Trace Adkins – “This Ain’t No Love Song”
In 1971, legendary singer-songwriter Carole King debuted her bluesy confection, “I Feel the Earth Move,” a rollicking pop-rock classic that serves as the quintessential song about falling in love. Struck dumb by a new beau, she imagines a world that’s shaken by her infatuation. “I get hot and cold all over,” she sings lustily, and in no time at all, she submits to her new sensation: “I’ve just got to have you, baby.”
Trace Adkins takes a more defiant stance against this aggressive force of nature. On his first single with Show Dog-Universal Music, “This Ain’t No Love Song,” he exercises great restraint in fighting off a would-be girlfriend. While King sang sweetly about the passion and promise of a tender love affair, Adkins sounds resistant and ready to flee at the drop of a ten-gallon cowboy hat. “The earth didn’t move when you first said my name,” he lies, “I didn’t feel a thing.”
The mere mention of old romantic cliches–”My heart didn’t skip a beat when I saw you there,” for one–suggest otherwise. In the second verse, Adkins is at a near-loss for words. He can’t even conjured up a lousy excuse for his clumsy ways: “I must’ve taken a wrong turn/I must’ve been thinkin’ ’bout something else.”
Love is messy, complicated stuff, and the thrice-married Adkins is well-suited to the task of expressing that sentiment. His deep, rumbling baritone, one of the genre’s greatest instruments, intones a good deal of fear along with the delight of finding a kindred spirit. As a menacing electric guitar makes one last turn in the bridge, it seems like he’s lost this uphill battle.
“Song” is an unadorned track, with a nice, midtempo strut that echoes the push-pull of budding love affairs. Adkins’s macho posturing has gained him a wealth of fans, but his sensitive songs are at the heart of his act. Hits like “Every Light in the House,” “The Rest of Mine” and “I’m Tryin’” represent some of the finest moments on country radio in the last fifteen years. Though “Song” doesn’t quite match that standard, it’s a mature statement from a man who’s lived (and loved) a little and wonders if, this time, the pleasure will outweigh the pain.
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May 10, 2010
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May 11, 2010 at 10:34 am
This is a middling effort from Trace IMO, but certainly more pleasant to the senses than ‘Hillbilly Bone’, ‘Marry for Money’, or ‘I Got My Game On’. Describing it as a happy medium between those and gems like ‘I’m Tryin’ and ‘Then They Do’ is an apt description.
I wouldn’t change the station if it came on, but I won’t actively seek it out either. It still leaves me wanting to hear more from his first Show Dog album.
May 11, 2010 at 10:44 am
I’m just glad Trace keeps putting out good quality, non-novelty songs to radio so they can’t pigeon hole him as purely a novelty artist! This song is a welcome relief from all the pop-rock piffle that dominates “AirHead Country Radio”. You know, the kind of music Alison Bonaguro loves so much…
PS – Chris Young’s “The Man I Want To Be” just hit # 1! When songs like that and Easton Corbin’s “A Little More Country Than That” top the Top 40 charts I breathe a sigh of relief that all is not lost in mainstream country radio yet! Whew!
May 11, 2010 at 12:44 pm
My favorite of Trace’s sensitive songs is still “Help Me Understand”. I saw him in ’02 at the Bloomsburg Fair along with Diamond Rio. Great show – but he didn’t sing HME.
May 11, 2010 at 1:36 pm
I do enjoy this song, and “middling effort” is probably about right. Something about this song just reeks of Toby, to me, but maybe I’m just itching to say that because of the label jump. I dunno – I’ll leave it with “I enjoy this, but don’t necessarily love it.”
May 11, 2010 at 3:41 pm
“I’m just glad Trace keeps putting out good quality, non-novelty songs to radio so they can’t pigeon hole him as purely a novelty artist! This song is a welcome relief from all the pop-rock piffle that dominates “AirHead Country Radio”. You know, the kind of music Alison Bonaguro loves so much…”
Seriously? “Swing,” “Honkytonk Badonkadonk,” “Hot Mama,” “Chrome,” and “I Got My Game On” are some of the worst songs at country radio in recent years. I don’t deny his talent, but too much of his material IS mindless novelity junk.
The only quality singles I’ve ever heard from are “Till The Last Shot’s Fired” and “Then They Do.” This song is no exception to me- not horrible, but there’s no storyline, and it’s boring and forgettable.
“A Little More Country Than That” is also terrible. Filled with chiche’s, and it’s no better than the embarrasing novelity “I’m so country and proud of it” junk out there.
May 11, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Written by Marcel, David Lee and Tony Lane.
May 11, 2010 at 6:20 pm
I like this song, hopefully we get of this Adkins at his new label and less of the ditty crap he has poured out at Capitol. His last album had two of the best songs released with “Till The Last Shot’s Fired” and “I Cant Outrun You”
May 11, 2010 at 6:58 pm
“The only quality singles I’ve ever heard from are “Till The Last Shot’s Fired” and “Then They Do.”
You didn’t like “You’re Gonna Miss This”, “Arlington”, “The Rest Of Mine”, or “Every Light In The House”? Admittedly, Trace has released a lot of junk — too much — but he’s had some very good songs along the way.
I like this new one; it’s not the best I’ve heard from him, but I’ve come to accept that nowadays the best songs on an album are not the ones that are released as singles. The fact that he chose this and not another monstrosity like “Ala-Freakin-Bama” makes me hopeful that his new album will be good.
