The Alleged Traditionalism of Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood is releasing a Randy Travis cover as her next single.
But it isn’t “On the Other Hand” or “There’ll Always Be a Honky Tonk Somewhere” or some other song that echoes the sounds of Haggard and Jones. No, this is one of those Randy Travis songs that’s country mostly by virtue of the fact that pretty much anything he sings ends up sounding country. Even with the steel licks giving texture to the chorus and the solid country hook, “I Told You So” would likely sound pop coming out of anyone else’s mouth. It’s Randy Travis in bombastic crooner mode.
The fact that Travis is a country singer does not mean that every song he has written or recorded is country. When he delivered his indisputably country cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” on last year’s Around the Bend, the song itself didn’t become inherently country; Travis just offered a country reading of it. In the same way, his country cut of “I Told You So” does not make the song itself country. It could go either way depending on the singer, but definitely leans pop. Travis has acknowledged that recording it was a stretch:
To be honest, ‘I Told You So’ was more suited for [Underwood] as a vocalist than for me. When you look at the vocal range, her ability to get into the upper register of her voice and just hold those high notes is great.
I’m not saying that Underwood’s recording of the song is bad. In fact, this has nothing to do with the quality of her cover. I’m saying that Underwood surveyed the Randy Travis songbook, pulled out one of the least traditional songs she could find, and is now trying to use her recording of it to establish her traditional country credibility. And there’s something disingenuous about that. What’s next, a cover of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” to prove that she’s as country as Mark Chesnutt? Are we to understand that the closest Underwood can get to traditional country is a poppy cover of a poppish detour by a solid traditionalist?
I don’t think that something has to be country to be good and I’m all for judging Underwood’s performance on its own terms. But it seems pretty clear that the choice of “I Told You So” was calculated to associate Underwood with the staunch traditionalism of Travis without actually demanding that she do anything as resolutely country as the majority of his work. In other words, the selection of this particular song means that Underwood gets to gesture toward real country music without giving up the bombastic vocal stylings more characteristic of pop. It’s an easy way to appease some of her detractors without really changing anything.
Which is all well and good unless “traditional” is more to you than a marketing buzzword.
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Somebody had to say it. I guess Tony Bennett, Perry Como, and Louis Armstrong are traditional country for covering Hank Williams. Or Whitney Houston, too, for covering “I Will Always Love You,” a song written by one country star to another country star. The same thing goes for Miranda Lambert, though. She isn’t traditional like some claim.
Brady’s comment makes me think that it’s interesting that Ray Charles is so respected in country music circles. His Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music, while covering traditional country songs, certainly is not traditional country in sound. It’s awesome though.
I agree. You’ve hit the nail right on the head. It would be interesting to hear Carrie Underwood sing a traditional song. I think she has more an R ‘n’ B voice, though, and I don’t know why she doesn’t got to that format instead of poppying up Country.
I fully agree with your take on Carrie’s version of this song, though I’m not sure I’d call the original RT version a “poppish detour”. Remember that RT wrote this song before he had his own record deal and tried and failed to get someone in Nashville to record it. Everyone turned it down because it was “too country.”
David,
She did sing “San Antonio Rose” at the ‘07 Grammys and “Stand By Your Man” at the Opry which proved to me that she could sing traditional country if she chose to.
I have not read many Underwood interviews, I’ll admit, but I’ve never heard her claim that she is traditional. I never got the sense that she was trying to pass herself off as a traditionalist. I’ve only heard her say that it’s her favorite RT song. I guess I think the disingenuous or calculation claims are a bit of a stretch to pin on Carrie. Maybe the record label though…I wouldn’t put anything passed them.
For the record, this is not one of my favorite RT songs. I wish she had covered a different one. I think the melody here is the blandest of blands. I guess I think the lyrics are kinda dumb too. It seems that the narrator is misplacing his immaturity on the person that he’s let go, which is probably why the relationship didn’t last in the first place. I don’t think that if my husband left me and he wanted to come back to me that I’d say, “Well, I told you so.” A lot of good that would do.
Brady, I’ve never thought Miranda was a traditionalist either. I love her music, but it would be laughable to say that she was traditional, especially since most of her musical influences aren’t but are more Alt-country (though I know I’m not supposed to use that term). I’d just say that the appeal of her music is that it’s not pop.
