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My CMA Picks: Single of the Year

I'm going to start this off with mentioning that the eligibility period for this years CMAs started on July 1st, 2011 and ended on June 30th, 2012. I point this out because I was pretty surprised by a couple of the songs up for this award. Not because I don't like the songs, but because it seems like it's been so long since they were released. Come to find out, when a song comes out doesn't really matter. What matters is when it reaches its peak chart position - which has to be somewhere in the top fifty. So there we go. I still think it's weird that a couple of these songs are in the running, but then, I am not a member of the Country Music Association.

For anyone interested in how the voting process works and what the criteria for all the awards is, you can read about it here. That all said, my picks have more to do with my own personal preferences and factors that I think should be considered. That should go without saying, but I wanted to make it clear.

Meanwhile, while I'm clarifying some things, I know some people get confused about the difference between Single of the Year and Song of the Year. Well, Single is awarded to the artist and their producer(s) while Song of the Year is given to the songwriter(s). Chart position and radio play seem to get taken into consideration in both cases. My understanding is that Single tends to look more at the overall impact a song had, with Song focusing more on the quality of the song itself. I could very well be wrong about that last point, but that's how I chose to think about it when I made my picks.

So now that that's all out of the way, let me review the songs nominated:

"Dirt Road Anthem" by Jason Aldean and produced by Michael Knox, Broken Bow Records
"God Gave My You" by Blake Shelton and produced by Scott Hendrinks, Warner Bros. Records
"Home" by Dierks Bentley and produced by Brett Beavers and Luke Wooten, Capitol Records
"Pontoon" by Little Big Town and produced by Jay Joyce, Capitol Records
"Springsteen" by Eric Church and produced by Jay Joyce, EMI Records

This was a tough one because I really like all of the songs nominated. Not to mention the artists themselves. But my choice for CMA Single of the Year? "Springsteen" by Eric Church.

"Dirt Road Anthem" is one of the songs nominated that surprised me. It was released in early February 2011 and reached #1 in the last week of July. Now, I haven't exactly kept my love of Jason Aldean and his music a secret around here. I like "Dirt Road Anthem" quite a bit, though it's not one of my favorite songs of his overall. My reason for not picking it is because I kind of feel like the song that wins should be a song that was a single at some point of 2012. But it would be foolish to count it out. The song was huge for Jason. How huge? Well, it's been certified triple platinum, if that gives you an idea. It gets a great response live and may have made the biggest overall impact of any of the songs nominated. And Jason's current popularity can only help him here.

And so does "God Gave Me You" by Blake Shelton. This is a beautiful song with an equally beautiful video. It was released in July of last year and became Blake's fifth consecutive #1 in October. And so, that is why I didn't pick it. But even still, I would not rule it out.

Dierks Bentley's "Home" is a wonderful song that was inspired by a terrible tragedy. I'm of course talking about the shooting last year in Tuscon, Arizona that killed six people and critically wounded U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. "Home" is probably the best written song in the category, but I think it has a better chance at winning Song of the Year.

"Pontoon". The song of the summer of 2012. Proof that you never know what kind of song will completely take off and take off this did. The was Little Big Town's very first #1 and considering how much radio play it got and continues to get, that came as no surprise. "Pontoon" was my second choice in this category and was a very close second. This song has a huge chance of winning, in my opinion.

But ultimately, I had to go with "Springsteen". Because it too had a big impact and that impact was felt on a more emotional level. This song isn't about Bruce Springsteen and at its heart, it's not about a lost love. Rather, it's about the power of a song. Not just any song, but the right song. The kind of song that can instantly transport you to another place or time. Even somewhere you haven't thought about in who knows how long. My favorite line in "Springsteen" is this one, "Funny how a melody sounds like a memory". It's true. We all have those songs. And I love that we have this song to celebrate that. So yeah, I had to go with "Springsteen".





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