Single Review: ‘I’ll Keep The Kids’ – Montgomery Gentry
12 years ago Liv Carter 1
Songwriters: Eddie Montgomery, Ira Dean, Phillip O’Donnell
Written about Eddie Montgomery’s 2010 divorce, Montgomery Gentry’s latest single, ‘I’ll Keep The Kids’ is one of those songs that I think every songwriter writes when they go through a period of life that’s marked by bitterness.
The lyrics are excellent. They really do an excellent job of putting the listener in Montgomery’s hillbilly shoes (see what I did there? You’re welcome ;) even if you’ve never been through a divorce. I’m not sure if their content is 100% true to life or if there’s some artistic license taken here, but they did a great job of painting a picture of a guy getting divorced using more than the standard car-house-dog tropes. Images of things like his father’s Gibson, his mother’s wedding ring, or his bass boat bring the song to life and give it a more personal touch.
While I don’t mind what they’ve done with the song’s musical arrangement, I feel like the music and the lyrics don’t quite agree. The acidity that comes across in the words isn’t matched by the standard issue pop/rock/country arrangement going on underneath. It almost feels passive aggressive in a strange way, like he’s pulling punches that you wish he’d throw. Montgomery Gentry is almost famous for snarky, over the top, “fuck off” types of songs, so it’s a bit of a surprise that they didn’t take that route on this one, and if there were ever a more appropriate subject for that, I can’t think of it.
Knowing how slanted courts tend to be in favor of women in divorce cases, I can completely understand where this song is coming from. And even though I think most writers write songs like this at some point of their lives, the difference (for most of them anyway) is that they generally realize that actually releasing those songs does nothing to fix the situation and only ends up highlighting their own bitterness. And that’s how ‘I’ll Keep The Kids’ comes across. By releasing this song, Montgomery’s putting his kids in the middle of the petty arguments he and his ex-wife are/were having. And while I don’t have a problem with divorce songs, the fact that this one puts the kids in the middle is where my problem lies. The attitude here is one that I know is prevalent in our society today, but it’s childish, and it focuses more on stuff and possessions than it considers what effect it’s going to have on the kids it puts in the middle.
Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=demZChChyEI
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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