonly used device in videos, but I find myself intrigued. Will cryptically obvious girl (COG, for short) make an reappearance in an upcoming Luke Bryan video? Will Luke's character be reunited with his one-night love? Will COG ever give him a straight up answer to a question? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
Things you don't have to wait and see about? My pick for the #43 on this countdown which is "Crazy Girl" by Eli Young Band directed by Brian Lazzaro. Found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3HwFtdVTfM&ob=av2e:
This video and song in one word? Unique. What else can be said about a video that features a girl in a psychiatrist hospital? Wearing a strait jacket in one shot even. A girl who seems pretty normal, strait jacket scene aside. We start off with her begging her boyfriend to get her out of there because they think she's crazy. Well yeah, I'd hope they don't go around locking up people they think are perfectly sane. That's just bad form. But yeah, the girl wants out and her man loves her and it pains him to have her in there. And our hero is not the type to sit around and do nothing. No, this is a man of action here people. His plan is pretty simple and involves a blueprint of the hospital and disguising himself as one of the security guards - all of whom happen to be the Eli Young Band members, I should point out. Wait until no one's paying attention and grab the keys and free his girl from her prison. Our couple gets this-close to freedom, but alas, it's not to be as they are stopped by a no nonsense looking policeman. The video could've ended there and been fine, but they give us another scene of our hero waking up on a bus with his girl by his side. Yup, the whole thing was a dream. A "weird dream" to be exact.
Yeah, see? I said it was unique. The video goes along with the song nicely and the song itself is interesting. Basically our singer is calling his girl crazy for thinking he'd ever leave her because he loves her "like crazy, girl". It's actually a very sweet song - the guy is basically saying that he was going through life all lost before she came along and now that he has her, he's not letting go. The basic premise is not a new one to country music, but I've never seen it done in quite this way before. It's different and it seems to me that country fans like different. A belief solidified by the fact that this song was Eli Young Band's first number #1 single and their first gold-selling digital single. A job well done, boys.
Coming in at #42 I have the band that helped me reach new levels of country music fandom. There's been no shortage of debate about whether or not they are actually country, but they've always been country to me. I'm talking about Rascal Flatts. More specifically, I'm talking about their Peter Zavadil directed video for "Easy" featuring Natasha Bedingfield, found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDSCjmxO4T4:
The decision to include this video in my countdown was, well, easy. *insert rim shot sound here*
Yeah, I just couldn't help myself. But really, this was a no-brainer for me. First, let me start off by saying that I think that Gary LeVox and Natasha Bedingfield sound great together. Throw in Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus adding their background vocals and you end up with a combination that makes my ears happy. I like the concept of the song itself as well. It's all about the way people feel the need to act like everything is just fine and dandy for them following a break up with someone they still love. How important it is to make their lives look easy to the other person. And you know what? Making things look easy is a lot harder than you might think. That's what the song's about.
The story line of the video is easy enough to follow. Which is good for a song entitled "Easy", no? You have a recently (I'm assuming) broken up celebrity couple attending some sort of red carpet event. Cue a lot of pained and angst-filled looks being given by our leads. I did find it a little odd that they chose to have Joe Don and Jay with their instruments in the crowd playing, but I guess if you're going to have Gary and Natasha in the crowd singing it makes sense. It did sort of keep me from being as into the video as I feel like I wanted to be; I feel like it would've been more effective to just have the shots of Rascal Flatts in that hallway and Natasha on the balcony for the singing parts and had it be straight acting for the parts with the crowd. But that said, it's a solid video the way it is.
Wrapping up this batch of videos, we have an offering from Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter. Here at #41 is "You and Tequila", directed by Shaun Silva and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8XkLrErSHw:
This song and video features a relationship that I'd consider to be toxic. You have two people who really have no business being together, but are simply unable to resist each other. It's the kind of thing where you know that the other person isn't good for you, but you see them anyway. The song puts it very simply and effectively:
"You and tequila make me crazy
Run like poison in my blood
One more night could kill me baby
One is one too many
One more is never enough"
I think this video is a great match for this song. There's a haze that covers every shot that serves to intensify the meaning of the song. A perfectly clear video wouldn't have been nearly as effective. After all, our couple is not in the proper state of mind in this video; they are under a haze of feelings they can't ignore, but should. If there was ever a video that perfectly captured the state of mind of the performers, this would be it. Not to mention that the scenery is just gorgeous. A good job done by all involved.
And that's it! Next up we'll have videos by Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols, Brad Paisley, Hunter Hayes and LeAnn Rimes so stay tuned. As always, feel free to leave me a comment or pass this along to anyone you think might enjoy it. Thanks!
Next up we have a video from a guy who I was pretty sure was going to become pretty popular the first time I saw his first video. I was not wrong. To say he's become pretty popular would be a bit of an understatement. He experienced a good amount of success out of the gate it seemed, but shot up into another level of popularity entirely in the past year or so. As his fame as grown so has his confidence. He may not be in the same ranks as say Toby Keith or Kenny Chesney are, but if his career keeps going the way it has been he'll get there in no time. Who am I talked about? Luke Bryan.
At #44 we have Luke's video for "I Don't Want This Night to End", directed by Shaun Silva and found here" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jEDdFm3Nx0&ob=av2e:
This video is pretty straightforward, like a lot of country videos are. You have shots of Luke in the studio singing, shots of him in a barn looking kind of miserable and then there's the shots of his with his leading lady acting out what he's singing about. It's simple: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy and girl spend a good night together so good that out singer doesn't want this night to end. Truth in song titles, hey? This video has a bit more steam than any of his others and in that way in a bit of a departure for him, but then again, he hasn't really had a song like this as a single so it fits. A very nicely done video which is not a surprise seeing as Shaun Silva was the director and his videos are always great. Hands down one of my favorite directors.
