Brad Paisley – “Waitin’ On a Woman”

You nailed it… great review, great song. Methinks Paisley will have his 8th straight #1.

The “son, since 1952″ line was what grabbed me years ago… It will be great to hear this on the radio. Wonderful song.

Matt-

While I appreciate your reviews I think you badly miss the point of what Paisley is going for in his songs.

“Ticks” works as a song. It’s a sly bit of writing where the protagonist is in his mind this suave lady killer. However the way the song is written it comes off entirely corny. I also think it’s important to note we never find out in the song how the cheesy pick-up line works. I could see a problem with it if the line worked and the song ended with the woman going off with him. However, it never leaves the pick-up guys’s point of view.

“She’s Everything” is written via metaphors but the list is a set of characteristics about his woman. It’s an interesting technique for writing the song, and avoids the typical formula for this type of song where things would just be listed. In the hands of an inferior writer it would’ve been an average song.

“Little Moments” and “I’m Still a Guy,” aren’t about being condescending or protecting a weaker sex. Rather they are about two of the fundamental elements of love- love in spite of mistakes, and love in spite of differences. Besides country radio has enough guy’s writing and singing songs right now about being broken men. Brad writes from a confident point of view and it provides a breath of fresh air from what has become the norm for men in country music.

I don’t love everything Paisley has ever done but his hit to miss ratio is considerably higher than almost any mainstream country act out there right now.

Brian:

I can only guess about what Brad is “going for” in his songs, and, in the end, it doesn’t matter, because, as you explain nicely for “Ticks,” what a writer is going for and what he actually accomplishes can be two very different things. My responses to your analysis of other specific songs:

“She’s Everything:” This song was just really boring for me, and, frankly, I don’t know any woman who would be flattered to be compared to a pair of running shoes, but that’s just me.

“I’m Just a Guy:” I don’t think that this is condescending per se, I just thought that it was very rigidly stereotypical.

“Little Moments:” Like you, I doubt that Brad was trying to be condescending, but I had no trouble interpreting it that way, given that he only sings about the stupid things that his wife does while he’s the great guy who just loves her all the more because of it.

I dont see a big difference between Brad’s songs about women and so many songs that female artists put out that pokes fun of males.

It says a lot that Country Music’s biggest offender when it comes to “insulting” women is about a woman over baking a cake or being late when Rock and (C)Rap has like 500 songs on the radio about the female body or sexual acts the lead singer can do with a female.

I’m just saying……

True, but really, I’m far from a Paisley mega-fan, but his songs are far better than Kellie Pickler’s “Things That Never Cross A Man’s Mind”.

Seriously, that song was more “offensive” to men than anything Paisley has written about women.

Mike: You are comparing him to Kellie Pickler. Kellie Pickler.

As a member of the female species, lover of many things at 9513, I can truly say that there are many many things in this world that are offensive to women. Many in country music. Brad Paisley nor his lyrics would qualify, but that’s just this woman’s perspective.

Matt, your critique really nails what bugs me about Brad’s “little woman” songs. Why do we never hear about how lucky he is that she tolerates all HIS flaws? One song like “She’s Everything” is fine — cute even — but taken as a group it really smacks of misogyny, and it’s what made me really dislike Time Well Wasted as a whole. (I remember, the album opened with the lyric “To the teller at the bank/You’re just another checking account” and my blood pressure shot up.)

I think you make a good point that “Waitin’ on a Woman” is the least offensive, and taken out of the context of that whole album it doesn’t bother me nearly as much. But I wish he’d get another schtick.

Just a reminder: Nobody tries to be condescending yet it happens all the time and certainly on many songs.

Was that condescending?

No kidding, Mike–how IS that line insulting?

When I hear the aforementioned songs about women, I don’t feel as if Brad is knocking our sex as a whole. He’s not laughing at us, he’s laughing with us.

In “Little Moments,” when Brad sings about the woman backing his truck into something, it reminds me of the time I backed my car into my garage door. From inside of my garage. In “She’s Everything,” when he sings “She’s I want a piece of chocolate/ Take me to a movie” I think yeah, I have days like that.

It pains me to see people trying so hard to be sensitive to the plight of women. I want equal treatment of men and women, and in this case that means I don’t mind songs in which a man laughs affectionately about a woman’s behavior. I don’t mind because I would expect men to tolerate–heck, even enjoy–the same thing in return.

I get what “The World” was trying to say, but I thought it came off as patronizing. Who is he to say that she’s just “another bank account” or “another tip”? Maybe that’s not how she’s perceived at all. And none of that should matter because he loves her? Why should she attach her entire self-worth to what HE thinks? For me personally, it was creepy and vaguely reminiscent of the kind of psychology a controlling boyfriend might use.

To be fair, I know that’s not what was intended, and I think it’s simply a case of meaning being sacrificed in service of a gimmick. Ben has pointed out Brad’s fondness for lists, and I think here it works against the sentiment of the song.

