‘Tis the season to set ’em up, and tee off on the worst “country” songs released in the last calendar year, and boy, were there some doozies in 2021. It still feels like since the height of Bro-Country in 2013/2014, country music in the mainstream continues to improve. But that doesn’t mean some stinkers still don’t slip in.
And don’t go crying “Hey, wHy Don’T you FoCUs On the gOOd STufF !?!” If you want, go check out the Single of the Year, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year nominees if you want to know where the good stuff’s at…
I’ll get a lot of hate for this, because we still have Paul McCartney (to name just one musical giant among many who are still with us), but I have to throw another name out there for consideration.
And, again, you’re really going to hate this.
I’m talking about “Weird Al’ Yankovic. And – here’s the shocking bit – I am not even remotely kidding.
When many think of Weird Al, they picture some silly dude clowning around with an accordion, but that’s nowhere near the case. Although he does a lot of song parodies, he still has to create original lyrics for it, and (and this is the huge bit) he has to be able to sing that way. He’s parodied pop, soul, country, rock, and rap, to name just a few, and he has to be able to sing it convincingly…
Her debut was a blast, a gust of fresh air that appeared to augur the arrival of a new rock artist that actually mattered–the way Elvis Costello’s My Aim is True or Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill seemed to do.
And of course, there being a dearth of rock artists that mattered in the 2010’s, it was likely inevitable Barnett’s first album was hailed as an instant classic.
And it probably is.
In fact, that album’s unfettered, shoot-from-the-hip lyrical feel and punkish energy sounds perhaps better with each passing year of what passes for mainstream pop.
But on Barnett’s two most recent releases the energy is muted, the focus doesn’t seem as sharp, and mid-tempo songs dominate–as if Courtney settled a bit prematurely into “long-term artist” status.
Whatever.
The thing is, despite the last couple albums falling short of the standard set by her debut, each of them has produced one extraordinary, idiosyncratic song. A song that doesn’t just feel like it came from some other album, but from some other artist.
In 2018 it was the excellent “Need a Little Time”. And this time it’s the beautiful, reflective, semi-psychedelic-sounding “Here’s the Thing”. It truly takes things to another plane.
Whether she has another album in her that’s as great as her first isn’t at issue. When she can produce songs like this one, you can’t ignore Courtney Barnett.
Every Moment Has A Song 