Gretchen Wilson – “You Don’t Have To Go Home”
In one of my earliest reviews for The 9513 I said, among quite a bit of praise, that Gretchen Wilson’s single “One Of The Boys,” might end up being “the most important song of her career to date.”
I called “One Of The Boys,” a “can’t-miss” hit. Bottom line? I whiffed.
But I think I was right about one thing–that song was the most important song of her career to date, because it absolutely shattered any confidence Country Radio had left in Wilson’s ability to remain relevant (and produce hits). “One Of The Boys,” though not a “great” song by definition, showcased the best of what we can expect from Wilson as a mainstream artist. It was well-written, mid-tempo, and solidly country.
Wilson needed to prove that she could deliver something in addition to drinking songs. She needed to prove that she could be successful with a more substantive topic, even if that topic holds closely to her redneck woman image.
Nobody, after all, expects Wilson to record froth.
But “One Of The Boys” failed miserably, and Wilson’s latest single, “You Don’t Have To Go Home,” reverts back to the only stylistic approach that has ever brought her any consistent success–an up-tempo bar song.
And that’s problem number one. At this point, Gretchen Wilson seems like a one-trick pony.
But there are bigger reasons why “You Don’t Have To Go Home,” is a failure, not the least of which is the fact that it is, simply, a very, very bad song. Lyrically it aspires to nothing more than a narration of what happens when a bar closes. There are no characters, there is no story, and there is no hook. “You don’t have to go home/But you can’t stay here,” is not a hook. It’s a cliché statement, a statement that goes nowhere, and a statement which we’ve all heard a hundred times.
Further, the fact that Wilson would record (and release) something so genuinely terrible serves to illustrate the extent to which her career is hanging by a thread.
More troubling, however, is Wilson’s vocal delivery. I have never thought her an excellent singer, but her delivery seems to be getting progressively worse with each album. On “You Don’t Have To Go Home,” her voice is erratic and sounds strained. What used to come across as grit now sounds more like ineptitude.
It’s hard to watch Wilson’s career spiraling downward. And listening to “You Don’t Have To Go Home,” is a painful experience not only because it’s really an awful record, but because we used to have faith that she could do so much better.
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September 18, 2007 at 7:55 pm
I never had faith Gretchen could do better. ;)
September 18, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I listen to her “Here For the Party” album every now and then, and I wonder how someone could make a record like that and still stray from quality more and more with each album released after it.
If Gretchen ever wants to be anything close to what she was in 2004-2005, she’s got to take a long hiatus IMO. She’s going to have to get people wondering what she’s been doing, and where she’s been… and once she returns, maybe people (and radio) will care and start picking up her records again.
I like Gretchen a lot, but her last album was such a disappointment. I hope she isn’t totally done, though.
October 6, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I think this album and all the songs on it are great! She’s just awesome live! IMO it’s really a shame the so called main stream country radio it’s play her new music more. It would be so nice to hear some real contry music ,instead of have to endure Carrie and the Flatt boy’s all the time!
October 6, 2007 at 6:46 pm
I think the song and album is one of the best. I think you need another job b/c you can’t tell good music when you hear it. Gretchen is AWESOME!!!
October 6, 2007 at 8:54 pm
I listen to A LOT of different music genres, and think Gretchen’s songs and voice are great. I saw her concert in Kansas City in September and it was awesome.
October 7, 2007 at 7:14 am
I’ll take the middle ground on this
This album is okay – it has some good tracks and some lesser tracks but doesn’t reach the heights of HERE FOR THE PARTY. I suppose that should be expected since her debut album defined her personna.
This album is one that grows on you with repeated listening. I’d give it 3.5 stars – I’d give it 4 stars but I regard “Painkiller” as a huge mistake and feel that she could have done better by “Heaven Help Me”.
I do feel that she has almost exhausted this vein of music and will need to diversify her approach in future albums in order to remain interesting, particularly in light of her obvious vocal limitations. Her next album will need to be outstanding or, like many others, she will fall by the wayside, having had a short, but very productive run
October 7, 2007 at 10:57 am
I think u need to listen to this CD again!!!! I think Gretchen’s only problem is she is not promoted by her label and the radio does not get her music out there for country muzik fans to listen to everythin is so political now Years ago all muzik was played so the fans had the oportunity to hear it IT IS FUNNY BUT NON-COUNTRY MUSIC IS PLAYED ON COUNTRY RADIO THAN COUNTRY ARTIST IMO
October 7, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I think the problem is that country radio is not originally country anymore. It is a bunch of “pop” want to be stars. Like Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, and all those over rated people. Whatever happened to people like Gretchen, Sara Evans, Brooks and Dunn, and people who knew what country was.
Maybe you’re problem is that you have been with Carrie (cuz she’s easy) and Gretchen wouldn’t give you the tim of day!!!
