Sunny Sweeney - “East Texas Pines”
Songwriters: Libbi Bosworth and Gary Griffin
The third single from Sunny Sweeney’s debut album, Heartbreaker’s Hall Of Fame, is a cover of “East Texas Pines,” a song originally performed in a more straight-laced country manner by writer Libbi Bosworth. Sweeney dresses it with rocking elements, but her interpretation is just as straight forward and doesn’t do anything to address the song’s shortcomings.
The song presents a slice of the narrator’s life, namely when her car breaks down in East Texas. It introduces two characters–the narrator and her man–tells us where she’s coming from, where she’s going, and hints at some sort of conflict that causes her to leave, but it fails to explore the conflict or give any reason for her leaving. Instead, it focuses on her being stuck in East Texas. Given that the song doesn’t provide justification for any of the narrator’s actions, it lacks any real substance and never goes anywhere, although it doesn’t commit any egregious errors that would otherwise drag it down.
What makes the song worthwhile is the distinction of Sweeney’s voice, which enables her to inhabit the song and instantly develop the narrator’s character, whereas the song wouldn’t work for a more technically proficient, but less colorful singer. However, “East Texas Pines” does highlight a need for more compelling material on her next album.
On a side note, most lyric sites claim the city that the narrator left behind is Forgan City and it does sound like Sweeney sings Forgan in the studio version of the song. Videos clearly show her singing “Morgan” in person. The only reason I bring this up is because Forgan City is in Oklahoma and if she’s headed for Abilene, TX, there’s no way she could break down in East Texas near the Louisiana border. Morgan City, for the record, is located in eastern Louisiana. So what exactly is she singing?
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September 4, 2008 at 1:42 pm Permalink
I dig this cover, and i dont blame her for not switching up or adding lyrics to provide more context or explanantion to the song, most people leave covers alone from a lyrical perspective. I agree that her voice is a key instrument and i do think her twang can elevate even less than stellar material…
September 4, 2008 at 3:20 pm Permalink
I remember finding Libbi Bosworth’s version a few months after hearing Sunny do it live and I remember thinking “hmmm, this is kind of boring” but it’s got to be one of my favorite covers she does.
I think giving it a little more of a driving feel to it livens it up enough to make it great. Crowds seem to really dig it live. Like when I got to open for her this June in Kansas City (yes I just gig dropped) she opened up with it and had the crowd wrapped around her finger the rest of the night.
~Ben J
September 4, 2008 at 4:24 pm Permalink
I have a crush on Sunny. Seriously.
September 4, 2008 at 4:51 pm Permalink
Yeah, join the club.
September 4, 2008 at 4:54 pm Permalink
But Chris, you have a crush on every girl singer!
September 4, 2008 at 5:45 pm Permalink
well, add me to the mix, but not as much of one as i have on chris knight…
September 4, 2008 at 6:46 pm Permalink
Is she aiming to be hard to understand? Most of the words I don’t understand. But I’ve always liked her voice because it’s so cute and different. But it bugs me that I’m not sure what she’s singing!
September 4, 2008 at 10:26 pm Permalink
My favorite three cuts on “Heartbreakers Hall of Fame” are “Here Lately”, “Lavendar Blue” and Audrey Auld’s “Next Big Nothing” and I think any of those songs would do better than this new single or her two previous single releases. Top 40 Fluff Country Radio doesn’t play such twangy female artists, so its back to the Americana realm where being different can work in your favor.
The fact Sunny has selected songs for her next album mostly from submissions of Nashville songwriters (both individual and committee) indicates she may be trying to go mainstream and that would be a shame. When she signed with Big Machine for distribution I was hoping Scotty Borchetta would encourage her to keep doing exactly what was she was doing and record her next album in Texas with the same producer. Now it sounds like Sunny might wind up being just another Top 40 radio wannabee although I really hope that doesn’t happen.
PS - Conservative female commentator Laura Ingraham featured Sunny on her morning radio show a couple years back and told Sunny that “East Texas Pines” was a song she played every morning while doing her workout routine to get her blood pumping….
September 5, 2008 at 8:38 am Permalink
Sunny gets my blood pumping….
September 5, 2008 at 9:31 am Permalink
Not every girl singer. There’s … er … um …
September 5, 2008 at 9:52 am Permalink
The definitive version of this song can be found on The Hollisters’ 1997 release The Land of Rhythm And Pleasure. A nearly perfect combination of rock and twang that still holds up well. Look for a copy.
I find Sweeney only mildly interesting. Seen her a couple of times and reviewed her record for the Austin Chronicle. I thought her choices of cover tunes lacked inspiration.
September 5, 2008 at 10:37 am Permalink
Jim C, The Hollisters’ version just doesn’t jibe with me. The gender reversal just comes across as a little awkward. The man isn’t the one to usually up and leave when a relationship isn’t working for him, making the premise a little more flimsy. There’s also kind of a duality to this lyric that doesn’t work as well coming from a male:
From a female it can mean she can find a new man to make up for lost time that she spent in an unfulfilling relationship and/or a man to help her fix her car and make it to Abilene. That duality is lost or awkward coming from a male perspective.
I agree that they sound good, but I’ll take Sweeney’s version over The Hollisters.
September 5, 2008 at 11:36 am Permalink
The lyric change never bothered me. I think the Hollisters’ version blasts, it’s a perfect album opener, while Sweeney’s is kind of wobbly.
October 2, 2008 at 6:41 pm Permalink
Not bad, i like it. I wish she’d get some major exposure, but she makes COUNTRY music, so that wont happen…
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