Lauren's Latest Country Music

5. "Shuttin' Detroit Down" - John Rich
A country song that mentions pension plans. Awesome! This song is about the bailouts, economy, and all the other fun stuff going on these days.

4. "Then" - Brad Paisley
Another mushy love song from Brad Paisley. Could be the hormones talking, but it's sweet.

3. "High Cost of Living" - Jamey Johnson
This guy has been making some great music. His song "In Color" is just amazing. This one is a bit of a downer song. Basically, it's about a guy's life going down the drain due to drugs. "The high cost of living ain't nothing like the cost of living high."

2. "One in Every Crowd" - Montgomery Gentry
A lot more upbeat than the first 3 songs on the list... This one is about "that guy" that always makes it a party whenever he shows up at the bar. I've known a few of these people.

1. "People are Crazy" - Billy Currington
God is great... Beer is good... And people are crazy. Pretty much sums it up!

How did I not hear about this before TODAY?

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MERLE HAGGARD is going to be right up the road from us at DC's Country Junction tonight. Tickets are still available. They must not have advertised this well because I listen to all the country stations around here and this is the first I've heard of it!!! If Lee didn't have econ class tonight, I would totally be going. {frown}

Lauren's Latest Country Music

1. Jason Michael Carroll - "Where I'm From" I heard this song for the first time on Tuesday and thought it was pretty good! Last night when Lee got home from class, he went straight to the laptop to look up a song. Turns out, it was this one.

I said I'm from the front pew of a wooden church
The courthouse clock still don't work
Where a man's word means everything
Where moms and dads were high school flames
Gave their children grandmothers' maiden names
It may not sound like much
But its where I'm from

2. Joey & Rory - "Cheater Cheater" This song I just heard last night. I was laughing out loud at it. You may remember Joey & Rory from the CMT show Can you Duet. We can all relate because we all know some no good white trash ho's...

Now I'm not one to judge someone that I ain't never met
But to lay your hands on a married man's bout as low as a gal can get
Hey I wish her well as she rots in hell and you can tell her I said so
Cheater cheater where'd you meet that no good white trash ho

3. Kenny Chesney - "Down the Road" I have mentioned before that I have a love hate relationship with Kenny Chesney's music. So, after his STUPID song "Everybody Wants to go to Heaven", it makes sense that he would come out with a song I love. It makes me think of Lee & Reuter who married only children and are now ready to have baby girls of their own. (Awww)

When I was a boy
Four houses down from me
Was a family with an only child
She was the only girl
In this whole world that could make me smile
Down the road
I made up reasons to go
Down the road

Lauren's Latest & Greatest Country

And the winner is............

Country Boy by Alan Jackson.

I have to say, Alan Jackson has been tearing it up lately. I have been really liking his new stuff.

I'm a country boy,
I've got a 4 wheel drive
Pile in my bed,
I can take ya for a ride
Up city streets, down country roads
I can get ya where you need to go
Cause I'm a country boy

Although, my favorite line is this one:
Bucket seats, soft as baby's new butt
Lockin' hubs, that'll take ya through a deep rut

It takes talent to fit a baby's butt comparison in a song, but AJ does it flawlessly!

Lauren's Country Song this Week

The song I love this week is "Sounds So Good" by Ashton Shepherd. The song is basically just talking about driving around in a pickup truck listening to country music with a cooler of beer in the back. Or maybe it's pop. But, I'm guessing it's beer.

'Cause there ain't nothin' like the sound
Of a cooler slushin' on the bed 'a yo' truck
And ain't nothin' like the sound of real country music
C'mon, turn it up

Craig's a Lucky Duck!

A former classmate of mine, Craig, just took a job at iLike.com. He has a much better description of what iLike.com is on his blog, but basically, it works kind of like MySpace or Facebook, but you get music recommendations from your friends. (I'm probably butchering this description.)


One of the "perks" of working there is that musicians drop by the office and play music. Um, that sounds way better than my office where no one cool stops by EVER!

Today, Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie & the Blowfish, now a country musician) stopped by. I had mentioned to Craig how much I love Darius Rucker's new song, so he sent me this picture. Look at them just chillin' in the office. If only it had sound!

111 Worst Songs

When I work at home, I listen to AOL Radio. They have some really good stations and not too many commercials. You can even listen to US 99.5 through their player. (But then you have to listen to all their commercials.)

Recently, I discovered the station "111 Worst Songs".

We count down the 111 worst songs of all-time. Find out who's #1! Featuring Vanilla Ice, Backstreet Boys and more.

So far, I have been embarrassed by how many horrible songs I absolutely love. Some of my favorites that made the list:

4 Non Blondes - "What's Up"

Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy" (My first cd I ever owned!)

Paris Hilton - "Stars are Blind" (yes, I like a Paris song. I know.)

Billy Ray Cyrus - "Achey Breaky Heart"

LFO - "Summer Girl"

Tag Team - "Whoomp there it is"

The Starland Vocal Band - "Afternoon Delight"

Spice Girls - "Wannabe"

Los del Rio - "Macarena" (Hello, the dance is awesome! See Bryan & I below)

Some that made the list that really are bad:

"Disco Duck", one of the Hoff's songs, "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, N'Sync's "Dirty Pop", and many many others.

