Gary Allan – “She’s So California”

I was hoping he’d pick “Half Of My Mistakes”, as that’s probably my favorite single off the album after Watching Airplanes. I think both this and his last one were okay choices though, especially comparatively to a lot of other artists and what they are choosing to release.

Good job on the review, Jim. I like the song alright, it’s not my favorite cut, but I like it. I also didn’t see much difference between this lyric and the last Dierks song that I gave a thumbs down, other than the chorus does a better job of tying the verses together, but you did a good job pointing out the relevance to the artist.

I do agree with Ben about the mythology of states like Cali and that the reference does carry more weight because of that as opposed to other states.

Ben, I don’t know that the lyric trivializes the seriousness of a wildfire. Often times, they don’t pose significant threat to humans, so I don’t think it’s quite that touchy. Tornados are used quite often as imagery in country lyrics as well, and they can be just as devastating as wildfires.

Biggest flaw I noticed: The writers used the far-too-overused “Warn ya”/”California” rhyme. That was a clever rhyme back in 1972 when Albert Hammond did it, but it’s starting to sound trite by now.

But if that’s the only complaint, then it must be a good song.

One of my favorite songs off “Living Hard”.

Jim, this is a very unique perspective, and you should be commended for putting a good deal of thought into this…but I have to respectfully disagree.

Gary Allan’s vocal is never in question, but the rest of the song is very muddy to me. The admittedly interesting detail in the verses just never quite solidifies into a central theme.

Although I believe Gary is one of the greatest talents of contemporary country, I think you’re cutting him quite a bit of slack. Personal experience can prompt an artist to write/select more powerful music, sure, and even to sing with more passion, but experience in itself doesn’t lift a song’s quality.

I gave the song a B- because of Allan’s pure singing ability and the song’s semi-distinctive nature. I could understand you feeling that Allan’s past had influenced his performance or writing, but it seems that review says that just because he’s lived through certain things, that the song is somehow elevated in quality. I hate to draw comparisons, but if that’s the case, then Kellie Pickler’s boy troubles automatically make her album’s heartbreak songs better. We certainly don’t question that she understands relationship troubles or that she’s experienced these bad times before.

The problems that I believe we both had with her album is that she just didn’t possess enough writing craft or vocal talent to pull off a fair share of the songs. Again, I love Gary Allan, but he has to be judged with the same metric.
If you had held that last paragraph as your only justification, I would’ve been perfectly fine with it. The last paragraph is a very strong argument that justifies your opinion, but the preceding paragraphs basically suggest that Gary Allan is Gary Allan, so he’s automatically given a fair amount of leeway. If I’m reading it wrong, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I know we’d both agree that Gary’s music deserves the attention/scrutiny.

Love the review. Love the song.

“unapologetically bearing his own soul and confronting his own demons in the midst of a format that is constantly trying to predict, interpret, and reflect the current emotional state of its audience.”

Hallelujah! Sing and write what you know. Not what you think someone can identify with. Follow that and it will be what people want to hear. I can appreciate the imagery in the song as “California”. Things that would cross my mind when thinking of that state and the attitude that goes with it. The 405 and wildfires mean as much to him as the dirt roads and tornadoes we’ve heard about in other songs.

Although, dang it, I really wish he’d release “Like It’s a Bad Thing.”

and as much as myself and other fans would have liked “like its a bad thing” to be his next single i think its a little to rock for country radio..

gigundo tune to cruise down highway 1, but it works slightly less well in downtown detroit.

My, my, my! What a debate we have on our hands! Forewarning, as a Gary fan, I might sound a bit biased.

When I first heard the album (Living Hard) in it’s entirety, I was a little bit disappointed. Aside from “Yesterday’s Rain”, “Learning How To Bend”, and “Watching Airplanes”, I felt like this wasn’t the same man I had been listening to for 8 years.

As I listened to the album again, I realized something. This WAS the same Gary, the one who had pulled me through hard times with his own hard times being blared through my radio. The only difference is, he’s happier.

We all know what Gary had to endure 4 years ago. With Tough All Over, we witnessed the heartbreak, and personal struggle of a man broken. With Living Hard, Gary is letting us know he’s ok, he’s doing better. He still has his moments, but for the most part, everything is good.

