“If I Die Young”…pop remix.
To the Perrys’ credit, I guess, the song is too deeply country-folky to convince as a straight-ahead pop ballad. Not to the Perrys’ credit…what would be so bad about a little string-band action on Top 40?
*Shrug*
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Seriously? Well, the result isn’t quite as odd as I expected, but it’s not the same with all of my favorite instruments removed. I still maintain that the song was great the way it was.
I hope this kind of thing doesn’t become routine. One of the things that I love about TBP is that they are identifiably country. I hope this isn’t the start of a trend of them pursuing crossover success. That would be a major letdown for me.
I thought this song was released like months ago? Why Now? What made the original great was it’s simple instrumentation, and the pop remix takes away one of the song’s best features. It also is too loud so it feels like it was playing over the vocals, and it feels they are competing to be heard…. IMO, the original was the best.
I’m surprised that they’ve managed to get well-known, I thought they were good, but I didn’t think they were good enough to be meshed into the mainstream.
The pop melody makes me think of Swift’s “Back to December.”
Why is this particular pop remix such a big deal, but remixes of other more prominent country music figures are tolerated?
Just speaking personally, I already recognize Taylor Swift’s and Lady Antebellum’s stuff as having stronger roots in pop than in country in the first place (aside from lyrically, perhaps), so it’s not surprising to hear a few extra guitars slapped onto those songs, though I think their “country” mixes are always better.
“If I Die Young” is one of the most traditional-sounding songs to gain traction in some time, though, so it’s just more of a stretch for me to hear it as pop. I’m not necessarily against it having success in that format, though. I think it’d be great to hear more country songs cross over like in olden days, though I don’t like the current remixing practices. (Two people who did it their way and did it well, though: Shania and Mutt.)
It almost seems like another attempt to draw an Adult Contemporary audience in and pull off another pop remix success d’estime like with Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum. But while I think it’ll draw the AC audience to The Band Perry, I doubt very much that it’ll draw them into country music as a whole.
What a hypocrit!
You know darn well it is not TBP who makes these remixes and sends them to pop yet you seem to want to hold them accountable.
You know perfectly well that Swift makes music to specifically sell to pop and you treat her like an innovator.
You have a natural crossover with no remix like “Before He Cheats” by Underwood and you treat her like a sellout.
There was nothing wrong with TBP’s song the way it was. So why don’t you ask yourself what is wrong with Swifts music that it has to be remixed to the point it’s unrecognizable?
Hipocrits!
Well I know that I will get blasted for this but here goes any way. See I see it differently Patrick. I have alot more respect for someone like Taylor Swift who is who she is and makes no apology’s about it, then an artist who claims to be country and will never go the Pop route and all the while makes Pop sounding records.
Hiley, I think you’re contradicting yourself.
If Taylor is really who she is, then what is she still doing in the Country format? Her latest album is basically a Pop album, with like… 2-3 country tracks max. Her past albums might be on the borderline of pop and country, but I don’t know if anyone could still deny that songs like “Haunted”, “Better Than Revenge”, “Dear John” etc aren’t even remotely country.
So why are we applauding Taylor for straddling the genre line (to the point of false advertisement of country) and bringing new audience to country, but now we frown upon The Band Perry’s remix? It’s just ONE remix for a song that seemed to have connected with a lot audience outside of country music, so I don’t see what is wrong with an effort to bring these new listeners into the genre.
Although I’m not a fan of remixes as well, but since Before He Cheats, pop radio won’t seem to play a country song if it’s not remixed. So I’m not going to hold it against TBP for that.
Haha I love the title. And thanks, Dan, for those links you supplied on the other article.
As for the ‘remix,’ I liked it much better than I thought I would. I’ll always prefer the country mix in cases like this, but I thought the integrity of the song was maintained. Though it may seem further from the original than the remixes of “Need You Now” or “Love Story,” the “If I Die Young” remix does not get on my nerves like the others did. Probably because every trace of it ever had been marketed as country has not been removed. I guess having a singer that actually sounds somewhat country makes that a little more difficult.
Zoey, aren’t you doing the same thing? Your calling Taylor out for having Pop sounding songs on her album when I can name other artist’s that have done the same thing. At least Taylor admits to it and doesn’t make excuses for doing so. I guess I one of the few that doesn’t get into a twist over re-mixing and Pop sounding records. I think the reason for that is because when I was young many Country artists were played on Pop radio. That is where I heard Jonny Cash, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Marty Robbins and several others. That was how I became a Country fan. When did everything become so cut and dry, is what I would like to know. IMO good music is good music whether it’s Country ,Pop, Jazz, Rock, you name it.
1. I don’t actually hold The Band Perry accountable for the decision; I don’t even really blame them if they did make it. This is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek post about something quirky; I’m not riled up about it. It kind of reminds me of, like, LeAnn Rimes’ “What I Cannot Change” dance mixes.
2. I enjoy Swift’s music a lot, especially as she’s grown, but I don’t think I’ve ever suggested that she’s innovative. And I said above that I don’t like her remixes, either, though I do find them less jarring than this one (because, again, her songs are basically pop to begin with, whereas “If I Die Young” really, really isn’t).
With all due respect, the militant pro-Carrie-anti-Taylor stuff (and the reverse, I’m sure) gets sillier by the day. They’re very different artists, and I bet they have nothing but respect for one another’s distinct strengths.
(Incidentally, I do give props for the “Before He Cheats” thing, and would like for other artists/labels to follow that course. Then again, it’s not like “Before He Cheats” is all that devoid of pop influence itself.)
I used to be hung up about genre lines myself, and didn’t like that certain artists seemed to be “derailing” country music. But the more I’ve studied pop music history, the more the current state of things makes sense to me. The pop music marketed chiefly as country, the traditionalists popping up and reminding people why “old” was once “cool” – it’s all happened before. Some of it does seem to be at extremes right now (Swift, Sugarland, Jason Aldean, et al), but history will find the order and reason in it all eventually.
I don’t like it. I think the new music takes the “soul” out of the song. When you get right down to it, that is what country music is all about. Why make a remix? It’s all about money.
Broadening the fan-base and the visibility of country music sounds like a great idea to me. But when you have to take out the very elements that make it country music to sell it as mainstream pop music, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other on this particular track though.
“Zoey, aren’t you doing the same thing? Your calling Taylor out for having Pop sounding songs on her album when I can name other artist’s that have done the same thing.”
Hiley, the only reason I brought up Taylor’s name was because you mentioned her in your original comment. I never actually said that I don’t mind if other artists do the same thing.
I actually am a fan of Taylor’s music. I like Speak Now purely as a Pop album (it is one of the better Pop albums last year IMO), I just don’t agree with it being named “Country” album nominee when the music is hardly Country IMO.
ehrm..pop version of If I Die Young = boring and wtf worthy.
why remove the thing which made it great?
the interlude part sounded as if it was ripped from a Swift song :(
Thanks for clarifying, Dan.
Why is there a need to do pop remix for this song anyway? Do they really think it won’t successfully cross over without a remix? Is it required in pop radio?