Brad Paisley – “Anything Like Me”
The new single kicking off the highly talked about, upcoming double-disc collection, Hits Alive, is Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me,” and it’s as good as destined for major chart position. Following four consecutive hits from his critically acclaimed American Saturday Night to reach #2 or better, this autobiographical song about fatherhood doesn’t need to ride on the coattails of those others–it can do it all on its sentimental own.
Not since “Letter To Me” has Paisley exposed his personal life with such sweep. After eight albums’ worth of material, this is his first release about having a son. He and co-writers Chris Dubois and Dave Turnbull all have boys and have all experienced that anticipation of their arrivals in this world when suddenly “the horror sets in,” as Paisley puts it, thinking back on the trouble they themselves got into while growing up. The result of their collaboration is a gently rolling, mid-tempo country melody, and a lyric with the famous West Virginian’s wit and self-effacing honesty, coming across as if he’s just hanging out on the back porch catching up with a neighbor.
It’s this humorous bent that transforms what could have been a saccharine storyline into one that triggers a universal connection with listeners. Parents with sons can all relate to, “He’ll probably climb a tree too tall and ride a bike too fast/End up every summer wearing something in a cast.” If men are being as real as the singer, they’d fess up to having lived Paisley’s lyrics: “I can see him right now knees all skinned up/With a magnifying glass trying to melt a Tonka truck.” In comparison, a song like “In My Daughter’s Eyes” (Martina McBride) offers generalized statements about having a baby girl that are more poetic and idealized than actual, tangible, lived-in scenarios than those present in Paisley’s work. The specific becomes more universally felt.
An unusually understated Paisley on guitar–backing his trademark kicked-back, straight-up vocals–allow the story to be told, unvarnished and with warmth.
Is it wordy? Oh, you betcha. So wordy, in fact, that the two-and-a-half choruses are all different. Even so, it’s a well-crafted lyric about becoming a dad that effortlessly evolves into the revelation of his own boyhood exploits. Shamelessly full of heart, fans will find it instant-classic Paisley material.
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August 12, 2010
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August 12, 2010 at 7:12 am
I like this song, particularly the production, but I can’t really understand the marketing strategy behind it. If it’s on American Saturday Night, it’s odd of them to advertise it as the first single from a greatest hits package.
August 12, 2010 at 7:13 am
And, I think I’m gonna like you, Janet Goodman.:)
August 12, 2010 at 7:21 am
That’s what Chesney did with his Dave Matthews duet since he only released the one single from “Lucky old Sun”. I have a feeling that this greatest hits package is a contractual obligation so Paisley can transfer to his own record label.
August 12, 2010 at 8:18 am
This review makes me feel like I’m reading a press release from Brad’s PR people, not a review for The 9513.
highly talked about, upcoming double-disc collection
Really? This is maybe the second time I’ve read anything about it anywhere. That hardly qualifies as “highly talked about”.
August 12, 2010 at 8:29 am
It doesn’t read like a press release to me, but I actually did wonder about that part of the review. I just figured I missed the hype somehow.
August 12, 2010 at 8:35 am
Nothing wrong with including a little background information about the song. I still thought it was a great review, with plenty of detail about the song. I think this song is one of Brad’s best. And I also think I’m going to like Janet Goodman!
August 12, 2010 at 8:36 am
I appreciate Paisley’s humor, always have, but I hate songs about kids.
August 12, 2010 at 8:41 am
If Rodney Adkins would have released this song, would it have received the same review? Regardless, it is a nice song and I agree about the welcome change in Brad not overdoing it on the guitar. That is getting old on his songs.
August 12, 2010 at 8:42 am
…it’s a simple melody, it’s simple lyrics and it simply works. listening to brad paisley songs is like flicking through book full of words yet looking at pictures. most enjoyable.
August 12, 2010 at 8:48 am
I can think of a lot of songs where one artist can pull it off while another couldn’t. Whether or not Atkins could is an interesting exploration, but not indicative of how this song should be rated, since Paisley is the singer and would approach the song differently than Atkins might.
August 12, 2010 at 9:29 am
The artist makes a lot of difference. For instance, Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” gets a thumbs up and Mark Chesnutt’s (though I love the guy) gets a big thumbs down. Different singers tackle different material in different ways. Isn’t that why we call them artists?
August 12, 2010 at 9:34 am
Absolutely, Mike. I agree with the “Friends in Low Places” example.
August 12, 2010 at 10:40 am
Atkins would’ve turned this song into a total cheese-fest.
August 12, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I can remember comments about Adkins and his brand of bubble-gum music. Same thing about Lonestar and Richie McDonald. Not that I dislike Paisley, but sometimes he seems to get free passes. Not saying a bad song, but if it was sang by others it may not receive as good a review.
Also Paisley does not have that strong a voice for this to be a work he could present necessarily any better than others.
Fizz,
If the lyrics were exactly the same, then how could Adkins achieve that? By the way, I don’t care for his “barely getting the words out” style of singing so I am not a great fan of his.
August 12, 2010 at 1:38 pm
…what’s the point in speculating about what someone else would have done with this song and how it would have been perceived, when we’ll never get the chance to find out?
August 12, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I agree about Paisley’s singing. The review calls it “laid-back?” Yeah, sounds like he’s laying on the couch.
August 15, 2010 at 1:57 am
I tell y’all what, the man has a telecaster in his hands, and he surely knows what to do with it! So if he wants sing too, I ain’t one to argue!
August 26, 2010 at 1:05 pm
This song is just another in a relentless flow of novelty songs coming out of Nashville. Popular Country music has become a novelty act. It’s sad. It’s a formulaic. In short, this song sucks.
August 26, 2010 at 6:42 pm
I actually had to doublecheck that this wasn’t a Look-Good-In-My-Shirt-style re-release of an old song, because it sounds so much like something Paisley would have released in 2002 or something. I also have a hard time getting into sentimental songs about children, and there are a lot of images and ideas here that don’t strike me as all that original.
I do love the production though… it’s a really nice sounding track, at least. I also like the little minor melodic twist behind the “say that/payback/like me” line at the end of the chorus.
I think the best track off Paisley’s new CD is “Oh Yeah, You’re Gone”… which, IMO, is as close to a perfect song as he’s ever written.
This one strikes me as a fairly unoriginal song that he makes listenable only because he’s so darn good at what he does at this point in his career.
October 12, 2010 at 9:20 am
I liked this song better the first time when it was called “Letter To Me”
October 28, 2010 at 12:02 pm
I don’t usually listen to country music but was cruising the dial one day and came across this song. Before it was half over I was in tears. Sentimental songs about kids work for me, especially when the singer seems to have written it expressly for me and my family. I have two sons, one is all alternative and computer nerdy, the other one is the kid in the song! Football, casts, and mischief, right on!
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