Awesome New Country

Just thought I would give a quick update to some awesome new country songs out on the radio right now. I get to hear a lot of country music these days since I have 4 different country stations on the presets in my car!

5. "Don't think I don't think about it" - Darius Rucker (FYI, he's a black dude!) Note from Craig: he is also Hootie from Hootie & the Blowfish!
4. "Home" - Blake Shelton (Makes me think of Lee. Hurry home Lee!)
3. "Lookin' for a good time" - Lady Antebellum (This band kind of annoys me, but I like their music. So far all of their videos are montages of their tour. They're not seasoned enough for that just yet. Have a normal video, people!)
2. "You look good in my shirt" - Keith Urban (So jealous of Mich, Reut, Erin & Tony who got to see this live!)
1. "In Color" - Jamey Johnson (It covers all the good stuff, farming, war & marriage.)

I wanted to hate it!

I've been hearing for awhile now that Jessica Simpson has a song out on country radio called "Come On Over". I kept waiting to hear it. And not because I'm a Jessica Simpson fan. Because I really really wanted to hate it. Once someone gets a country hit, then their music is on country radio all the time. This has been the case for Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Jon Bon Jovi. (And it's starting now with Jewel.)

Yesterday, I was singing along to a song I've been enjoying on the radio for about 2 weeks. At the end of the song, they said "That was Jessica Simpson with 'Come On Over'." Mother f-er! I like that song!!! If only I had realized it was her the first 10 times I heard it, maybe I could have tried to dislike it. So, now, here I am, stuck being a Jessica Simpson fan.

(By the way, the link above is to her video. It seems like she thinks she is playing Daisy Duke throughout the whole thing. And seriously, the whole video is of HER. Just her. She should have had a hot guy in it for the ladies to ogle.) While I'm on the topic of songs I really wanted to hate... The new Kid Rock song, "All Summer Long". (A song that is on country radio all the time.) This song is basically Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", with Kid Rock psuedo-rapping about summer in Michigan in 1989. Edit: Thanks for the reminder, Fubar. The beat is also "Werewolves of London". I think Kid Rock was trying to tweak the "Sweet Home Alabama" beat and accidentally copied "Werewolves of London." I'm not a big fan of anyone messing with Skynyrd, first off. So, he really did no work to get the beat except play a Skynyrd album. So, the lyrics must be awesome, right? Wrong. The chorus:
"We were trying different things,
We were smoking funny things..."
You really couldn't come up with a rhyme for 'things' besides 'things'???

But, alas, I like this song too. [sigh] It makes me think of my summers on good ol' Lake Freeman in Indiana. (By the way, I Googled Images of Lake Freeman, and 4 pictures of my silly husband wake surfing came up. How weird is that? So I used one of them.)

Inspired by Ahow...

After reading Ahow's personal list of "What's Hot", I decided to make a list of the songs that I am obsessed with at the moment. (I might add links later, but at the moment I'm pretty lazy.) I had to break it down between Country & Pop. Those are the only two things I really listen to...

Country
10. Toby Keith - "She's a Hottie". Not a lot of substance, but pretty catchy.
9. Jason Michael Carrol - "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead". This is kind of my theme song right now. "If there's a party going on within a hundred miles of home..." I'll go!
8. Jimmy Wayne - "Do You Believe Me Now". Sucks for the singer, he knew some dude was after his chick, and his chick said he was being crazy and jealous... Then she ends up with the dude.
7. Kenny Chesney - "Better as a Memory". My favorite line is "...Laugh as your stories ramble on..." Makes me think of JFlow and his neverending stories.
6. Luke Bryan - "Country Man". My favorite line: "Your little i-pod is loaded down with Hoobastank. Don't be a tape player hater girl were cruisin' to Hank."
5. The Lost Trailers - "Holler Back". This is a great new song kind of taking the ghetto "hollerback" and making it very country. Basically talking about that holler back in the woods where they have parties.
4. Montgomery Gentry - "Back When I Knew It All". I like when he is talking about what he has learned and it is "...beer and gasoline don't mix, a step-side truck can't jump a ditch, you know that big house room's sure small." Sounds like a fun night!
3. Miranda Lambert - "Gunpowder and Lead". It's what I like to think I would do if I was ever in an abusive relationship... i.e. shoot the guy.
2. Tim McGraw - "Kristofferson". What do you do when you get dumped? He apparently gets drunk and writes a song. And I respect that.
1. Heidi Newfield - "Johnny & June". I'm not sure I want a love like Johnny Cash & June Carter-Cash, seemed like a lot of drama in the movie. But, the song is awesome. It is the lead singer from Trick Pony off on her solo career.

