What I like about this next part of the countdown is that each song/video kind of highlights one part or aspect of the genre. You have a song about a girl getting revenge on her no-good boyfriend/husband/whomever. You have a song about the end of a relationship that should probably never have begun in the first place. You have a song that features a life lesson and one looking back on days long gone. And you got a love song. All themes that frequently pop up in country music and for good reason. These are the kinds of things that just about everyone can relate to. And if you haven't found yourself in one of these situations yet, just hang in there because I'm positive that you will at some point. So, get yourself a nice beverage, get good and comfortable and come check out the next five videos in the countdown.
Hey, so you know one way to make yourself feel stupid? Attempt to sing along with this first song. It's all well and good for the chorus, but the verses...there it gets dicey. Unless of course you happen to be gifted with rapping skills. Which I am not. At all. But that's okay because this guy pulls it off pretty well, if you ask me. Have you figured out what song this is yet? Been on any dirt roads lately?
Yup, here at #15 is Jason Aldean with "Dirt Road Anthem" directed by Deaton Flanigen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9q1ScC4cg
I'm going to be totally honest and admit that the first time I heard this I had to wonder what in the world he was doing releasing it. It's not that I didn't like it, it was just a bit of a curve ball for me. But then it started getting playing everywhere and the video was getting shown all the time and little by little it grew on me. Quite a bit actually. Now I like it a lot. Of course, this one is pretty polarizing because he's doing a country/rap thing and is it really country? A debate I've seen in multiple places. My thoughts? The lyrics are pretty classic country; I suspect if these lyrics had been set to more traditionally country music than this whole debate would've have happened. The music itself lends itself to Jason's brand of country pretty perfectly, country with the rock edge to it. So yeah, in my book I consider this to fit in the country genre. I'd call this a genre stretcher as it definitely pushes at the edge of country, but still country at the heart. My two cents on that.
Now. As far as the video goes, I like the way this was shot. The focus on him with the background kind of blurred in shots, some cool camera angles for the bonfire scenes and I kind of love the parts where he's in the car and you see his face in the side mirror. I love the coloring in this as well. Parts of this feel like they could be used for a car commercial. This video does have a couple of minor strikes against it. The first is that the song is "Dirt Road Anthem" and the road he's standing on is definitely not dirt. It's beaten up at least. But it's the kind of thing I wish I'd never noticed because everything I see this video I get an urge to sing "chillin' on a dirt road, but he's standing on a paved road." So that's minor strike one.
Minor strike two: no band. If you're familiar with Jason's videos, I'm sure you've noticed that he makes it a point to feature his band in them. If I'm not mistaken, there's only two videos that they are not in, this one and "The Truth". Now, granted, it's not unusual to not see the bands in the videos and there's a lot of artists who never seem to include their band, but I love it when they do. Which is something I love about Jason because he seems to make it a point to feature his. And not only that, but three of his band members have been with them since the beginning and play on all of his albums. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me which three and additional points if you can tell me their names. And extra special bonus points if you can tell me what they call themselves and what else they do aside from record & tour with Jason Aldean.
In any event, I may be biased on my second strike because his band is among my favorite bands, probably my current favorite band, for a few reasons. But really, both that and the other one are pretty minor and not enough to make me not like the video.
Now that I've written a mini novel about Jason Aldean, it's time for me to move on to someone else. Notably Taylor Swift, who comes in at #14 with her Christian Lamb directed video for "Sparks Fly". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKar-tF__ac
All right, so the main reason why I wanted to include this video and rank it here is because it is essentially a Taylor Swift concert in four and a half minutes. Usually a concert video is just shots of the band and crowd while they are performing the song itself, with no shots of other parts of the show. This video plays like a Taylor Swift concert highlight reel, effectively summing up the whole show. A pretty impressive show by the looks of it. In addition to country music, I also have a love for musicals and I have to say, that the sets she uses in her show seem like they could've come from Broadway...Broadway with some Cirque Du Soleil thrown in there. This is why she won entertainer of the year right here. That combined with her crazy ticket sales and yeah, her CDs haven't done too badly either. I've seen so much debate over who deserved entertainer and the fact is that while I could argue as to why other artists also deserved it, I can't say that she did not. Because it's very hard to compete with a show this elaborate.