With that said, Gary has always wanted to share a piece of himself with his fans. I think that was the idea behind “She’s So California”. It gives us a laid-back view of the life he’s always known. I find it to be very fitting.

As far as wether or not non-fans will get it, and gravitate to the song, I believe they will. Last time I checked, California Girls was well accepted by everyone, even those not from Cali.

Blake, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to go over my review in such detail. I really appreciate knowing that you found my process worth exploring.

Blake Wrote: “With these statements, the message doesn’t quite come across that you think it’s a well-constructed song. The theme of the review seems to be the “emotional resonance” that Allan brought to the table and how it boosted the song, not how its actual craft makes it a winner.”

Whether or not that’s true, Blake, this should be taken as a holistic review (as all reviews I write should be taken), and not as a lyrical critique. I’m not doing critiques for NSAI, here, despite my reputation for focusing on lyrics and narration. (Although I’d be happy to listen to your MP3 for $50.)

I never said, in this review or in these comments, that the lyrics of this song are phenomenal or groundbreaking. Your review of my review implies that I’m heaping praise on this song, and that just is not the case.

This is my highest of my praise for the lyrics of “She’s So California”:

“It is an expression of his own psyche, a slideshow of the events and images that have shaped the way he sees the world. To that extent, it is wholly successful.”

I’ll admit, the opinion I’ve put forth here is a nuanced one–it moves that a song can be both strong and weak at the same time and based on the same issues. As you spend more time writing, I think you’ll see that things are not simply “good” or “bad”, “black” or “white.”

You can not responsibly judge every artist or every song by the same metrics. It doesn’t work, because art is only partially quantifiable. Every artist comes from a different place and is going down a different path, and while their are absolutely certain constants that we can use to compare and contrast, and while there are absolutely certain standards of quality that we can apply, it is a disservice to both Allan and Pickler to try and review them from the same perspective. That’s not giving an artist “leeway” — hell, here I spent more than half of the review talking about all the things this song does wrong.

So, yes–here, I do think Allan’s background and upbringing have to be taken into account, if only for the fact that these things give him authority. I feel like that’s where this discussion is going, so I’m just going to come out and say it. I believe that Allan understands all the things he’s singing about in this song, and that matters. That matters, because that fact gives his words weight that would otherwise be missing.

To that extent, yes, his background does elevate the song.

And there’s a fundamental difference between the Allan and Pickler examples we’re using here–”She’s So California,” even with all of its flaws, would still be a vivid, generally well-crafted song if sung by another artist. Pickler’s songs are simply not well crafted. There is a canyon between the two examples in terms of how skilfully their songs are crafted, and no singer, no matter what their background, can elevate an utterly atrocious song.

I can see the comparison some of you are making between this song and the new Dierks Bentley single and Kellie Pickler’s songs, and to me the reasons this song is head and shoulders above those songs are….
1. this song is much better written than the other used as examples, the imagery is very vivid in Allan’s song, much more viid than in the other songs.
2. Allan’s delivery of the lyrics is very powerful. In my opinion the delivery sounds as if Gary can relate to the subject of the song and that really reaches out and grabs the listener through his vocal delivery. As for the other songs mentioned, I haven’t heard Kellie’s songs enough to comment on those but I have noticed in “Feel That Fire”, Dierks’ vocal seems flat,like he’s just there recording a song and nothing else. Thats not saying I think Dierks is a bad artist,in fact I really like him, it’s just that I believe he failed to make a connection with that particular song.

I don’t believe this is anywhere near Gary’s best song but I do think it is second best on “Living Hard” behind “Watching Airplanes”, and compared to other singles out on Mainstream Radio I believe it really stands out.

Ben, what an interesting point you make about Gary singing about wildfires, when it’s obvious to you that he shouldn’t be. How about all of the anti-war, anti-terrorist songs that came out after 9/11? Don’t you think that some people were put off by those songs, rather than embraced them?

I don’t think Gary is trying to be controversial, or trying to stir up emotions in people. Just as peaches are a part of Georgia, wildfires are a part of California.

Great song, was hoping he’d release the title track or Like It’s A Bad Thing but every song on the album has hit potential.

Ugh. I like the sound but the lyrics are boring. EVERY FREAKING LINE is “She’s a __________, she’s a ________, she’s a _______” over and over again. That, and I want to strangle the next writer who decides to rhyme “warn ya” with “Calif—” wait, I already said that.