“Voices” – Chris Young
You can hear this song at Chris Young’s Myspace.
This single might do well at radio. Or it might not. It’s that sort of song, neither an obvious winner nor an obvious loser compared to anything else that’s currently getting played. Certainly, the fault is not in Chris Young’s delivery. His performance here confirms what we already learned about him on Nashville Star – he can definitely sing.
It’s a shame, then, when he’s saddled with material like “Voices,” a song as nondescript as its title. You see, the great statement of this song is that how we’re raised influences who we become. The singer is guided through life by “voices” from his past. That’s it. A simple message, to be sure, but that alone does not doom the song. There are creative and meaningful ways of conveying simple truths. It can be done.
A good way not to do it is to have Dad say don’t be a quitter, Grandpa say don’t drink too much, Mama say pray a lot, and Grandma say treat her right. And then leave it at that. The song sinks under the weight of its simple platitudes because it never does anything with them.
It’s a bad sign when the entirety of a song’s character development is based on which of 4 different cliched sayings each character utters. Plot development? Also non-existent. No characters are revealed, no actual emotions conveyed, and nothing happens.
Still, radio plays a bunch of nonsense. Will they play this?
Probably not. If RCA couldn’t make a hit of “Drinkin’ Me Lonely” – a far better song/performance – I don’t see them being able to do much with this one, either. Add the fact that Chris Young sounds very much like another new guy who is getting played – Jason Michael Carroll – and his chances are even worse. Which is a shame, because he sure can sing.
Rating (out of 4): ♦