May 11, 2010 at 7:14 pm
K, I was speaking in terms of “relative to the typical crap they play on Top 40 AirHead Country Radio”. Even Trace’s novelty songs typically can still be described as “country” which goes a long way with me.
May 11, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Were “til the Last Shot’s Fired” and “I Can’t Outrun You” officially released?
May 11, 2010 at 7:20 pm
The live version of “Til The Last Shot’s Fired” was released as an iTunes single, but it was never released to radio.
May 11, 2010 at 7:48 pm
The first time I heard “Every Light In The House” is when I fell in love with Trace Adkins. This songs okay, but I’ve heard better. He’s not an artist that I can say,”I like most of his songs.” I like about half of his stuff.
May 11, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I really like this song. I’m a pretty big fan of Trace, though. so I’m a little biased.
My favorite singles from Trace are “There’s a Girl in Texas,” “Every Light in the House,” “I Left Something Turned On at Home,” “More,” “I’m Tryin’,” “Arlington,” “I Wanna Feel Something,” “Muddy Water,” “Marry for Money,” “All I Ask For Anymore” and, of course, his first #1 “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing.”
“There’s a Girl in Texas,” “I Wanna Feel Something” (a criminally underrated song, in my opinion), “Arlington,” and “Every Light in the House” are probably my favorite overall songs from him, too.
And, personally, I like “Roll With It” a lot better than I did “I’m a Little More Country Than That,” mainly for the same reasons K said. I, however, think it’s substantially better than the majority of similarly themed songs I’ve heard.
May 11, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I Can’t Outrun You is probably Adkins’ best vocal on record.
May 12, 2010 at 12:16 am
While I’m not a fan of History (in school that is), I can certainly tip my hat and respect Adkins for his passion in history and the war efforts of America. I wonder if he has it in the back of his mind to do a history/biographical album that showcases his knowledge of American frontiers. I think he’d definitely shine in this regard. “Til The Last Shot’s Fired” is definitely one of his signature efforts on his part, and he should follow suit on this.
May 12, 2010 at 12:16 am
@Jon G – other than “Marry For Money” (gets a ‘Meh’ from me…) I would wholeheartedly agree with your list of Adkins songs. LOVED “Girl In Texas” which is sort of a forgotten track from him, and “More” is a song I love to spin when I get the chance at work.
Definitely a fan of Adkins here!
May 12, 2010 at 4:10 am
…musically, not a song that would make the earth move under my feet but i like the lyrical angle from which he tackles the topic – one of these songs that’ll grow on you over time. it’s good to still have artists like him, who don’t have to care too much about what’s the current flavour of the month.
May 18, 2010 at 7:56 am
I LOVE This Ain’t No Love Song. For those of you who aren’t all that thrilled about the song; just wait a while. This song will grow on you like it has on me. If I go on Trace’s web site and listen to it in the morning, it plays in my head for the rest of the day.
One of the writers on TANLS is Tony Lane, who wrote I Came Here To Live and co-wrote I Wanna Feel Something. And I agree with Jon G; IWTFS is a criminally underrated song.
May 25, 2010 at 10:16 am
“”The only quality singles I’ve ever heard from are “Till The Last Shot’s Fired” and “Then They Do.” This song is no exception to me- not horrible, but there’s no storyline, and it’s boring and forgettable. “”
Trace has a sense of writing that is untouchable by modern day artists. Yes, Honkey Tonk Bodonkadonk and Hot Mama may not have been most people’s most desirable, but singles are picked accoring to trends, not personal faves.
If you say that you do not like Trace’s writing skills, you have never actually picked up any of his disks and listened well.Jon G. named sveeral great songs above, and there are so many more-he relates to so many in a wide way- what about “Then Came the Night” and “One Night Stand”, “The Stubborn One”, “High” and the way he sings about family, of course, “Then They Do” and “You’re Gonna Miss This”…I could go on for days…and as for this song? Who hasn’t tried to deny falling for someone? Again, I believe a well written song for Trace, and i can not WAIT to get the new CD and listen to all of his new songs. There is not one yet that I have not loved.
June 1, 2010 at 1:40 am
Actually, Jen, Trace doesn’t write very often. Like genre greats like Jones and Strait and others like McGraw and Shelton, Adkins is generally better known as an interpreter of songs than a writer, however. He did, however, contribute to some songs, among them personal favorite “There’s a Girl in Texas” and “The Rest of Mine.” To my knowledge, he hasn’t recorded anything he’s written since his first Greatest Hits package was released. Luckily, the few songs he has penned, like the ones mentioned above, tend to be very good. He may not have quantity, but as a songwriter, Trace definitely has quality on his side.
July 29, 2010 at 11:44 pm
I recently got invited to Sony Publishing in Nasville to hear Between The Rainbows And The Rain which is on Trace’s new CD. Wow! This is an awsome song that I hope gets released to radio as a single. It’s co-writen by Tony Lane.
August 14, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Thanks for highlighting this song. My Uncle Tony co-wrote it.
August 16, 2010 at 5:44 am
Love this song its sooo TRUE!!!! I didnt eather!!
And if we did we wouldnt admit it!! LOVE IT!!!! Its also my 16 year old & my 13 year olds favorite song!! Im just waiting for them to get the girl who there going to sing it about!!!