Moving right along. #13 marks the return of one of my absolute favorites, Mr. Chris Young, with his video for "Tomorrow". Directed by Trey Fanjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETVjll5eR88
So much love for this video and song. Not going to lie. The first thing to note about this video is that it's the first video featuring scenes of Chris without his trademark cowboy hat. It was a good decision since it allows us to see more of his face which is a plus in any circumstance, but especially here when we're seeing him act more than we really had before. This is a story of that relationship that a lot of people have where you find yourself dating someone who could not be more wrong for you and vice versa. A toxic relationship that basically only causes pain to both parties. A relationship that is ending because he can't take it anymore. He's walking away for good this time. Tomorrow. See, he knows he has to go, but he can't help giving in one more time. It's a very painful, heart-breaking lyric and it's the type of song where the acting better be spot on in the video because if it isn't, the video will fail.
Hence why removing the hat was a good decision. We can see the emotions playing out across his face; we can feel that pain and it all feels so very real. This is pretty straight up country here. I think this video was so well done. The happier scenes, shots of their last night together, them fighting, him in anguish and drinking at the table - it's such a perfect collection of scenes. All leading up to the last shot, the last look between the two of them as the finality of the situation seems to hit them. Tomorrow is here and the relationship is over. An extremely solid video for a fantastic song.
Okay, now, I ask you, my lovely readers, where would country music be without the revenge/kiss off song? It's kind of a staple, am I right? This next video holds a bit of a warning against anyone who wrongs a country girl. That warning? Don't do it. You know what they say about payback and I'm starting to believe that no one dishes it out quite like a country girl.
So here's Ashton Shepherd coming in at #12 with Michael Salomon directed "Look It Up". http://www.youtube.com/user/AshtonShepherdVEVO#p/u/3/XwQ5IwkRhu4
I think this is such a great video. This guy did her wrong and she retaliates by selling all his stuff. His truck, his laptop, his boat, you get the picture. I don't know the name of the guy who plays the lead guy in this, but he makes me laugh. Some of his expressions are golden. And Ashton does the whole woman scorned bit so well . Great blend of attitude, satisfaction and a bit of humor at his expense. The final shot of the dog with the sold sign around its neck is icing on the cake for me. Though as a dog lover, the dog didn't do anything to deserve getting sold, but as a video fan, it was great. This video has a certain level of cheese to it, but it's a balanced kind of cheese in that it's a kind that works rather well. And there's a sentence I never would've imagined myself writing. In any event, these videos need to have a bit of camp do them, but it's a fine line between just enough and overdone and this video stays well within the lines of just enough. Wonderfully done.
Okay, so by this point, if you've been following along since the beginning, first of all let me say a heartfelt thank you for that. Second of all, if you've been here the whole time you may have noticed that there's been a lot of certain country heavyweights. Some big names you haven't seen that and well, this seems like a good place for one, wouldn't you say?
Next up, to conclude this portion of the countdown at #11, I have a guy who is not only big in that he's a very popular artist, he's also big in the tall sense. 6'6" tall assuming that the internet search I just did is correct. If not, it's very, very close. I'm talking about Mr. Trace Adkins who comes in with his video for "Just Fishin'" directed by Trey Fanjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IheODRwalEw
You know, lately it seems like country music is getting full of songs featuring artists trying to prove how country they are, usually with the use of lines proclaiming themselves to be a fan of various classic country stars who tend to be from the outlaw part of the genre though not always. We've all heard them. The ones like "playing Cash, Hank, Willie and Waylon" and "crankin' up Waylon, Willie and Merle" and so on. Now, I'm not slamming songs like this by any means. I happen to really like a lot of them including the ones I quoted here - and speaking of, points to anyone who can tell me what songs both or either of those examples are from - but I think that it's becoming a bit overdone. And the truth of the matter is that if you want to sing about what country is, it's about more than listening to the classics. That's not what the heart of country music is. Not at all.
