Nashville Anthems: Dissecting 80s & 90s Country Music

Melton looks this time at what doesn't work about an 80s/90s country song, as Clint Black makes an uncharacteristic trip to the beach in this 1995 hit, "Summer's Comin'".  The Beach Boys comparison is obvious, but what does George Strait have to do with this?

If last week found our protagonist wallowing alone at the local watering hole, this one may tell us what drove him there, as indignation has yet to give way to despair, in Brooks & Dunn's 1993/1994 hit "That Ain't No Way to Go".  In addition to following this lonesome-whistling train down the tracks, we'll talk about how country takes unique looks at cliched situations. Sure you were drunk the day your mom got out of prison...but why?

When the sun goes down on your side of town, join Melton as he moves in and out of the beams of Brooks & Dunn's definitive 1992 classic "Neon Moon".  We take a different approach on this song, by comparing and contrasting it with the last one we covered.  What do "Neon Moon" and "Longneck Bottle" have in common, and what do the differences tell us about how country music worked and progressed in the 90s?  Let's see what we can unravel.

We pull our stools up to the bar as Melton serves up his take on Garth Brooks and Steve Wariner's 1997/1998 hit, "Longneck Bottle", a swinging, honky-tonking celebration (or is it?) of contentment with one's station.  This one's got fiddle, pedal steel, drawly pitch bends, and all the elements needed for Garth Brooks's typically immersive approach to whatever style he happens to be performing.  So come let your hair down, and let's get into a fun one.  Only, be careful with those spurs when you're on the dance floor- those things can be dangerous.

Melton tries his best not to get into the ills of Country Music Yet To Come as we dip our toes and a big orange ball into Kenny Chesney's 1998/1999 hit, "How Forever Feels," a song full of exuberance and fun that arguably made him a Big Star.  But which of these idiosyncratic lyrics are making us drop our sunglasses for a closer look?

It's getting all kinds of 1992 up in here with the blast from the political past that is Travis Tritt's "Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man," a song that we argue doesn't work as well as some others.  But what tools does it employ to get its otherwise difficult message across?

Fiddle and steel guitar ornament Alan Jackson's otherwise simple, straightforward "Livin' on Love", a song that pulls off its rose-colored-glasses-tinged view of traditional family life by filtering it through Jackson's signature honest delivery.  Join us as we dig deeper into this 1994 country radio staple.

Melton goes back to the Diamond Rio mine and digs deeper this time into this emerging concept of rural authenticity  as it's exhibited by the 1997 hit "How Your Love Makes Me Feel".  But what do Randy Travis and Barenaked Ladies have in common?  BYOIC.

It all feels right, as we drop any and all twang to discuss Vince Gill's 1996 hit "Pretty Little Adriana".  Come for the apostrophe; stay for the major 7th chords.  But how are the Eagles involved?

Melton waxes music nerdy about his favorite country band, the always-meticulous Diamond Rio, and their uber-bright 1996 hit "That's What I Get for Loving You".  What makes this song feel so upbeat and happy?  When is twang poppy (or pop twangy), and what does Mariah Carey have to do with it?