#2 Single Record of the Year:Drop That Name Like It’s Hot
On 02-24-2009
at 9:05 pm
Are you all wondering when they are going to come out with the animated adventures of Johnny and June? It could be like Josie and the Pussycats. During the day, they could be rescuing a reservation from persecution, or they could persuade some fugitive to turn himself in. At nighttime they would perform for a prison, and that same fugitive would be in the front row, getting a nod from Johnny. The main villain is a huge corporate giant that poisons drinking water, and kills off endangered species. Sorry, I digress. Due to the unoriginality of today’s country music, People are capitalizing on the legacy that Johnny and his family have left. We won’t talk about Gary Allan’s “Nickajack Cave(Johnny Cash’s redemption)” or the new sub-par remix album of Johnny’s Greatest Hits. We are going to focus all of our attention on Heidi Newfield’s “Johnny and June.” Hopefully, our negative critique will somehow find the eyes of the ACM panel, and result in a snub toward Heidi.
There are pros and cons to critiquing any song. You can take a perfect song and find something wrong. For example, “Do you hear this melody, it sounds just like this song.” Or, “He borrowed that line from another song.” I am extremely guilty of this. I try not to be a music snob, but it is just in my nature. However, I wanted to get several opinions concerning Newfield’s ”Johnny and June,” and the consensus was that this song is a piece of tripe. Is there a way to mention Cash’s name in a song and not sound hokey? Is this sacred ground that can not be tread upon? I don’t know. However, maybe it’s like a buzz word. If you just simply mention any music legend in a song you are automatically in contention for an award. I am going to break apart this song piece by piece, and maybe I can get a better understanding.
The lyrics are what first caught my eye. The first three lines of this song mark a trend that has become overused. The rhyme scheme should be recognizable to anybody who has listened to a country song from the past ten years. The phrases,”’bout a man in black,” “want to buy a cadillac,” and “Throw the top back,” all come from the Vassar school of songwriting. I have proof to back this up. The chorus from Vassar’s “Something Like That” gives me all the evidence I need. The lines, “I had a barbecue stain on my white T shirt, She was killing me in that mini skirt” gives weight to this supposition. Do you want more proof? What about “Just Another Day In Paradise? The first lyric,”Kids screaming, phone ringing, mailman bringing” is the coup de grace to the point I am trying to make. He uses more of a AA BB rhyme scheme, and has had tremendous success with it. I think it is because of the percussive nature of the piano. Vassar is the only one that can pull this off, and Newfield falls short. Heidi uses puns in this song like she is wielding twin six guns. Too bad flags shoot out and say bang. Ambiguity is what she should have tried for, but she actually went with “Walk the Line,” “Rings of Fire,” and “Cash it all in.” I laughed the first time I heard these lines. How could anybody take this song seriously? And please, Can anybody tell me what the second verse means?
I wanna hold you baby right or wrong,
Build a world around a country song,
Pray a sweet prayer, (What do these three lines mean?) They look like filler or fodder, your pick.
Follow you there,
Down in history,
My main problem with this song is lyrically, but vocally she delivers a good performance. Her breathy tone on the verses, and her powerful lead on the chorus are passable. She doesn’t do anything extraordinary, but she does sound comfortable and unforced. I just wish she was nominated for another song. This song is the runt of the ACM litter, and does not even deserve a chance to win. They just could not afford to nominate Kellie Pickler or Jessica Simpson. This would have ruined their already stellar reputation.