Now here we have a song about a man who likes to go fishing with his daughter who thinks that that's all that they're doing. But as the last line says "we ain't only fishin'. This ain't about fishin'." This is one of those songs that is fairly simple on the surface, but soon proves itself to be more profound. There's a depth to be found in the simplicity. That's what this is about. This is where the heart of country music is right here, people. Country music is about things like truth and honor and family and God and country; it's about life. The good, the bad, the basic, the complicated, all of it. It seems like people are mourning the so-called death of real country music, saying that it's been taken over by all the new stuff, but I'm here to say that as long as there are songs like this, country music is alive and well. This is a beautifully crafted song, both lyrically and musically.
I think that this is a fantastic example of a video fitting both the artist and the song perfectly. This is a classic Trey Fanjoy video right here; this is where she shines as a director. It's so basic and simple; this isn't some complicated set, there's not a million special effects or anything like that. If I'm not mistaken I believe that this was filmed on land Trace Adkins owns and that that is his cabin he's standing on the porch of and naturally, that is one of his daughters. The beauty of this video is the simplicity. It's touching and heartwarming; this is more than a video for a single, it's capturing a moment in time between a dad and his daughter. A moment that will be a much treasured memory for both Trace and his daughter, Trinity. Such a beautiful video.
And...that's it! I kind of feel like I blabbed on more than usual so, as I'm sure I've said before, I hope you were entertained! I really enjoyed writing about this batch of videos and am curious as to what everyone thought. Meanwhile, earlier I was talking about giving out bonus points if people could tell me the answers to some things. I was going to say questions, but they weren't really. Here they are again, just to remind you.
*The names of the three band members who have been with Jason Aldean since the beginning, along with what they play.
*The name that they refer to themselves as and what else they do in addition to recording and touring with Jason
* The songs that the following lyrics come from: "playing Cash, Hank, Willie and Waylon" and "crankin' up Waylon, Willie and Merle"
I'm trying to think of some kind of prize for anyone who can tell me any or all of the above and it's proving to be kind of difficult. The only thing I really have is concert pictures of various country stars and so could send a couple of pictures of the artist of your choosing (provided I have pictures of them). It doesn't feel like the greatest prize in the world, but I'm going to keep thinking about that. You can DM me your answers on twitter if you follow me there (countrymusicATK) or you could email them to me at countrymusicATK@hotmail.com. Notice a theme there? Any other comments, questions, suggestions can be left via comment here or you can just tweet me. I'd really love to hear what y'all are thinking, so let me know. I'm hoping to have the next part of the countdown up soon. Thanks for reading!
Hey, so you know one way to make yourself feel stupid? Attempt to sing along with this first song. It's all well and good for the chorus, but the verses...there it gets dicey. Unless of course you happen to be gifted with rapping skills. Which I am not. At all. But that's okay because this guy pulls it off pretty well, if you ask me. Have you figured out what song this is yet? Been on any dirt roads lately?
Yup, here at #15 is Jason Aldean with "Dirt Road Anthem" directed by Deaton Flanigen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9q1ScC4cg
I'm going to be totally honest and admit that the first time I heard this I had to wonder what in the world he was doing releasing it. It's not that I didn't like it, it was just a bit of a curve ball for me. But then it started getting playing everywhere and the video was getting shown all the time and little by little it grew on me. Quite a bit actually. Now I like it a lot. Of course, this one is pretty polarizing because he's doing a country/rap thing and is it really country? A debate I've seen in multiple places. My thoughts? The lyrics are pretty classic country; I suspect if these lyrics had been set to more traditionally country music than this whole debate would've have happened. The music itself lends itself to Jason's brand of country pretty perfectly, country with the rock edge to it. So yeah, in my book I consider this to fit in the country genre. I'd call this a genre stretcher as it definitely pushes at the edge of country, but still country at the heart. My two cents on that.
Now. As far as the video goes, I like the way this was shot. The focus on him with the background kind of blurred in shots, some cool camera angles for the bonfire scenes and I kind of love the parts where he's in the car and you see his face in the side mirror. I love the coloring in this as well. Parts of this feel like they could be used for a car commercial. This video does have a couple of minor strikes against it. The first is that the song is "Dirt Road Anthem" and the road he's standing on is definitely not dirt. It's beaten up at least. But it's the kind of thing I wish I'd never noticed because everything I see this video I get an urge to sing "chillin' on a dirt road, but he's standing on a paved road." So that's minor strike one.