October 7, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Actually, you are right Sally Sue. In the past two-three years, country radio has drifted so far away from anything sounding the least bit traditional. Brooks and Dunn and Sara Evans are still making music, but IMO they are experiencing less success than they used to at radio, and it’s not because their songs aren’t good. Sara Evans will never be able release a song like “Suds In The Bucket” again because of this generation’s “give me more pop and give it to me now” attitude, and I was quite shocked that radio even made “Suds” a Top 10 hit at the time, never mind #1 (and that was 2004).
October 7, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I think if these so called music reviewers would really listen to Gretchen’s latest CD …One of the boys, they would see an incredible sign of growth, both vocally and as a song writer. She has taken us on a journey through the last couple years, which at times hasn’t been pretty and hasn’t been an emotional high, but once again in my opinion has delivered an awesome mix of songs, some to make us smile, some to make us cry and some just to toss back a few and forget about our troubles. Personally my favorite is “Pain Killer”, you can’t get anymore country then that song! So Mr Jim, I suggest you take another listen, and listen without bias or what you think should be classified as real country, because as far as singers today, Gretchen Wilson is the only one right now putting out real country music!
October 7, 2007 at 8:55 pm
There are plenty of female singers puttting out real Country music such as Sunny Sweeney, Karla Crawford, Erin Hay & Amber Digby, although I agree that the Nashville labels are putting out relatively little of it. I like Wilson, but she is at a crucial point in her career
October 7, 2007 at 10:03 pm
I’d like to make a couple of points in response.
1) If we were to go back and look at the charts from the last three or four years, I think we’d find that there has been a considerable up-tick in the amount of “traditional” sounding songs that are being recorded and released (when compared to the five, six, or seven years prior).
2) That said, I think the entire argument that Gretchen isn’t getting played on country radio because she’s “too country” is a major league cop-out. Again, if we look back at the charts, I think we’ll find that country radio is starving for “traditional” sounding songs.
But an artist like Sunny Sweeney sits far outside the mold of the “traditional” sound. Those artists are trying to sound “traditional,” and the result is a record that is jarring.
I wonder if the argument that contemporary pop-country has destroyed the “traditional” artists is based more on passion than it is on fact. Country music has been changing for the last 60 years (more, really), and it will continue to change. Was the country music of the 1980s really any less pop than today’s country music? Of course not.
But it’s easy to blame Shania, Faith, and Rascal Flatts.
3) Bottom line: Gretchen Wilson is not getting played on country radio because her recent releases have been very weak.
“You Don’t Have To Go Home” has zero redeeming qualities. It doesn’t have a story, it doesn’t have a hook, you can’t dance to it, and Gretchen doesn’t sing it well. That makes it a bad song, as far as I’m concerned. and it doesn’t matter if you’re Merle Haggard or Mickey Gilley or Randy Travis, or Rascal Flatts–if you send bad songs to radio, most of the time radio will not play them.
And when I review music, I don’t care if people call you pop-country, traditional, bluegrass, etc. I am a big-tent guy…I believe there’s room for all kinds of country music. But I have no patience–no patience–for any kind of bad country music.
Any person is, of course, free to disagree with my application of the term “bad”.
October 8, 2007 at 8:43 am
“Was the country music of the 1980s really any less pop than today’s country music? Of course not.”
I have long regarded Dan Seals’ “Bop” (1985) as the least “country” song ever to top the country chart (and win the CMA Single of the Year award).
October 8, 2007 at 9:36 am
obviously you havent been to a Gretchen wilson concert.People dance in their seats and sing along to her songs. Its her record label that doesnt promote her music.If she got a new record label she would zoom to the top and then you would have to eat your words.She is one awesome singer and performer and no one is gonna change that.I agree you need to get a new job and leave this job to the people that know what they are talking about.
October 8, 2007 at 10:04 am
Debbie–I have seen Gretchen perform live, but this review is not a review of Gretchen’s live show.
As far as her label not promoting her…give me a break. Wilson was, at a point within the last couple of years, on a short-list of top-tier artists. If the label bailed on her, there’s a reason.
October 8, 2007 at 11:29 am
Having been on the receiving end of many such demands, I’m always struck by the cavalier way in which some readers will insist that a critic be fired for a review with which he or she disagrees. Do I go to their workplace and complain to the manager about the way they prepare the fries?
October 8, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I’m always amused when I’m told the same on my blog, given that it’s my blog. Am I supposed to fire myself, or cut my salary down from zero?
January 11, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I didn’t say anything when this was first posted but I have gone back and listened to Wilson’s “You Don’t Have To To Home” several times. My opinion hasn’t changed or even mellowed. It’s not good music. It’s the kind of filler we get on albums all the time. It’s a waste of time and money.