Y’know, I honestly agree it’s probably a calculated bid for some traditional cred – and your argument for that point is very strong – but like Leeann, I think you can probably chalk that part up more to the label and her team than you can to Carrie herself. Although it’s definitely country-pop, I do think “I Told You So” is the closest thing she’s recorded yet to anything I’d feel wholly comfortable calling any kind of “country” at all, so I’m pleased with the choice. My wild hope is that this single (for the record, I don’t even like her performance on it) will be the biggest from the album, and its success will indicate to her and her label that there’s a real desire to hear her sing material that is a little bit closer to traditional country.
I know I’ve admitted it in other places, but I like Carrie’s version better than Randy’s, as much as I can like any version of this song, that is. I thought the production on Randy’s is dated and his voice really is stretching, as he acknowledges himself. I like Vince though (the understatement of the year!). So, for Vince’s sake, I hope this is a hit.
If you prefer, feel free to replace “Carrie” with “The Carrie Machine,” as I’m obviously dealing only in the public figure, which is the creation of a whole host of people. I don’t know the person and can’t discern her motivations (but also don’t buy the idea that she could be entirely unaware of the work this song is doing in reconfiguring her “countryness,” as I think she’s smarter than that). If I stated my argument in more personal terms, it was only to make a point emphatically without a bunch of distracting jargon. How many repetitions of “The Carrie Machine” would you have stood for before you started headbutting your monitor?
@Razor X
I wouldn’t call Travis’ version of it pop, but I do think that it qualifies for him as a poppish detour. Can you think of a song of his with a bigger, more showboatish chorus? Even he was uncomfortable about it.
I agree with your assessment of it being one of his more pop leaning songs. It’s just hard for ‘ol Randy to sound pop though; it just makes him sound funny. The boy’s country.
No argument there, Leeann!
Haha, sorry to drag you into a discussion of Carrie semantics. I realized that the “collective” Carrie was probably what you were referring to like right after I posted my comment (typical).
I don’t think I even buy the argument that Carrie is looking to gain some kind of credibility with staunch fans of traditional country music or her detractors. Why she should she even bother considering her current level of popularity in the mainstream country marketplace. Her mass market appeal comes from sounding like the American Idol pop style singer she is and making any detours from that path aren’t likely to gain her any new fans. Carrie should stick with doing what she does best and any efforts to make her appear “more country” should be abandoned as it serves no useful purpose. I don’t personally care for Carrie’s voice or vocal stylings and my opinion won’t change regardless of the material she sings. The label is wasting effort to try to woo unbelievers like myself.
CMW — If Randy ever took a “poppish detour” it was with “It’s Just A Matter Of Time”.
Leeann — Is it really fair to compare a 20+ year old recording with a current one and then criticize the older one for being “dated”? Every recording is a reflection of its era, and that’s part of the charm of listening to these older songs.
If I were unaware of the existence of Randy’s version of this song, I’d probably be saying that this is Carrie’s best effort to date. Actually, it IS her best effort to date, but given my opinion of her other work, this isn’t much of a compliment.
The inclusion of this song on “Carnival Ride” is someone — Carrie, her management, her label, or some combination of the three — throwing a bone to listeners who want to hear something that is more authentically country. If it were the lead single of a forthcoming album, I’d be intrigued and thinking that perhaps Carrie was trying to make an effort to make a more country-sounding album. But as the fifth and presumably last, single of “Carnival Ride” it seems to be more of an afterthought than anything else.
I also wonder why she would feel that she needed to throw a bone, since she’s been rather successful without having the traditionalists on her side. Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift don’t feel that pull.:)
I’m usually pretty forgiving of Randy’s older stuff sounding dated, Razor X, but since I don’t care for this song, I can’t make the allowance, fair or not.
“I Told You So” is my favorite Randy Travis song.
I was kinda bent when I learned Carrie covered it. But I enjoy it. Just not as much as Randy’s.
Carrie knows she isn’t a “traditional” country singer. And she doesn’t try to be. She is a contemporary country singer. Her reason for covering I Told You So is to expose her fans, who aren’t all country music fans, to the roots of country, and to show her respect for Randy. Carrie not only appeals to country fans, but pop fans also. Her style of country is helping introduce more people to the genre, and is hopefully getting them interested in the “down home” style of country also.