Single Review: ‘Pirate Flag’ – Kenny Chesney
11 years ago Liv Carter 2
Songwriters: David Lee Murphy, Ross Copperman
Less than a year after the album’s release, Kenny Chesney has declared an end to the Welcome to the Fishbowl era by sending the first single off his next album to radio (which is a shame as I’d hoped to see ‘Sing ’em Good My Friend’ released as a radio single). The new song, ‘Pirate Flag,’ is the feelgood calling card for the Life on a Rock album.
Chesney has developed a reputation as an ‘island song’ artist despite not releasing all that many such tunes. ‘Pirate Flag’ is, but perhaps in name only. In this story of escapism, Chesney trades a small Smoky Mountain town for ‘a pirate flag and an island girl’ (side note: the song was originally registered under the title ‘Pirate Flag and a Hula Girl’ so I am glad to see Chesney had the good sense to change that). As this all suggests, don’t look for substance or meaning here as the lyrics have a few quite silly lines in them.
The most interesting thing about this is the production. Successful elements from elsewhere seem to be combined here. The arrangement, with processing of vocals and a spare use of overdubs, recalls Jay Joyce‘s recent overhaul of Little Big Town. Pretty much everything about the verses, aside from the words, is reminiscent of Tom Petty‘s masterpiece ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance.’ The contrast between the cadence of the verses and the swaying melody of the chorus is really well done, and Chesney and co-producer Buddy Cannon put the mandolin to especially good use. Vocally, Chesney has not always done well on uptempos but that is not in evidence here.
‘Pirate Flag’ might not make it to anyone’s year-end favorite singles list, but it is a well put together, fun song that sounds fresh. What it sets out to do, it does very well and you can’t fault a song that does that.
Listen here – b93radio.com
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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