What bumps this video up from a good, solid video to one worthy of this position is the fact that it leaves us hanging. Near the end of the video we see a somewhat mysterious conversation between Luke's character and the object of his affection who doesn't seem too keen to tell him anything about herself. Not her name and where she's from doesn't mean that's where she's going to be. And when asked where she's gonna be, she doesn't know, but she's there now. Way to be both cryptic and obvious there, video girl. The morning dawns and Luke is left all by his lonesome. We conclude with a scene with Luke and Shaun that involves Luke asking Shaun to leave a ticket for him. The ending shot? A black screen featuring the words "to be continued..." The cliffhanger...not a very commonly used device in videos, but I find myself intrigued. Will cryptically obvious girl (COG, for short) make an reappearance in an upcoming Luke Bryan video? Will Luke's character be reunited with his one-night love? Will COG ever give him a straight up answer to a question? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
Things you don't have to wait and see about? My pick for the #43 on this countdown which is "Crazy Girl" by Eli Young Band directed by Brian Lazzaro. Found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3HwFtdVTfM&ob=av2e:
This video and song in one word? Unique. What else can be said about a video that features a girl in a psychiatrist hospital? Wearing a strait jacket in one shot even. A girl who seems pretty normal, strait jacket scene aside. We start off with her begging her boyfriend to get her out of there because they think she's crazy. Well yeah, I'd hope they don't go around locking up people they think are perfectly sane. That's just bad form. But yeah, the girl wants out and her man loves her and it pains him to have her in there. And our hero is not the type to sit around and do nothing. No, this is a man of action here people. His plan is pretty simple and involves a blueprint of the hospital and disguising himself as one of the security guards - all of whom happen to be the Eli Young Band members, I should point out. Wait until no one's paying attention and grab the keys and free his girl from her prison. Our couple gets this-close to freedom, but alas, it's not to be as they are stopped by a no nonsense looking policeman. The video could've ended there and been fine, but they give us another scene of our hero waking up on a bus with his girl by his side. Yup, the whole thing was a dream. A "weird dream" to be exact.
Yeah, see? I said it was unique. The video goes along with the song nicely and the song itself is interesting. Basically our singer is calling his girl crazy for thinking he'd ever leave her because he loves her "like crazy, girl". It's actually a very sweet song - the guy is basically saying that he was going through life all lost before she came along and now that he has her, he's not letting go. The basic premise is not a new one to country music, but I've never seen it done in quite this way before. It's different and it seems to me that country fans like different. A belief solidified by the fact that this song was Eli Young Band's first number #1 single and their first gold-selling digital single. A job well done, boys.
Coming in at #42 I have the band that helped me reach new levels of country music fandom. There's been no shortage of debate about whether or not they are actually country, but they've always been country to me. I'm talking about Rascal Flatts. More specifically, I'm talking about their Peter Zavadil directed video for "Easy" featuring Natasha Bedingfield, found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDSCjmxO4T4:
The decision to include this video in my countdown was, well, easy. *insert rim shot sound here*
Yeah, I just couldn't help myself. But really, this was a no-brainer for me. First, let me start off by saying that I think that Gary LeVox and Natasha Bedingfield sound great together. Throw in Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus adding their background vocals and you end up with a combination that makes my ears happy. I like the concept of the song itself as well. It's all about the way people feel the need to act like everything is just fine and dandy for them following a break up with someone they still love. How important it is to make their lives look easy to the other person. And you know what? Making things look easy is a lot harder than you might think. That's what the song's about.
The story line of the video is easy enough to follow. Which is good for a song entitled "Easy", no? You have a recently (I'm assuming) broken up celebrity couple attending some sort of red carpet event. Cue a lot of pained and angst-filled looks being given by our leads. I did find it a little odd that they chose to have Joe Don and Jay with their instruments in the crowd playing, but I guess if you're going to have Gary and Natasha in the crowd singing it makes sense. It did sort of keep me from being as into the video as I feel like I wanted to be; I feel like it would've been more effective to just have the shots of Rascal Flatts in that hallway and Natasha on the balcony for the singing parts and had it be straight acting for the parts with the crowd. But that said, it's a solid video the way it is.
Wrapping up this batch of videos, we have an offering from Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter. Here at #41 is "You and Tequila", directed by Shaun Silva and found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8XkLrErSHw:
This song and video features a relationship that I'd consider to be toxic. You have two people who really have no business being together, but are simply unable to resist each other. It's the kind of thing where you know that the other person isn't good for you, but you see them anyway. The song puts it very simply and effectively:
"You and tequila make me crazy
Run like poison in my blood
One more night could kill me baby
One is one too many
One more is never enough"
I think this video is a great match for this song. There's a haze that covers every shot that serves to intensify the meaning of the song. A perfectly clear video wouldn't have been nearly as effective. After all, our couple is not in the proper state of mind in this video; they are under a haze of feelings they can't ignore, but should. If there was ever a video that perfectly captured the state of mind of the performers, this would be it. Not to mention that the scenery is just gorgeous. A good job done by all involved.
And that's it! Next up we'll have videos by Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols, Brad Paisley, Hunter Hayes and LeAnn Rimes so stay tuned. As always, feel free to leave me a comment or pass this along to anyone you think might enjoy it. Thanks!
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