And again, it might not bother me so much on its own, but Time Well Wasted has lots of moments like this. You can justify them individually, but taken together, they give a pretty good sense of an artist’s personality and philosophy.

If you want to see more of the True Paisley, think about his guitar playing. Yes, he’s a great guitar technician, and he can run a bunch of notes together fast. But when he does that, he’s just a monkey pounding on a typewriter. He does it often enough, one day, something melodic might come of it. Compare that to I dunno, Eric Clapton or Mark Knoppfler (Dire Straits guy.) Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, always phrased and beautiful. Those guys are not playing lists of notes, they are telling old stories.

I thought “Ticks” was clever, expertly crafted, catchy and fun. I was surprised it wasn’t a huge hit; and that some people didn’t seem to “get” it.

With all the cliche’d song ideas done over and over, we need a break sometime. And we need artists and songwriters to take SOME kind of chance and maybe keep us awake ….

I like Brad but I’m very disappointed that he agreed to be in Snoop Doggs video of “My Medicine”
The message of the song isn’t the direction country should go in.

The pimping of the wife or girlfriend and the use of the f-word. Like you said poorly written. I’m just dissapointed that Brad is embracing it.

Heidi,

They just decided to do things that way. It’s not the first time (Keith Urban just went back to a record three releases ago for “You Look Good In My Shirt”) and it won’t be the last time.

@Stormy,

I gotta ya. I’m not really oppose the the subject matter as a whole, maybe with differnt lyrics.

Brad Paisley is left of center? Can you give some examples, besides the fact that he shows up in a Snoop Dogg video. Why must we put a political label on a musicians that don’t release political songs. If anything, I would say Brad’s songs don’t support your analysis.

As an educated, professional woman, I have to respectfully disagree with many of the comments about Brad’s music. I find Brad’s lyrics to be very wide-ranging and definitely not offensive. He can go from a hilarious play on a real-life farmer-boy fantasy (TICKS) to a serious and welcomed perspective of the woman he loves (She’s Everything). In songs such as “I’m Still A Guy” he appeals to the blue-collar boys who captivate the hearts of women everywhere, much like Trace Adkins’ “Ladies Love Country Boys”. I can’t help but listen to his lyrics and think of my own husband…not in an offensive way, but rather in a ‘laughing at our differences’ kind of way. In contrast, ‘She’s Everything’ is a man enjoying every little imperfection of his wife along with all the wonderful things about her. My interpretation is that it’s the imperfections and simplicities we have that make us perfect to our spouses. If someone told me I looked “great in anything” I would be flattered, not offended.

Brad Paisley is one of the only artists (with the exception of Dierks Bentley) that both my husband and I can appreciate together. His guitar picking is impeccable not only on all of his songs, but also in concert. We’ve been fortunate enough to see many of his shows over the past few years and are always blown away, especially when compared to many of his country-counterparts such as Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and even Dierks Bentley. His band is world-class and his fiddler can compete with the best of the best especially on songs like “Whiskey Lullaby” and “When I Get Where I’m Going”

I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments very much and thought I’d add my own view as a big Brad Paisley fan. I hope you can appreciate my perspective, as well. I’m looking forward to the release of Waitin’ on a Woman. I have a feeling it will be another #1 hit for him. Thanks.

I wonder what the opinion will be for the poorly educated, unreliable woman?

I didn’t mean for it to come across that way at all! Its just that many of the comments left seemed to imply that women who enjoy Brad’s music must be pushovers…and as my husband can attest, that I am not. I appologize if I offended, that was not my intent.

My two cents.. Very, very few country artists can make me laugh and cry on the same album. His writing is clever, funny and touching. His way of “listing” things (She’s Everything) is a short way of tying things together when making a point, “She’s saturday out on the town/a church girl on sunday/a cross around her neck/and cuss word cuz it’s monday”. This shows the versatility, changes and the things he knows about his girl because she is his. The song is very sweet (from a girl’s point of view). “Ticks” cracked me up, what a line! It’s meant to be light and funny. Some of his relationship songs, “waiting on a woman” included, seem to focus on the differences between a man and a woman. It’s in spite of and because of these basic gender differences that they click, it shows acceptance and keeps things interesting.

I only got about half-way through these critiques because I got bored with their length.
I just wanted to say that, as a female in a happy marriage with a “guy’s guy” (much like Paisley himself), I believe that Paisley’s aforementioned songs are FUNNY and REALISTIC. That is what I love about his writing, and that is why my husband is also a fan.
So, no need for all this offense at an alleged condescending tone, when the man is just being FUNNY. He obviously loves his woman as my husband loves me. They can tease us all they want because they know they can’t live without us. That is the charm to the songs.

a lady is never late – it’s always the genleman, who comes too early.