Brad Paisley’s new album Moonshine in the Trunk is interesting to say the least, but there are still some standout tracks, some meaningful and some fun, in the mix. And interesting doesn’t mean bad. There’s enough standard Brad to remind you of some of his first albums, with the mix of the new country sound, well Brad’s take at the new country sound, in there.
“Crushin’ It” kicks off the album by using lyrics like “Like the great George freaking Strait I’m the king of getting unwound, Every week has a weekend, by this time Friday night, I’ll be done with my third Bud Light, And I’ll be crushin’ it….” Well any song that calls reference to George Strait gets bonus points for me.
And obviously “River Bank” was the lead single off the album and I think he picked the best choice possible in using that as the lead single. Great and fun song, that’s catchy from the very beginning.
“High Life” is sure to make you laugh if you remember reading about Carrie Underwood & Brad being sued over a song.
“Perfect Storm” is one of two of Brad’s own taste of a song about a country girl, which seems to be a staple on every male country album these days. Brad uses the respectable route of saying what this perfect country girl is with this song. Heck I’d love to have this song written about me.
She’s Sunday drive meets
High speed chase
She ain’t just a song
She’s the whole mix tape
She’s so complicated
That’s the way God made her
Sunshine mixed with
A little hurricane
Woah-oh-oh
And she destroys me in that t-shirt
And I love her so much it hurts
I never meant to fall like this
She don’t just rain she pours
That girl right there’s
The perfect storm
My favorite meaningful/deep songs on the album are “Shattered Glass,” and “American Flag on the Moon.” “Me and Jesus” comes in a close third though.
My favorite song overall on the album, by far, is “Shattered Glass.” This song is something I myself needed to hear last year at this time. It would have been the light I needed in a rough week. But even though I’m hearing it after the fact I found other ways to hear the lyrics from this song, but this song might have helped a lot. We all know music heals. This song inspires and heals.
I wanna see you kick some ass
I’m so proud to know you, girl
The most beautiful thing in the world is all this shattered glass
No time to waste, gotta make this moment yours
Got a whole lot of history to make up for
So bust that ceiling out, the sky’s the limit now.
I think we all have faced a time when we need that song to inspire us to keep on keeping on, and this is that song on Moonshine in the Trunk.
“American Flag on the Moon” is another song where Brad takes the meaningful route while still having that little bit of snark about the bickering and gridlock that happen in Washington, D.C.
Tonight I dare you to dream
Go on, believe impossible things
Whenever anybody says there’s anything we can’t do
Cause after all, there’s an American flag on the moon
Oh, in two hundred years
Think about all that we’ve done so far
I don’t see any reason why tomorrow can’t be ours
Lyrics from “American Flag on the Moon” and “Shattered Glass’ make it obvious to me that Brad Paisley is a Shriner because that’s exactly the kind of inspiration and strength that Shriners Hospitals for Children instill in their patients. I should know, I was one of those patients.
I love “Me and Jesus” simply for this line:
Me and Jesus got our own thing going; And we don’t need anybody to tell us what it’s all about.
Nothing more needs to be said in my mind.
All in all, I really enjoyed the album and can honestly say it exceeded my expectations. When Brad first started leaking the songs, I really wasn’t sure what I was going to think. Now will the rest of the album do well on radio is still to be seen depending on what other songs become singles.
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