Category Archives: paisley weekends

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Song of the Day #1,122: ‘Find Yourself’ – Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley’s second contribution to the Cars soundtrack was ‘Find Yourself,’ a ballad that played over the film’s end credits.

This is another song I really loved from that album despite having no idea who performed it. It’s such an achingly pretty song, and it works as both a specific comment on the movie’s plot and as a philosophy that applies to all of our lives.

Country music lyrics are often bashed as too corny or too on-the-nose, but I think the best of them are profound in their simple wisdom. And the puns and double meanings that typify the art form are often worthy of a clever wordsmith like Elvis Costello.

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Song of the Day #1,121: ‘Behind the Clouds’ – Brad Paisley

It turns out that before I “discovered” Brad Paisley in 2009, I had already heard and loved two of his songs.

The soundtrack to Pixar’s 2006 film Cars was their first to include songs from a multitude of artists. Randy Newman wrote the score and contributed his standard tear-jerking show-stopper but the film also featured tunes by Sheryl Crow, Chuck Berry, Rascal Flatts and John Mayer.

And two songs by some country singer whose name I never bothered to look up.

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Song of the Day #1,115: ‘I’ll Take You Back’ – Brad Paisley

For a guy who is so good at writing earnest love songs, Brad Paisley sure has fun taking things in the other direction.

After I discovered Paisley through his 2009 album American Saturday Night, I started buying up his previous albums. Time Well Wasted was either the first or second record I picked up, and ‘I’ll Take You Back’ was an instant favorite.

I don’t care if you don’t like the simple constructs of a typical country song (like some of my frequent commenters!) — I defy you to listen to this track and not have a ball. Apart from the funny lyrics (the “waa waa waa” chorus is my favorite), just listen to his guitar playing, and that instrumental jam that makes up the last minute-plus.

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Song of the Day #1,114: ‘Time Well Wasted’ – Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley’s fourth album, Time Well Wasted was released in 2005 and marks the point where he really hit the stratosphere.

Starting with his second single release from this album (‘When I Get Where I’m Going,’ a duet with Dolly Parton), he sent a record 10 straight singles to the #1 spot on Billboard’s country chart. That streak ended with a #2 single, and he released three more #1’s and two more #2’s after that. And in the past eight years he’s put out six #1 albums.

Now that’s a lot of numbers to crunch, but the point is Brad Paisley is the Will Smith of country music (minus a misstep like Seven Pounds).

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Song of the Day #1,108: ‘Celebrity’ – Brad Paisley

As Brad Paisley became more successful, his silly videos became more star-studded. William Shatner and Jason Alexander, in particular, would become staples of Paisley’s videos in the years to come.

Paisley was still just a minor star, however, when he wrote ‘Celebrity,’ a clever song lampooning the Hollywood culture. His focus is on the ridiculously privileged lives of the famous, and the reality show-fueled obsession ordinary people have with joining those ranks. He gets off some great lines in a supremely catchy song.

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