Single Review: ‘Only God Could Love You More’ – Jerrod Niemann
11 years ago Liv Carter 21
Songwriters: Jerrod Niemann, Lee Brice, Jon Stone
Right out of the gate, I want to say that I think ‘Only God Could Love You More’ is a pretty good song. It’s a song written about those grey areas of a relationship that everyone knows happen, but that most writers never think to write about. In this case, Jerrod Niemann, and his co-writers Lee Brice, and Jon Stone have done a good job there.
Where the song goes wrong is on the overbearing saccharine production, complete with delay-laden piano parts, drum loops, tympani, and horns (there’s probably a kitchen sink in there somewhere.) It takes a sentiment that would have been more effective as a whisper and turns it into a shout. When the song opened with acoustic guitar harmonics, my interest was piqued. I even liked the use of piano for a bit, but it ends up owning the song. What would have been a phenomenal track if cut with just acoustic guitars or as a solo piano/vocal is turned into a big stupid power ballad.
I also don’t think this song is right for Niemann vocally, at least maybe not in the key he performs it in. Most of the time he sounds like he’s reaching for notes and he winds up oversinging. Because of this, the emotional aspect of the vocal take is overshadowed by the technical considerations, and that’s never a good place to be. Much like the production, he winds up shouting when he should be whispering, but in the case of the vocal, the results are worse. If they’d taken it down a half-step, I think things might have worked out a bit better. That said, I can’t think of too many country male vocalists who would have the range to be able to carry this song in the key in which it’s performed here.
I’d really love to hear someone else cut this song, but keep it stripped down and perform it in a key that’s better suited to their voice. As it is, I can’t really recommend this version of the song, which is unfortunate, because as I said before, it’s an excellent song.
NINJA EDIT: After listening to a video of this song being performed at a fan club party (which I’ll link below), I’ve come to the conclusion that Niemann’s just a hamfisted singer and somehow thought singing this song like it’s a Creed tune was a good idea. Someone else please cut this.
Studio version:
Acoustic version:
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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