It seems like it's been forever since Carrie Underwood put out a new single. She sang with Brad Paisley on "Remind Me" last year and if I'm not mistaken, she didn't have any releases of her own. Well, no longer. "Good Girl" came out a couple of months or so ago and this review is perhaps a little late. I have read a couple of reviews and remember them as positive. The country fan reaction seems to be split. Based on comments I've seen, a lot of people love this song and a fair amount of people don't. This one seems to be slightly polarizing. I've actually put off reviewing this partially because of that fact.
But not for any longer as you can clearly see. Before I get into my thoughts about this song, I want to say that I like Carrie and think she's good for the genre. She has a lot of songs that I love and I wish I could say the same for this one. It's at this point that I'm going to remind everyone that reviews are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. This is just what I think about the song and as always, you might agree and you might not. My goal is to always be honest and so I will be. Let's get to it.
Right off the bat I'm going to say that I believe that this is the weakest single she has put out and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I feel like this has been way overdone. And overdone by her specifically. Now, as some of you may remember, I have said I'm okay with a well used idea if executed well and in a way that feels fresh and new somehow. That's the key right there - familiar is fine, but only if there's a newness about it. And honestly, this song doesn't have that for me. I'd like it more if Carrie hadn't already released so many songs of this type. It's to a point where it seems like all of her more up-tempo songs are about the same thing and I'm ready for a change. This is basically a new version of "Cowboy Casanova" and the video is a testament to that, in my opinion. Lyrically, the words in this aren't terrible; heaven knows I've heard much, much worse. I'd consider these to be a few ticks above mediocre. They're catchy and very singable, I'll give them that.
My biggest issue with this song is not the lyrics - again, I find them above mediocre and hence, not bad. My biggest problem is the sound. I am not a traditionalist by any means; far from it. I consider myself to be very open minded about what I consider to be country. But as many times as I have listened to this, and it's been a lot, I have a hard time thinking that this belongs in the country format. I think I may have heard a hint of steel at one point which gives it a ever so slight country flavor. And by ever so slight I mean barely there. I'd consider this to be a pop song.
The playing on here is very solid, but it feels sort of generic in a way that I can't explain. It's not as if there's anything bad in here, but musically nothing really jumps out at me. I would consider this to be overproduced and think that I would have a better time accepting this as country if it hadn't been. I feel like if they'd gone easier on the production and even stripped it down a little that I'd like it more. The beat is the best thing this song has going for it and I can totally imagine it wanting to make people get up and dance, if they weren't already. This should be a fun song to see live because of that.
Vocally, I want to say that Carrie Underwood is arguably one of the best female vocalists in country music currently. In music in general even. She has a beautiful voice that has given me chills on occasion. A good example being her version of "How Great Thou Art" which still kind of blows me away when I hear it, even though I've heard it many times. She has wonderful versatility as a singer, particularly when it comes to dynamics. And by that I mean that she can sing softly, she can sing loudly with power and she can sing at just about any level in between. I have a great respect of her as a singer which is why her vocal here disappoints me some.
There's a fine line between singing with power and shouting and Carrie is usually very good about not shouting when she sings. She walks that line fairly well for most of this, but crosses over into the shouting range during the bridge which I don't like. I have no idea how she's going to do this every night when she starts touring again; I listen to this and find myself waiting for her voice to give out. Carrie has a very good range, but "Good Girl" seems to near the top of it. I think it would've been better in a lower key honestly.
Now I'd imagine that by this point any Carrie fans reading this are probably not too happy with me. I would've liked to have been able to give this a better review. I don't hate the song; I just think she could've done much, much better. This song has been racing up the charts and I know it's just a matter of time before it goes all the way to the top. The way I see it, songs tend to do well for one of the following two reasons. Number one, it's just a fantastic song that deserves to go to the top. Or number two, the person who sings it is so incredibly popular that anything they put out is pretty much destined to go to the top because of it. And "Good Girl" fits into that second category. I'm pretty confident that if this song had been released by anyone else that it wouldn't do anywhere near as well because it'd be taken as someone trying too hard to be Carrie Underwood. I don't know if that's going to be taken as harsh or not, that's just what I honestly believe. I would consider this to be one of the weaker singles out now.
So yeah. I've been pretty lucky up to this point about reviewing songs that I've genuinely really liked or even loved. That had to stop at some point, I guess. I know as fans you want to see great reviews for the music your favorite artist(s) puts out, but reviewers should always be honest in a way that is respectful to the artist in question. That was my goal and I think I did okay with that. I do respect Carrie as an artist and am curious in hearing her CD when it comes out. I will say that "Good Girl" has grown on me since I heard it for the first time.
