Live Those Songs

For the absolute longest time, I had believed that many Kenny Chesney songs were similar. They are about him being on an island. I learned that there is obviously more to it than that. And there are more songs that I like from Kenny Chesney than the ones I mentioned here. These are songs I find relation with. 

Anything But Mine

This song is about the belief that there is someone out there who you cannot possibly imagine being with anyone but yourself but going through the scenario of losing them. The way I see this going down is Kenny is deeply in love with Mary but can’t tell her. That is the explanation for “So tonight I hope that I will do just fine”. He doesn’t want to blow it. The description of everything is so deep. What they were doing, the weather, little things like her taking her shoes off to feel the sand. It’s a powerful image, it really puts over how much the night means to him, he will probably remember every little thing of that until they are together again, if. I have been in the position painted in the song. It did not work out, yet the night that he points out is also very similar. I remember the details of the night not as well as he does here but still too much to deny. My favorite line of this song, and it is more than a line, comes in the second verse and actually takes a majority of it.

“And as we are dancing Mary's wrapping her arms around me
And I can feel the sting of summer on my skin
In the midst of the music I tell her I love her,
We both laugh cause we know it isn't true
But Mary there's a summer drawing to an end tonight
And there's so much that I long to do to you”

I think this signifies my belief that he is too nervous or hesitant to tell her exactly how he feels and what he deems their relationship is. It is a sickening, sickening feeling. She isn’t painted very well in this picture. She probably doesn’t feel the same way, yet she is leading him on. Had he probably mentioned it, what could she think? He will never know and it will eat at him every day. And I believe the line “We both laugh cause we know it isn't true” is actually one of the most brilliant lines in the song. He knows how he feels about her, yet she laughs it off, so to cover his own pride he does too. It is sick. Why should he stifle his feelings just because she is too stupid to see the truth.

Being Drunk is a Lot Like Loving You

This was an unreleased song from When the Sun Goes Down. Every damn morning, when you wake up and there is someone that crosses your mind that for your sanity you know you must swear off but you cannot because it is an addiction. No matter what you do, you turn around and you see things that send you into a spiral. I am in no way an expert in the being drunk thing, but I can imagine the same thing is there for alcohol. While there can definitely be good times with both the person and the drink, at the end you will end up miserable. You will fall down and it will hurt like hell. It takes an emotional, psychological and in some cases physical toll on you.

“And I've woke up some mornings and sworn off the drink
At that I've done reasonably well I think
But I haven't done well swearing off you and me
At that I've failed miserably”

For months at a time, I had felt near the same way as this is demonstrated and I heard this song before I ever felt those feelings. Eventually one day you will get on the wagon for good, hopefully (or is it off the wagon?) . The song was good before familiarity, it is better now.

Better as a Memory

I believe, and I don’t think there is too much pride in me saying that the second verse describes me very well.

“Never sure when the truth won't do,
and pretty good on a lonely night ,
or move on the way a storm blows through,
and never stay, but then again...I might,
I struggle sometimes to find the words,
always sure until I doubt,
walk a line until it blurs, build walls too high to climb out,
but I'm honest to a fault, that's just who I am,
I'm better as a memory than as your man...”

It could be that some of what is said here is kind of generic but I enjoy the comparisons. The insecurity of when to tell the truth and being honest to a fault.

Come Over

This is his most recent single, at least as of this writing. He is verbalizing the feeling of being so strung out over someone that he cannot sleep and will do anything to subside the feelings that he breaks down and calls her, even if he knows that it will lead to more heartache in the future. It is restarting of a vicious cycle. You make me miserable, so I may as well bring back some joy and delay this feeling from passing for a little longer. I once remarked to someone that I am the type of person to “Forget about her completely, then have the urge to call her and tell her that I have done so”. I like his demonstration in the first verse of the desperation.

“I turn the tv off, to turn it on again,
Staring at the blades of the fan as it spins around.
Counting every crack, the clock is wide awake.
Talking to myself, anything to make a sound”.

That type of frustration really hits home. A silent panic. What am I going to do to get this girl off my mind. And the fear that you shouldn’t ask anyone what to do because you don’t want to be thought any less of by people.

Dancin' For The Groceries

An unreleased song from Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, This song is about sacrifice, the woman that he talks about here is sacrificing her happiness, her pride, her time with her children, just for her children. She is doing what she has to, to get through life. The story about the woman “dancing” so she can afford her children’s braces, so they can smile all while she has to put on a fake smile to do the job. I have no experience with strippers, but I imagine that this is a common occurrence, I don’t think there can be many little girls who aspired to grow up to be strippers. I seem to recall an e-mail that was read on the Jim Rome show that indicates there may be a few but I am not sure how common those are.