Pop
10. Rihanna - "Please Don't Stop the Music". It is pretty repetetive and borders on techno, but it is great to dance to in your car on the way to/from the South Shore train stop.
9. Miley Cyrus - "See You Again". Like my friend Derek said last night: "I know it means I'm gay, but I love this song."
8. Leona Lewis - "Bleeding Love".
7. Jesse McCartney - "Leavin'". One from Ahow's list.
6. Gavin DeGraw - "In Love with a Girl". Ugh, I thought I would never admit to liking a Gavin DeGraw song.
5. Flo Rida - "Low". "She turned around and gave that big booty a smack..." How can you not dance to this song?
4. Mariah Carey - "Touch My Body". Don't tell anyone that you got in on with Mariah or she will hunt. you. down.
3. Buck Cherry - "Sorry". It's a little whiney and nasal-y, but I like it.
2. Usher - "Love in this Club". I agree with Ahow on this one. The lyrics are rather, um, odd, but it does kind of sound like something that could happen at Tequila Roadhouse.
1. Ray J - "Sexy Can I". Kathryn & Fubar can attest to the fact that I sang this the entire weekend in Nashville. My favorite part: "Can I visit you at work? Come slidin' down the pole no panties no shirt." All class.

Hillbilly Saturday

Nope, I don't mean Hillbilly Sundays that used to exist in Chicago... I'm talking about our Saturday night here in Norfolk.

We started out with dinner at our place with Amos & his lady friend, Amanda. This, I guess was the beginning of hillbilly night. Amos is from Martinsville, VA, and has one of the thickest redneck accents I have ever heard! We made chili, cornbread, salad & Bud Light. Tasty!

sidenote: Lee had originally given up beer for Lent. After 3 weeks of getting way too bombed and pissing off his wife, he gave up giving up beer. It's a good thing Jesus was not as easily tempted as Lee, because I am sure a cold beer sounded great in the desert. Satan only would have needed a sixer of High Life.

We headed over to the Lido Inn. The Lido Inn is a country bar. It is dark and dingy, but has awesome murals on the walls of legendary country musicians.

Usually they have a house band, but recently they have been mixing it up a little with some other bands. This time, the band was a little bit, er, more experienced (aka old)... And so were a lot of the people at the bar!! The band turned out to be pretty awesome though. They played a ton of Haggard, some George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, etc. Karen would have loved it. The old people dancing were so cute too! My favorite couple was in their late 60's. The guy was wearing tight Wranglers, boots, a gaudy American flag shirt and a cowboy hat. His wife was wearing bright read pants and a red/white/blue shirt. They were quite patriotic!

We met up with Jay & Cayci there.

Jay got a call from his brother that they were over at The Banque. We decided to head on over and meet them. I have been dying to go to the Banque since I moved here, but so far we hadn't made it. Jay doesn't like the Banque because they have male strippers there every Thursday. Not real sure why that is an issue on every other day of the week... The Banque was everything I thought it would be!! It is a HUGE country bar. As you pull into the parking lot, it is FULL of huge pickup trucks. Sweet! There were probably about 350 people there 150 of which were line dancing. (And 250 of them were pretty trashy. Haha!)

The wait staff was good and it didn't take long to get a drink. Oh, and this is an 18 & up bar, so that is always interesting. There was a stage where people would do the line dances so that you can follow along. One of my favorite things in the world is to watch older dudes line dance. Line dances tend to have some booty shakes in them, and there is something insanely funny about a chubby old dude shaking his butt. We were at the Banque until they kicked us out at closing time!

All in all, it was a big 'ol country night... And I loved it!

3rd verse is about God

I really got into country music when I moved up to Chicago from Indiana. Strange, I know, since you would expect to find more country music in Indiana... But, I guess that is what influences like Reuter & Barry will do for ya.

Over the last 5 years of avid country music listening, I have noticed certain things that are very specific to country music. One of those is what I call "3rd verse God". This is a pattern I have found in a TON of country songs. Basically, the songs consist of 3 verses. The first two are about partying or love or children, then the last verse relates it to God/religion/heaven. I have tried to start a list of songs that have this, but I have not gotten very far (because I keep forgetting). So, if you can think of more, leave me a comment!

Example: "Love Without End, Amen" ~ George Strait (see the Amen already tips you off!)

Verse 1 (about fighting & his father)
I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye.
Fightin' was against the rules and it didn't matter why.
When dad got home I told that story just like I'd rehearsed.
And then stood there on those tremblin' knees and waited for the worst.

And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."

Verse 2 (about children)
When I became a father in the spring of '81
There was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father's son.
And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end,
I took my daddy's secret and I passed it on to him.

Verse 3 (BAM! about God/heaven)
Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates.
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake.
If they know half the things I've done, they'll never let me in.
And then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again.

And he said, "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then.
It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen."

Other songs that have "3rd verse God":
"Never wanted nothing more" ~ Kenny Chesney
"Small town southern man" ~ Alan Jackson
"You'll always be my baby" ~ Sara Evans (this is actually 2nd verse God!!)
"I love you this much" ~ Jimmy Wayne
"Love me" ~ Colin Raye (this is 2nd verse heaven)
"I'll wait for you" ~ Joe Nichols