Great hooks have become a dying breed in mainstream country music. It seems every other single review I write includes criticism for a hook that falls flat. Exhibit A: Tim McGraw’s new single.
“One of Those Nights” could be seen as a step up from “Truck Yeah” – though that’s probably the epitome of a hollow compliment. The production is heavy, and hardly country at all, but it generally avoids becoming a distraction until the overwrought finish. (A gospel choir? Really?) The lyrics aren’t particularly original – a backwoods love story the likes of which we’ve heard a few times before – but they’re laced with a few details that lend a degree of interest to the story.
Yet the one thing about the song that I just can’t get over is the way it keeps repeating the phrase “This is gonna be one of those nights” as if it’s somehow significant. It doesn’t summarize the content of the song in any meaningful way. It doesn’t convey anything deeper than what it says on the surface, and it’s not especially interesting or
clever. A better hook could have compensated to some extent for the generally uninspiring lyrical content, but the way it is, there’s precious little for the listener to grab onto.
No matter how charitable I try to be in discussing Tim McGraw’s new song, “One of Those Nights” simply offers nothing to get excited about. I miss the days when I could get excited about Tim McGraw’s music, and I highly doubt that Scott Borchetta is going to be the one to bring those days back.
Grade: C
Listen: One of Those Nights
You summed it up best when you said ”One of Those Nights” simply offers nothing to get excited about. It’s kind of like the CMA awards the other night which I watched yesterday afternoon. I got a lot of practice fast-forwarding.
was there no one around, who could have told the bunch at the studio: this is “fly over states” all over – just with lesser lyrics, guys.
the cynic of the lot migth have shrugged his shoulders in who-cares-anyway manner, someone else might have said “now, that you mention it…”. by that time tim mcgraw might have already been gone to get a couple of piercings thinking to himself: …and i thought they were major league jerks at curb.
then again, it doesn’t sound too bad on the radio, if it doesn’t get played right after “blown away” or “fly over states”.