25 Comments

  1. If this charts higher than Drinkin’ Man, I’ll, I’ll…Aww shucks, it’s going to chart higher than Drinkin’ Man.

  2. Chris Cagle’s early collection had some enjoyable material in it. “I Breath, I Breathe Out”, “What a Beautiful Day”, “Miss Me Baby”, “What Kinda Gone”. Now he’s just running around trying to do his best Jason Aldean impression at the local comedy club. Be original, be whoever Chris Cagle actually is, not just another “country boy from the sticks”. Not to tarnish Cagle personally, but he’s had plenty of troubles and drama over the past few years that could actually be translated into some good material. I guess we’re stuck getting out imitation wranglers and skoal cans on though.

  3. I know its wrong to judge a book by the cover, but just based on the title I don’t want to hear this song. Such a turn off. “What the Cowgirls Do,” and “How Bout Them Cowgirls” both stunk up the airwaves, and if Vince Gill and George Strait can’t pull this cowgirl pandering off, I doubt that Chris Cagle can.

  6. Motown Mike said: “Chris Cagle’s early collection had some enjoyable material in it. “I Breath, I Breathe Out”, “What a Beautiful Day”, “Miss Me Baby”, “What Kinda Gone”.” Those 4 are the only Chris Cagle songs in my i-Tunes library. “Let There Be Cowgirls” won’t make it 5.

    Another cowgirl song – Tracy Lawrence’s “How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye”. Here’s how:

    “With a cold and empty stare
    As if I wasn’t there
    She didn’t even stop to cry
    That’s how a cowgirl says goodbye”

    Guess he done her wrong. The song was written by Larry Boone, Paul Nelson & Tracy.

  7. I like “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” and “How A Cowgirl Says Goodbye,” but those songs are quite different than the “Cowgirls are Awesome ” type songs by Vince Gill and George Strait.

  8. The song is nowhere near the best that Chris has recorded in the past, but if you’re going to post a review, then post a review. Even Chris would agree he’s no George Strait. As for the comments about radio pandering, unfortunately that’s what these vets have been reduced to. I’m shocked that Chris even got another radio hit, given the rocky road he’s had the past few years and that he’s not on a major label anymore. Hopefully there’a a little bit of substance on the new record, but so far it’s not looking good.

  9. Eh… I never cared for “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” fiddle and steel notwithstanding. I just don’t like emotional aloofness portrayed as a manifestation of feminine strength and resilience.

  11. Don’t take this personally, but why in the world waste the time write this “review”?

    There’s been only one review of a currently released song in more than two weeks. There have been tens of new songs released to radio in the last month or so. So why was it necessary to pick out this one, which nearly all of us could have guessed before hand was awful, and point it out with one sentence?

    I don’t take exception with the review itself, mind you. But something about bypassing all these legitimate songs and not dignifying them with actual reviews and instead just saying, “haha, oh yeah, this song sucks,” seems like such a cop out.

    Giving attention to a song like this, even if its negative, seems counter intuitive to the mission/goal of sharing opinions and leading people to discover new, quality country music that this site (and the entire country music blog community) seems to be about.

    Sorry for the rant. I enjoy reading this blog though, and just felt like giving my two cents. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

  12. Not to jump on Devin’s bandwagon here, but the one-sentence reviews drive me nuts. If you’re going to take the time to write a review, then write one! These one-liners don’t count. I know you can only go into so much depth when you’re talking about a song as thin as “Let There Be Cowgirls,” but I’m sure you can do a little bit better than this. Your writing is usually very good though, Ben, so don’t get me wrong on that.

  13. On second thought I do think Ben has a point about “emotional aloofness” being portrayed as feminine strength.

    Although I still like “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” I definitely think that each individual should be able to express their emotions as best suits them (within reason – its ok to cry but not ok to key your exes car, Carrie Underwood style!).

    I do think Reba and B&D sound great together, though! Although if I ever have daughters, I would not want to teach them the message that women don’t cry.

  14. This review was a variation on the usual review format, which I think is a good way to shake things up, so to speak, and to keep reviewing from becoming repititive. Mini-reviews like this have been around on Country Universe since long before I got here – Dan and Kevin have done plenty of them. I understand that not everyone appreciates the concept, but I don’t think any one form of content is going to appeal to everyone. (It is, however, the exception rather than the rule, as I don’t go with this form for every review I create – My preceding Hunter Hayes review was also negative, but was five full paragraphs)

    To me, the important thing is that the review get a point across, even if very concisely. These two simple math sentences are meant to say “This song basically sounds exactly like the song Chris Cagle had out before it. If you want to hear a good song about cowgirls, go with Strait’s ‘How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls.'”

    There’s been only one review of a currently released song in more than two weeks. There have been tens of new songs released to radio in the last month or so.

    That has more to do with the busy schedules of our writing staff than anything else. I’m sure we would all write more if we could. Many of our writers have jobs outside the blogosphere, which take up a large portion of their time. A few of our writers do have projects that they’re currently working on, so you should be seeing some new content relatively soon, which should include coverage of the better releases coming out.

  15. A single sentence sometimes can say it all. I can’t remember which site I read it at, or who wrote it, but some of you might recall it. Review of Darius Rucker’s “I Got Nothin” —

    “You’ve got something, you just ain’t using it.”

    This review is in the same spirit, I think.

  16. or sometimes all it takes is a single word.

    Kevin’s take on Trisha Yearwood’s “This Is Me You’re Talking To?”

    Flawless.

    One word that says what a whole review could’ve easily said. Not that a one word review would work for most songs, but it worked in that case.

    On the same lines, I wonder how long it’ll take a reviewer (on this or any other site) to say Tim McGraw’s new single “Truck Yeah” sucks. With just a title like that, I’ll take a lot for that song to be of any good quality. I don’t have high hopes.

