There Goes My Life and other excellent lyrics key Chesney's best effort yet.
Written: Sep 23 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: Some of Chesney's best lyrics to date, excellent variety, 10 legitimate hit songs.
Cons: Short on tracks, only 11 songs on the CD; Outta Here is purely filler.
The Bottom Line: Absolutely stacked from top to bottom; for some artists, this would be a greatest hits album. For Chesney, it's just another impressive set to add to a pretty amazing catalog.
wsuleifj's Full Review: When the Sun Goes Down by Kenny Chesney
I'm a big fan of Kenny Chesney. I really like the stuff he put out as a slightly immature cowboy in the mid-to-late 90's, and I absolutely love the stuff he now puts out as the half-cowboy/half-rocker (I should've included some percentage of him that's an island boy...but I keep trying to shut that part of Chesney out of my sight and mind). I enjoy most of what he's put out for more than a decade, but none of his songs up to this point are nearly as good as the opening track of When The Sun Goes Down, entitled There Goes My Life. The story of a man in different stages of life and of fatherhood, he becomes a father unexpectedly as a teen and thinks his life is ruined...only to discover that his daughter becomes absolutely everything to him. I can't personally identify with the story, but There Goes My Life still strikes an emotional chord in me to this day when I listen to it. Fantastic lyrics, good pace to the song, vocalized wonderfully by Chesney...I bought this album a year and a half ago and I still haven't gotten my fill of this song (or most of the album, for that matter).
The Woman With You is a refreshing love song between a husband and wife. The woman was a world-beater with the potential to have any number of high-powered careers...but along the way, she fell in love and discovered that a family was what was truly going to bring happiness to her. Although this never got a video, it did pretty well on radio, and I personally would pick it as my second favorite track on the album.
One of my favorite songs off this album that never got released to radio is When I Think About Leaving. He and his wife have trouble and argue a lot lately...so he goes through the things he thinks about when he considers leaving. He talks about the bad things he's seen when people have chosen to give up on their relationships rather than sticking them out. The verse that stands out to me talks about his female friend who described how heartbroken she was as a child when she had to hug her dad goodbye, not able to understand what's going on...I find this verse pretty heart-wrenching too.
When I think about leaving, oh, I think about her:
Only five-years-old an' her heart filled up with hurt.
With her little arms wrapped around his neck sayin':
"Daddy, where you goin'? Are you comin' back?"
When I think about leavin',
Oh, I think about her.
Ultimately he says that when he thinks about leaving, he thinks about how much good he really has with her, and says there's nowhere else in the world he'd rather be. I'm loving the message of that one too, considering the bad influence divorce has had in the world today.
Anything But Mine is a story about a past summer love...pretty cool ballad with a story that Kenny tells very well. It does feel a bit overly long, but I still enjoy it quite a bit. Keg In The Closet continues the celebration of youthfulness, recanting the good old days of college when all they cared about was partying and having fun together. Chesney seems to go out of his way to keep catering to the young crowd with these songs, they're pretty good but they lack the depth that some of his best songs have.
Some People Change is a positive song talking about two people, one who overcomes a racist upbringing and leaves all of his hate behind, and another who overcomes alcoholism. He sings that against all odds, some people are great success stories that can be an inspiration to all of us with the changes they made in themselves. This is a feel good song, I definitely like it, but there's just something missing that keeps it from being a very powerful song.
I didn't quite enjoy I Go Back as much as the general population did, but it's a good track...nice writing effort by Chesney, who has become a bit more active lately as a songwriter. This one was personal to him, a dedication to a childhood friend that he lost...it discusses how much of an impact songs have in our lives, how hearing a song from the past can make you feel like you were back in that place and time. Good lyrics for sure, but I tend to think that the success of this song came in the guitar and drumbeat (listen to the first ten seconds of the song...you'll probably have a rough idea of how much you'll enjoy the rest of it). I loved this song at first, I just found that it didn't stand up to repeat listening as well as a lot of the album.
When The Sun Goes Down is very catchy, it's a fun party song...as I mentioned before, I kind of prefer Island Kenny to stay away most of the time, but I still find myself singing along to this one whenever it comes on. I like Uncle Kracker's voice, and he definitely adds something in this duet with Chesney.
Being Drunk's A Lot Like Loving You...well, from the title alone you can tell this one's a country song. This one is very clever lyrically, Chesney laments the similarities of the hangover you get from alcohol and how it's very much like the hangover you get from loving the wrong woman. Hangovers feel awful, you swear off the drink for good, but you know you're going to be lured back in...same thing goes for a woman who keeps breaking your heart. This song isn't an attempt at being funny, it's actually just a good old heartbreak song (something we probably don't get quite often enough from Chesney). Nice change of pace on the album, yet another good song.
Old Blue Chair, penned by Chesney himself, is a very good song to close out the album. Probably one of his most impressive songwriting turns to date, this one has the island feel to it also, but I actually enjoy it pretty well. He just sings about the different things he's experienced in life from his old blue chair at his beach home. He says that this one is all true, so it's a more personal Kenny than we usually are let in on.
I would say good things about all of Chesney's CDs (save for maybe his very first album, In My Wildest Dreams)...but this one really feels like the pinnacle to me. It offers a lot of variety, songs for every mood you're in...tunes that equal the greatness of his previous album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, and lyrics that surpass them. Yeah, he's kind of straying away from traditional country more and more, but why get too wrapped up in what genre the music is? Good is good, and this CD is great.
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