Tim McGraw said his latest album “Damn Country Music” was given an ambiguous title for a reason.
“It depends on how you feel when you wake up where the punctuation goes,” the singer said.
A listener could consider “Damn, Country Music” to persecute the genre’s ability to depress even the happiest of days, or “Damn. Country Music” to express the genre’s wide accessibility or “Damn! Country Music” for the most honky-tonk of country tracks.
In his 21-year career, McGraw has made music with lyrics that preach, praise and practice the characteristics of small-town living to create thought-provoking music that he doesn’t just sing, but that he lives in his everyday life.
In “Damn Country Music,” McGraw toys with the more modern variations of country music with electric guitar and echoing vocals.
However, when it comes to the long-time singer’s lyrics: Damn, Tim McGraw.
McGraw’s attention to detail in “How I’ll Always Be,” a song about his hometown roots in Louisiana, answers the question every person from a small hometown has to answer: why do you like living in a small town? The answer is in the song for those who are wondering.
“I’m a fan of chert rock bouncing off a Chevy fender / That feeling that you get that first time she lets you kiss her / Rusty roofs that rattle when the rain is fallin’ down / Handshake deals, fresh-cut hay fields and hometowns.”
Another track where McGraw draws from his original storytelling songwriting — especially stories about love — is “Love Runs.” He personifies love as a woman that a man meets and falls in love with by using lyrics like “love runs through her hair like your fingers as you stare into her eyes, thinking that she might be the one.” Damn, Tim McGraw.
Near the end of the song, love becomes a slammed door and fading taillights before changing to running after a car with arms waving in the air and tears running down a face.
McGraw said one of his favorite songs he’s ever recorded, though, is “Humble and Kind,” a song about preaching humility and kindness to the new generation as his children graduate high school.
The mood of the song is not necessarily modern but does act as the past talking to the present society.
“Don’t take for granted the love this life gives you / When you get where you’re goin’ / Don’t forget turn back around / And help the next one in line.”
Taylor Lehman
