Single Review: ‘Boys ‘Round Here’ – Blake Shelton
11 years ago Liv Carter 8
Songwriters: Dallas Davidson, Thomas Rhett, Craig Wiseman
If there was a TV show that satirizes country music the way The Colbert Report does the news, this would be its theme song. On paper, Blake Shelton‘s new single, ‘Boys ‘Round Here,’ looks like satire. Let’s come up with the most cliche-riddled, stereotype-confirming lyric and have a good laugh! (and if that is what the writers were doing deliberately, this is brilliant) But the song is not meant to live on paper, and as one of my mantras goes: words have meaning and context matters.
First though, before people aim the artillery at the songwriters Dallas Davidson, Thomas Rhett, and Craig Wiseman, I would like to reiterate this point. I have said before that I defend the right of songwriters to write silly, harmless songs. It is not their fault that someone puts one (or more) of them on the radio. Davidson writes 17,326 songs a year (give or take) and has truly wonderful material (feast your ears on the extremely excellent ‘Granddaddy’s Gun,’ the closing track on Shelton’s new album). I will happily forgive him, and his co-writers, deciding to just have fun one day and writing something like this.
Now to the song itself. While I increasingly believe less and less of Shelton’s ‘I don’t give a shit’ redneck machismo, he knows just how to handle the character in this song. As one of the better vocalists in country, he has never had a problem interpreting lyrics. He sounds great while he sings with a smile on his face and with a detached air, leaving the character quite oblivious and thereby adding to the song’s satirical quality. Producer Scott Hendricks didn’t stuff this full of big drums and loud beats, but instead chose a sparser production based on a simple loop. The really great work comes from the mix, which does an effective job of supporting Shelton’s vocals.
Do I personally like this song? Hell no. But I can’t persecute a harmless song for the great crime of not fitting my personal, and therefor very arbitrary, standard of ‘good.’ Because of Hendricks’ careful mix and Shelton’s perfectly pitched performance, this song achieves exactly what it sets out to do. That is not as easy as it sounds and I have to give credit to those involved. If I wish to maintain any sense of objectivity, hard as it may be sometimes, I have to let that be enough.
Liv Carter
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.
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