Minor strike two: no band. If you're familiar with Jason's videos, I'm sure you've noticed that he makes it a point to feature his band in them. If I'm not mistaken, there's only two videos that they are not in, this one and "The Truth". Now, granted, it's not unusual to not see the bands in the videos and there's a lot of artists who never seem to include their band, but I love it when they do. Which is something I love about Jason because he seems to make it a point to feature his. And not only that, but three of his band members have been with them since the beginning and play on all of his albums. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me which three and additional points if you can tell me their names. And extra special bonus points if you can tell me what they call themselves and what else they do aside from record & tour with Jason Aldean.
In any event, I may be biased on my second strike because his band is among my favorite bands, probably my current favorite band, for a few reasons. But really, both that and the other one are pretty minor and not enough to make me not like the video.
Now that I've written a mini novel about Jason Aldean, it's time for me to move on to someone else. Notably Taylor Swift, who comes in at #14 with her Christian Lamb directed video for "Sparks Fly". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKar-tF__ac
All right, so the main reason why I wanted to include this video and rank it here is because it is essentially a Taylor Swift concert in four and a half minutes. Usually a concert video is just shots of the band and crowd while they are performing the song itself, with no shots of other parts of the show. This video plays like a Taylor Swift concert highlight reel, effectively summing up the whole show. A pretty impressive show by the looks of it. In addition to country music, I also have a love for musicals and I have to say, that the sets she uses in her show seem like they could've come from Broadway...Broadway with some Cirque Du Soleil thrown in there. This is why she won entertainer of the year right here. That combined with her crazy ticket sales and yeah, her CDs haven't done too badly either. I've seen so much debate over who deserved entertainer and the fact is that while I could argue as to why other artists also deserved it, I can't say that she did not. Because it's very hard to compete with a show this elaborate.
Moving right along. #13 marks the return of one of my absolute favorites, Mr. Chris Young, with his video for "Tomorrow". Directed by Trey Fanjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETVjll5eR88
So much love for this video and song. Not going to lie. The first thing to note about this video is that it's the first video featuring scenes of Chris without his trademark cowboy hat. It was a good decision since it allows us to see more of his face which is a plus in any circumstance, but especially here when we're seeing him act more than we really had before. This is a story of that relationship that a lot of people have where you find yourself dating someone who could not be more wrong for you and vice versa. A toxic relationship that basically only causes pain to both parties. A relationship that is ending because he can't take it anymore. He's walking away for good this time. Tomorrow. See, he knows he has to go, but he can't help giving in one more time. It's a very painful, heart-breaking lyric and it's the type of song where the acting better be spot on in the video because if it isn't, the video will fail.
Hence why removing the hat was a good decision. We can see the emotions playing out across his face; we can feel that pain and it all feels so very real. This is pretty straight up country here. I think this video was so well done. The happier scenes, shots of their last night together, them fighting, him in anguish and drinking at the table - it's such a perfect collection of scenes. All leading up to the last shot, the last look between the two of them as the finality of the situation seems to hit them. Tomorrow is here and the relationship is over. An extremely solid video for a fantastic song.
Okay, now, I ask you, my lovely readers, where would country music be without the revenge/kiss off song? It's kind of a staple, am I right? This next video holds a bit of a warning against anyone who wrongs a country girl. That warning? Don't do it. You know what they say about payback and I'm starting to believe that no one dishes it out quite like a country girl.
So here's Ashton Shepherd coming in at #12 with Michael Salomon directed "Look It Up". http://www.youtube.com/user/AshtonShepherdVEVO#p/u/3/XwQ5IwkRhu4
I think this is such a great video. This guy did her wrong and she retaliates by selling all his stuff. His truck, his laptop, his boat, you get the picture. I don't know the name of the guy who plays the lead guy in this, but he makes me laugh. Some of his expressions are golden. And Ashton does the whole woman scorned bit so well . Great blend of attitude, satisfaction and a bit of humor at his expense. The final shot of the dog with the sold sign around its neck is icing on the cake for me. Though as a dog lover, the dog didn't do anything to deserve getting sold, but as a video fan, it was great. This video has a certain level of cheese to it, but it's a balanced kind of cheese in that it's a kind that works rather well. And there's a sentence I never would've imagined myself writing. In any event, these videos need to have a bit of camp do them, but it's a fine line between just enough and overdone and this video stays well within the lines of just enough. Wonderfully done.
