Single Review: 'Little Bit Of Everything' - Keith Urban

Single Review: ‘Little Bit of Everything’ – Keith Urban

11 years ago Liv Carter 23

keith urban little bit of everything single song review — Capitol/Hit Red

Songwriters: Brett Warren, Brad Warren, Kevin Rudolf

Keith Urban has been working on his seventh studio album for Capitol Nashville and just before the summer season kicks off, he is releasing the project’s first single, ‘Little Bit of Everything,’ to country radio.

When Urban said via Twitter that the song “has a little bit of everything,” he wasn’t kidding. It has a laidback Luke Laird-style beat, very pleasant guitar and banjo lines, a great vocal performance, and some casual sexism.

In a recent discussion on the way women are portrayed in country music, I defended Keith Urban’s oeuvre saying the women in his songs are still treated as people; they are allowed to be whole individuals. No more. Witness the first verse – ‘I wanna cool chick that’ll cook for me / but’ll dance on the bar in her tan bare feet / and do what I want when I want / and she’ll do it with me.’ Insert your own ‘make me a sammich, woman’ reference here. Any and all instances of women being reminded that their place is in the kitchen, and to follow along after their man when he does whatever he wants to do, need to be called out. Loudly.

‘Little Bit of Everything’ sounds like a thinly-veiled attempt to copy much of what the new generation of country stars is doing. Urban has been in need of a sonic make-over for a while, but this is chasing a trend rather than developing his own new sound. While the song has a fantastic melody – which has long been a strong suit of the Warren Brothers – it is totally unbelievable coming from Keith Urban. A verse about how he doesn’t care about cars (*cough*) but wants to smoke a box of Cuban cigars and drink something strong (!) followed by a chorus proclaiming that ‘I just wanna sing a little chill song / get my groove on / pour something strong down in my drink,’ just sounds disingenuous.

This song sounds great, but its content is highly questionable and not of the quality that fits with Keith Urban’s career so far. We already have people aiming for the cool-chick-and-dudebro crowd with fun summer hits about drinking and singing chill songs with a groove. They’re called Florida Georgia Line.

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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.

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Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, The Warren Brothers

Artists + songwriters

Erose Lavana

It’s a chill song…doesn’t require you to dig into deep feelings or
over analyze until your mind is numb…like some of his earlier songs…
this is completely feel good and totally believable seeing that Keith
is in a happy, feel good place in his life now, I don’t think this veers
too far away from Sweet Thing or Put You In a Song, KIss A Girl, etc., I
LOVE IT! Totally my kind of country song!
Deb b

Love this song you don’t know what you are talking about!!!
- LivCarter
  
  There are some hit songwriters here in Nashville who would happily tell you that, in fact, I do know. That you don’t agree with what I said does not invalidated it.
kat

agree with Erose Lavana. dont over think it! just enjoy it!
- LivCarter
  
  What’s with all this telling me to stop thinking? Forming your own independent thoughts and opinions is a good thing.
June

I happen to agree with you. I can’t connect. Although since it’s Keith I’ll try to enjoy it and of course I’ve bought it…
- LivCarter
  
  If you have to “try” to enjoy it, doesn’t that tell you that it’s not working for you. It’s ok not like one song of your favorite artist.
Kelsy

You’re an idiot.
- LivCarter
  
  Stop this. You can disagree with me or any other commenter, but you will not under any circumstances be allowed to call anyone names, or issue personal attacks. If you want to comment here, stop that.
Chords

I like the song fine but seems it would comes across better coming from a 20 year old vs Keith Urban. Also seems strange that Keith of all people would record a song that portrays someone wanting to drink.
- houseone
  
  It’s just a song folks. Artists don’t have to sing about real things, you know.
- Guest
  
  Are we going to keep on condemning him for being a FORMER drug addict and alcoholic? He is sober now and has been for years…I applaud him for cleaning up, staying clean and for moving forward after his fall from grace — if he wants to sing songs that refer to a past that only means, for me, that he hasn’t wallowed on it and condemned himself of it
SuperJPow

I think it’s a great attempt at doing something catchy, fun and frisky and if that is the point, then it’s successful. However, this is not my particular brand of Keith Urban. The guy I know to be Keith Urban has a lot more to say than “pour something strong in my drink”, and I’m not worried about his girl in the least. I bet she has him doing things you can’t write in a song that would play on the radio! At any rate, it is catchy, fun and frisky for sure. I’ll be singing along just as soon as I purchase the new album. It’s just not what I wanted from Keith after waiting 2 years for a new single. I do hope there is a real heart to heart song on that album to follow up this one, you know…like a conversation about how “that last thing I said wasn’t really the best thing to say”. JMO
- LivCarter
  
  He’s done meaning-free, fun songs before (‘Put You in a Song’ comes to mind) but they’ve always been of a higher quality than this. I don’t mind drink references in songs but coming from him it’s just a strange choice.
  
