Pat Green – What I’m For – CD Review

15 years ago Liv Carter 1

I wrote this review for elsewhere and was asked about it recently when I realized I had not put it up here. So let me correct that now…


Pat Green – What I’m For (Sony BMG Nashville, 2009)

Sometimes in a review I like to build up to a conclusion. Not this time. This is a fantastic album and I am far too enthusiastic about it to be patient.

From the first few lines of opener ‘Footsteps of Our Fathers’, it’s clear that Pat Green has things to say. The song reminds us that we are all indebted to previous generations and urges us to think about what we will leave for our children and the messages continue in other songs. This entire album is about society; the different aspects of it and how to find your place in it. Green is not afraid to tell you how he thinks the world should be but he stops short of preaching to you; ‘I’m the first to say I don’t know what I’m doing/I ain’t gonna preach what I don’t know/…/I’m making all this sh*t up as I go’, though he still reminds us that if we are going to get there we are going to do it together; ‘so let’s rip a page out ol’ Hank Williams hymnal/let’s have a little church right here tonight‘. On ‘What I’m For’, Green gives us a list of things he’s ‘for’, on ‘Lucky’ we are reminded that happiness can be found in the simple things while ‘In It for the Money’ argues that motives are rarely complicated; ‘if you’re not in it for love/you’re in it for the money’.

Bizarrely, first single ‘Let Me’ is the weakest song on the disc. It’s certainly easy on the ear but in this collection it sounds a little bit shallow, which says more about the quality of the rest of the material than about this song. On the dipped-in-sarcasm ‘Country Star’ (the current single), Pat takes a swipe at those “artists” who decide to head to Nashville and ‘go country’ because that’s where the money is now. He could have easily taken it further but Green found the balance between mocking them and not biting the hand that feeds.

The more light-hearted country rock is represented by the toe-tapper ‘Feeling Pretty Good Tonight’ and ‘Carry On’, the latter a re-record of the title track of Green’s last independent release which is also found on the 2001 effort ‘Three Days’. The evolution of that song is very interesting, especially the development of his vocals, which here really are better than ever. Quieter moments are provide by ‘In This World’ and the achingly beautiful ‘In the Middle of the Night’, which closes the album with pure class.

The ultratight sound and perfectly controlled guitars are clearly courtesy of Dann Huff. This is the first Green/Huff collaboration and I’m guessing (and hoping) it won’t be the last. With Justin Niebank as a sound engineer, this is the team which looks after Keith Urban’s music so it was inevitable that this disc was going to be more radiofriendly and accessible than previous Pat Green CD’s. Contrary to some other reviewers I think this is a good thing. I believe this is the music Green has been wanting to make and for the first time in his career he can afford to do so.

I have listened to these songs while walking into town, in the car, sitting on the London Underground, at work waiting for meetings to start and each time the songs have demanded my attention. Material this good will do that to me. I know it’s still early in the year but I am already going to declare that there is no way this album will fall outside of my top 5 for 2009!
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Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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