Okay, so by this point, if you've been following along since the beginning, first of all let me say a heartfelt thank you for that. Second of all, if you've been here the whole time you may have noticed that there's been a lot of certain country heavyweights. Some big names you haven't seen that and well, this seems like a good place for one, wouldn't you say?
Next up, to conclude this portion of the countdown at #11, I have a guy who is not only big in that he's a very popular artist, he's also big in the tall sense. 6'6" tall assuming that the internet search I just did is correct. If not, it's very, very close. I'm talking about Mr. Trace Adkins who comes in with his video for "Just Fishin'" directed by Trey Fanjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IheODRwalEw
You know, lately it seems like country music is getting full of songs featuring artists trying to prove how country they are, usually with the use of lines proclaiming themselves to be a fan of various classic country stars who tend to be from the outlaw part of the genre though not always. We've all heard them. The ones like "playing Cash, Hank, Willie and Waylon" and "crankin' up Waylon, Willie and Merle" and so on. Now, I'm not slamming songs like this by any means. I happen to really like a lot of them including the ones I quoted here - and speaking of, points to anyone who can tell me what songs both or either of those examples are from - but I think that it's becoming a bit overdone. And the truth of the matter is that if you want to sing about what country is, it's about more than listening to the classics. That's not what the heart of country music is. Not at all.
Now here we have a song about a man who likes to go fishing with his daughter who thinks that that's all that they're doing. But as the last line says "we ain't only fishin'. This ain't about fishin'." This is one of those songs that is fairly simple on the surface, but soon proves itself to be more profound. There's a depth to be found in the simplicity. That's what this is about. This is where the heart of country music is right here, people. Country music is about things like truth and honor and family and God and country; it's about life. The good, the bad, the basic, the complicated, all of it. It seems like people are mourning the so-called death of real country music, saying that it's been taken over by all the new stuff, but I'm here to say that as long as there are songs like this, country music is alive and well. This is a beautifully crafted song, both lyrically and musically.
I think that this is a fantastic example of a video fitting both the artist and the song perfectly. This is a classic Trey Fanjoy video right here; this is where she shines as a director. It's so basic and simple; this isn't some complicated set, there's not a million special effects or anything like that. If I'm not mistaken I believe that this was filmed on land Trace Adkins owns and that that is his cabin he's standing on the porch of and naturally, that is one of his daughters. The beauty of this video is the simplicity. It's touching and heartwarming; this is more than a video for a single, it's capturing a moment in time between a dad and his daughter. A moment that will be a much treasured memory for both Trace and his daughter, Trinity. Such a beautiful video.
And...that's it! I kind of feel like I blabbed on more than usual so, as I'm sure I've said before, I hope you were entertained! I really enjoyed writing about this batch of videos and am curious as to what everyone thought. Meanwhile, earlier I was talking about giving out bonus points if people could tell me the answers to some things. I was going to say questions, but they weren't really. Here they are again, just to remind you.
*The names of the three band members who have been with Jason Aldean since the beginning, along with what they play.
*The name that they refer to themselves as and what else they do in addition to recording and touring with Jason
* The songs that the following lyrics come from: "playing Cash, Hank, Willie and Waylon" and "crankin' up Waylon, Willie and Merle"
I'm trying to think of some kind of prize for anyone who can tell me any or all of the above and it's proving to be kind of difficult. The only thing I really have is concert pictures of various country stars and so could send a couple of pictures of the artist of your choosing (provided I have pictures of them). It doesn't feel like the greatest prize in the world, but I'm going to keep thinking about that. You can DM me your answers on twitter if you follow me there (countrymusicATK) or you could email them to me at countrymusicATK@hotmail.com. Notice a theme there? Any other comments, questions, suggestions can be left via comment here or you can just tweet me. I'd really love to hear what y'all are thinking, so let me know. I'm hoping to have the next part of the countdown up soon. Thanks for reading!
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