Meanwhile, it's getting to be way after the fact, but there's still a blog about my thoughts on the ACM performances coming up, along with the introduction of a couple of new ongoing series I'll be doing. I'm going to try to start writing more often. Thank you for reading!
But not for any longer as you can clearly see. Before I get into my thoughts about this song, I want to say that I like Carrie and think she's good for the genre. She has a lot of songs that I love and I wish I could say the same for this one. It's at this point that I'm going to remind everyone that reviews are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. This is just what I think about the song and as always, you might agree and you might not. My goal is to always be honest and so I will be. Let's get to it.
Right off the bat I'm going to say that I believe that this is the weakest single she has put out and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I feel like this has been way overdone. And overdone by her specifically. Now, as some of you may remember, I have said I'm okay with a well used idea if executed well and in a way that feels fresh and new somehow. That's the key right there - familiar is fine, but only if there's a newness about it. And honestly, this song doesn't have that for me. I'd like it more if Carrie hadn't already released so many songs of this type. It's to a point where it seems like all of her more up-tempo songs are about the same thing and I'm ready for a change. This is basically a new version of "Cowboy Casanova" and the video is a testament to that, in my opinion. Lyrically, the words in this aren't terrible; heaven knows I've heard much, much worse. I'd consider these to be a few ticks above mediocre. They're catchy and very singable, I'll give them that.
My biggest issue with this song is not the lyrics - again, I find them above mediocre and hence, not bad. My biggest problem is the sound. I am not a traditionalist by any means; far from it. I consider myself to be very open minded about what I consider to be country. But as many times as I have listened to this, and it's been a lot, I have a hard time thinking that this belongs in the country format. I think I may have heard a hint of steel at one point which gives it a ever so slight country flavor. And by ever so slight I mean barely there. I'd consider this to be a pop song.
The playing on here is very solid, but it feels sort of generic in a way that I can't explain. It's not as if there's anything bad in here, but musically nothing really jumps out at me. I would consider this to be overproduced and think that I would have a better time accepting this as country if it hadn't been. I feel like if they'd gone easier on the production and even stripped it down a little that I'd like it more. The beat is the best thing this song has going for it and I can totally imagine it wanting to make people get up and dance, if they weren't already. This should be a fun song to see live because of that.
Vocally, I want to say that Carrie Underwood is arguably one of the best female vocalists in country music currently. In music in general even. She has a beautiful voice that has given me chills on occasion. A good example being her version of "How Great Thou Art" which still kind of blows me away when I hear it, even though I've heard it many times. She has wonderful versatility as a singer, particularly when it comes to dynamics. And by that I mean that she can sing softly, she can sing loudly with power and she can sing at just about any level in between. I have a great respect of her as a singer which is why her vocal here disappoints me some.
There's a fine line between singing with power and shouting and Carrie is usually very good about not shouting when she sings. She walks that line fairly well for most of this, but crosses over into the shouting range during the bridge which I don't like. I have no idea how she's going to do this every night when she starts touring again; I listen to this and find myself waiting for her voice to give out. Carrie has a very good range, but "Good Girl" seems to near the top of it. I think it would've been better in a lower key honestly.
Now I'd imagine that by this point any Carrie fans reading this are probably not too happy with me. I would've liked to have been able to give this a better review. I don't hate the song; I just think she could've done much, much better. This song has been racing up the charts and I know it's just a matter of time before it goes all the way to the top. The way I see it, songs tend to do well for one of the following two reasons. Number one, it's just a fantastic song that deserves to go to the top. Or number two, the person who sings it is so incredibly popular that anything they put out is pretty much destined to go to the top because of it. And "Good Girl" fits into that second category. I'm pretty confident that if this song had been released by anyone else that it wouldn't do anywhere near as well because it'd be taken as someone trying too hard to be Carrie Underwood. I don't know if that's going to be taken as harsh or not, that's just what I honestly believe. I would consider this to be one of the weaker singles out now.
So yeah. I've been pretty lucky up to this point about reviewing songs that I've genuinely really liked or even loved. That had to stop at some point, I guess. I know as fans you want to see great reviews for the music your favorite artist(s) puts out, but reviewers should always be honest in a way that is respectful to the artist in question. That was my goal and I think I did okay with that. I do respect Carrie as an artist and am curious in hearing her CD when it comes out. I will say that "Good Girl" has grown on me since I heard it for the first time.
Meanwhile, it's getting to be way after the fact, but there's still a blog about my thoughts on the ACM performances coming up, along with the introduction of a couple of new ongoing series I'll be doing. I'm going to try to start writing more often. Thank you for reading!
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