Down The Road

There have been a few songs so far that I liked but for whatever reason could not include because of the way that they cause me to feel when I listen to it. Don’t Blink for one. As I am writing this, I am listening to the songs. It just started to hit me really weird and I could not focus as I write. I am not sure why. This song “Down The Road” will also be very hard to listen to but I have a reason. I know why. In most of these songs I write about I am hinting at a time where I was in a down and heartbroken position and that could fit here. Perhaps it is the desire to take a girl “Down The Road” and have her start a life with me. A kind of missed opportunity in hindsight thing. It would fit so well, I guess, but that is not the case here. The actual story as to why this song is so difficult for me is the time I most remember hearing it, not the first time, the most memorable time was on the way to my grandmother’s funeral. I like the song, I find it to have a great story, but I cannot kick that memory.

I Can't Go There/Somewhere With You

An unreleased song from No Shoes No Shirt No Problems, I Can't Go There. He is reminded of her every single place he goes. But as the song goes on, it goes from small places such as a restaurant to slightly larger places like San Francisco (yes, that is only slightly larger than a restaurant) to whole states like Florida and California. Every place he has ever been and everything he does, his relationship with her has torn him apart so he questioned everything he has done. A feeling that I understand. What I really enjoy in this song is the part near the end which features Tim McGraw. I enjoy the melody. And years later, Kenny released “Somewhere with You” which is a parallel to it. He needs to move on, but once again, everybody he goes out with, he is reminded of the woman from his past. In an interview will Billboard, Chesney said, "This is a tortured soul song. If you get going with somebody, you've been in a relationship and for whatever reason she's gone or you're gone. And you're not necessarily in another relationship, but you're with somebody else, just starting something with somebody else. Trying to balance both those worlds is tough.”

I Lost It

I think everyone has someone else who has a complete hand over their emotions, they bring the best out of them. The peaks and valleys of emotion.

“No one can make me cry
Make me laugh
Make me smile
Or drive me mad like she does
It's like a curse that is the cure
Better or worse, one thing's for sure
It's real love and I don't know what I'd do
If I lost it”

I believe that that type of control that someone has is what indicates how true your feelings are for someone, if they cannot do those things for you, then they aren’t right for you. And in my own way, I should have seen that. As strong as feelings may be, if they cannot pull the best and worst of you and there is someone else that can, perhaps you should change your direction. Obviously that is easier said than done.

I'm Alive

Kenny remarked “Writing that song was a release. It was the best I'd felt in a long time after I wrote that song”. He wrote it after his divorce. I find comfort in this song.

“And today you know that’s good enough for me
Breathin' in and out's a blessin' can’t you see
Today's the first day of the rest of my life
And I’m alive, and well
I’m alive, and well”

Whenever things are too tough, you just have to sit back and be happy that you are still here to deal with whatever struggles are facing you.

Just Not Today

This was an unreleased song from Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. And that irritates me because I find this song so fun to sing along with. You know that one day you will have to face responsibility, show maturity and grow up, but some people have the luck to put that time off. Perhaps my admiration for this song is due to the desire that I would like to be able to feel this young, wild and free. He paints a story in this song that I would like to live. Carefree and falling in love. Sounds nice.

Never Gonna Feel Like That Again

An unreleased song from No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. My relation to this song is as follows: I never played high school football. I didn’t go to the prom. I never impregnated a girl in high school, (at least while I was in high school, you know what I am talking about ;)………….. I have very little shame in making that joke) What I like about this song is simply the sound of it. All of those things aside, some of them seriously bother me sometimes (except for the pregnafying of high schoolers), I genuinely like this song because of the sound of the instruments and the flow of the lyrics.

And in a surprisingly related note, the song actually bothered me a lot when I first heard it and I was a sophomore in High School. For some reason I could see that it was not gonna work out on that front.

On The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful

“Knew I could never hold that girl
She was born to see the world
All I got is a picture she mailed me
Barefoot in the snow white sand
A bag of sea shells in her hand
She finally found a paradise it seems”

I could probably see ahead of time what would happen and it is for the best that it did. Saying that now is kind of odd. I am not exactly sure when it won’t be.

“On the coast of somewhere beautiful
Trade winds blowin through her hair
Sunlight dancin on the water
And I wish I was there
Don't know how i'm goin' to find her
All i know so far
Shes on the coast of somewhere beautiful
Runnin' with my heart”

Ok, honestly I am not sure if she is still running with my heart anywhere or anymore. I like to think that all of those feelings have subsided. Nonetheless it hurts to think about what could have been.

“Sometimes when the sun goes down
Shadows fall across this little town
And I close my eyes and I drift away
to another place in another time
When the world was ours and she was mine
I dream of holdin her again someday”

But happiness is a good thing. Its not anywhere near me. But nonetheless and all my negative feelings toward situations are for right now not anywhere near me either.

This song, as it may be easy to figure out, holds a unique place for me. The description paints a post card type picture of heartbreak and lost love.