  With this song, I just can’t help but feel it’s an attempt to keep up with what the cool kids at country radio are doing right now.
houseone

Calling it sexist is the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. You are making a mountain out of a molehill. You read waaaaay more into this song than needs be. This is a great catchy tune.
- Guest
  
  I agree, I don’t get how some can even think it’s sexist, the sentiment of wanting a cool chick who will cook … do things with … is a universal one IMO, every male (& female) wants somebody who can be there for them, do special things for them and with whom they can do anything with (cook, talk, travel, have sex, etc) — I think that’s all there is to it, others though put a sexual connotation to it
Erika Holland

I agree with this article 100%. I’m a HUGE Keith fan and this song was a total disappointment. If this song was by any other mediocre, pop-country artist, then I’d probably be okay with the it. But this is Keith Urban we’re talking about. He doesn’t need to rely on these over-produced, pop, digital synthesizers to make a good single. He’s a musical GENIUS, and in my opinion, one of the best guitarists in the world. Don’t forget that the song has a very weak guitar solo at the end. I suck at guitar and I can probably play that solo. The sexist part also really bothered me. I’ve always found his lyrics to be respecting toward women, not this song though. I find the lyrics in this song to be very degrading to me as a woman. This song just makes Keith sound desperate, and as a result, this song feels extremely forced and it lacks passion and emotion.
- houseone
  
  You must have real insecurity issues if you call this song sexist! Totally ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing sexist about this song at all. If I want a man to mow the yard, or take out the trash, or love me when I want, is that sexist too? This article and your comments are outrageous.
houseone

YOURLIFEINASONG

16MAY2013

“Little Bit of Everything”~ Keith Urban: Single Review

posted in Reviews by mkat19

“Little Bit of Everything”: Keith Urban ~ Single Review

It has been nearly two years since the great Keith Urban has released new music to radio, with the exception of the powerful, yet forgettable, “For You”, a song penned for the soundtrack of the 2012 military film, “Act of Valor”. I, for one, have missed Keith, passing the time by blasting Defying Gravity (in my opinion, his best work) on repeat and watching him play the role of the sole authentic and beneficial judge to grace the American Idol panel since Simon Cowell’s departure. As the Idol finale draws nearer (Thursday, 8/7 CT on Fox) and his Light the Fuse Tour prepares for unveiling in July, Keith is back with brand new music and a familiar vibe that has been missing from country radio.

“Little Bit of Everything” is the first single from Keith’s upcoming and untitled ninth studio album. The song is comfortingly Keith, from the opening guitar plucks to the closing electric notes, all the while adding another song to the now-staple category, country-pop. The lyrics encompass the familiar, almost hackneyed, topic that saturates the radio at this time of the year: the desires to kick back, relax, and not have a single care in the world. Keith and his co-writers paint a typical picture lyrically, describing the lonely narrator wistfully wishing for nothing more than to chill out with a strong drink and a good song without guilt or responsibilities. I don’t need much of anything/I just wanna sing a little chill song/get my groove on/pour something strong/down in my drink. The lyrics are simple, yet relatable; Keith’s delivery improves the somewhat lazy song, enveloping listeners with his sultry voice and making them crave to be on a beach somewhere with a martini in one hand and an iPod in the other.

While the story is one I have heard multiple times, I am willing to forgive Keith, if only because I’ve missed hearing him on my local country station. “Little Bit of Everything” is destined to be a summer hit, joining a group of mediocre, but adequate songs like Brad Paisley’s, “Beat This Summer”, Blake Shelton’s, “Boys ‘Round Here”, and Zac Brown Band’s, “Jump Right In” on country music’s summer playlist of 2013.

Grade: B

Little Rebellion Music

It's a good thing now and then…

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