  17. That has more to do with the busy schedules of our writing staff than anything else. I’m sure we would all write more if we could. Many of our writers have jobs outside the blogosphere, which take up a large portion of their time. A few of our writers do have projects that they’re currently working on, so you should be seeing some new content relatively soon, which should include coverage of the better releases coming out.

    That is correct…and my apologies, Devin. I’ve been balancing a few other writing projects with CU, but I’ll be writing soon. We appreciate your continued interest even when we’re not quite as active as we usually are!

    Jonathan, thanks for reminding me of “Laredo.”

  18. @JPap – I didn’t recall the “Flawless” Yearwood song review by Kevin but I see that it was from January ’08, before I started following CU. Great find by you and review by KJC. Wish Trisha would put away the cookbooks and get back in the studio. Soon it will be 5 years since HH&PL was released.

  19. Tara – you’re welcome. Can’t believe it’s been about ten years since then. Time goes by so fast without anyone really knowing it. I remember well when it stayed at #1 on CMT’s Most Wanted Live countdown forever. Good ‘Ol days!

    Bob – Barry Mazor talked to Trisha at the Hall of Fame Press Conference and she confirmed she’s working on a new album. She also mentioned new music when promoting her cooking show. Not sure when it’ll be released but I hope a new single comes soon. I can’t wait.

    At least she’s confirmed she’s working on it. That’s more than can be expected from other artists who take tons of time between albums.

  20. “There’s been only one review of a currently released song in more than two weeks. There have been tens of new songs released to radio in the last month or so.”

    That has more to do with the busy schedules of our writing staff than anything else. I’m sure we would all write more if we could. Many of our writers have jobs outside the blogosphere, which take up a large portion of their time. A few of our writers do have projects that they’re currently working on, so you should be seeing some new content relatively soon, which should include coverage of the better releases coming out.

    I should clarify. I don’t take issue with the inactivity on here. I appreciate the time it takes to do something like this and how hard it is to find that time when you’ve got a job, school, or whatever it is.

    My point was more along the lines of, if you’re going to only review a song every couple weeks, even if it’s only a one word/sentence review, why choose a song that the core demographic of the blog likely has no interest in? Why not take the time to introduce everyone to a song that defied your expectations (good or bad)? Why not sum up a song from a new artist we may not have heard before? Not to sound mean, but why waste my time with Chris Cagle and a song, admittedly, very similar to and as poor as his previous single?

    I’m glad to hear that more reviews are coming, and especially of the better songs out there. And I’m sure the review quality will be excellent.

    That is correct…and my apologies, Devin. I’ve been balancing a few other writing projects with CU, but I’ll be writing soon. We appreciate your continued interest even when we’re not quite as active as we usually are!

    I really do understand. And I definitely appreciate the quality over quantity.

    On the same lines, I wonder how long it’ll take a reviewer (on this or any other site) to say Tim McGraw’s new single “Truck Yeah” sucks. With just a title like that, I’ll take a lot for that song to be of any good quality. I don’t have high hopes.

    I heard it in concert and thought no way it would be a single. It was just so bad. I might shed a tear the first time I hear it on the radio…

  21. CU is my favorite website and the quality of content is usually so high, which is probably why clicking on a one sentence review like this or the Kenny Chesney “Come Over” one is a little disappointing. When reviews like this are used sparingly, they’re more effective.

    I do think they’re clever and I’m sure they’re fun to write. What about collecting 10 or so of these “mini reviews” and assembling them as one post?

    Either way, thank you for the time and effort that you do put into this site and please continue to keep up the hard work! It is sincerely much appreciated.

    And finally, my favorite cowgirl song? Imani Coppola’s “Legend of a Cowgirl”.

  22. When reviews like this are used sparingly, they’re more effective.

    I agree, and that’s partly why I don’t do them very often. Just to make sure you know, the two most recent short reviews were posted by different writers (me and Kevin), so it’s mostly coincidence that they both happened to appear one right after the other.

    I do think they’re clever and I’m sure they’re fun to write. What about collecting 10 or so of these “mini reviews” and assembling them as one post?

    That’s been done a few times. I might attempt such a post sometime, but I can really only do these reviews when a good idea hits me, so that might make it a little hard to fill a whole post with them. But feel free to check out the “5-Second Single Reviews” archive: https://www.countryuniverse.net/category/single-reviews/5-five-second-single-reviews/

    Thanks for the comments. Glad you’ve been enjoying the content!

  23. Devin,

    I don’t really think there’s any absolute way to determine what the core Country Universe readership is interested in. As others have noted, Chris Cagle has released decent material in the past, which for all we know may cause some to be interested in his new single.

    I can appreciate your points with regard to song selection for reviews, but what I choose to review is largely dependant on when an idea for how to tackle a specific song comes to me. This review was just how this particular song struck me upon hearing it.

  25. And finally, my favorite cowgirl song? Imani Coppola’s “Legend of a Cowgirl”.

    Michael A., I thought I was the only person who remembered that song. :-)

    Sweetcheeks begins by saying “I know it’s wrong to judge a book by its cover” (metaphorically speaking). I can’t help judging this single by the album’s cover (art). Oh, my. Not sure how I skipped over that one. I think I saw something like it for sale at the Phenix City flea market last weekend. Isn’t Nashville home to some fantastic graphic artists? Hmm.

    The song wants to be Trace Adkins’ “Chrome” meets a Louis L’Amour first draft meets the Apocrypha: “And on the eighth day, the LORD created cowgirl / And saw that it was good.” Note that I said “wants to be.” I guess this is the best we can hope for from country lyrics today. Harlan Howard is spinning in his grave.

    And will someone please explain what kind of rough-n-tough cowgirl is named “Kayleigh?”

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