Single Review: ‘Truck Yeah’ – Tim McGraw
12 years ago Liv Carter 2
Songwriters: Preston Brust, Chris Janson, Chris Lucas, and Danny Myrick
One of the reasons for Tim McGraw‘s longevity is that he has always been exceptionally good at picking songs which perfectly fit each stage of his career. He continues this by selecting ‘Truck Yeah’ as the first release from his upcoming Big Machine label debut.
It doesn’t start off too promising though. I realize , however, that I am not the target audience for songs like this, and this opening does serve its purpose of bringing those who are into the story. The song also suffers in other places when it tries too hard to include all the mots du jour. And can we please, pretty please put a moratorium on the loud/proud rhyme already?
As for the good news: the central play on words, which I assume I do not need to explain, is a stroke of brilliance. And then there is the chorus. Good luck trying to get it out of your head after hearing it even just once. But what really lifts this song far above its many lessers is the point made in the bridge – it doesn’t matter where you were born, because if you ‘gotta little fight, gotta little love’ you may just have ‘a little redneck in your blood’ and you’ve made the team!
The production, as I expected, swings for the fences and is more heavy-handed than the song needs. This is offset by McGraw’s performance. He loves this song, and is determined to do his best to ensure that you do too.
All this added together means ‘Truck Yeah’ is a master class in how to write, and perform, a country radio #1 hit. The song will impact radio on July 9, and the only question remaining is how many weeks it will need to get to the top.
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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