“Can I Trust You With My Heart”
Travis Tritt
Written by Stewart Harris and Travis Tritt
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
February 13 – February 20, 1993
Radio & Records
#1 (2 weeks)
January 29 – February 5, 1993
Travis Tritt tops the charts again with another power ballad.
The Road to No. 1
Tritt snapped a five consecutive No. 1 single streak with the lead single from his third Warner Bros. album, t-r-o-u-b-l-e. “Lord Have Mercy On the Working Man” went top five on both charts. The second single was the biggest release from the album, a rare multiple week No. 1 on Radio & Records that wasn’t due to a holiday chart freeze.
The No. 1
It seems hilariously tame now, but the controversy at the time over the content of the “Can I Trust With Your Heart” music video overshadowed that this wasn’t a song about sex.
It’s a powerful request for emotional certainty before committing to another person for the rest of your life. Tritt was always at his best when he played the role of the tough guy with a tender heart.
I find the production itself a bit bloated, and it pushes Tritt to go overboard vocally after the instrumental bridge. He gathers himself back together quickly, but it’s an early sign of things to come.
The Road From No. 1
Tritt’s next three singles from the project all missed the top ten, but Tritt led off his fourth album with another No. 1 single. We’ll cover it when we get to 1994.
“Can I Trust You With My Heart” gets a B+.
Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties
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I like this song, but I agree that it’s definitely a country power ballad that threatens to be overwrought.
Unlike most of the other songs from this late 92/early 93 period, this one sort of flew under the radar for me for one reason or another at that time. I remember hearing as a recurrent throughout the mid 90’s, though. It wasn’t until more recent years when I started revisiting all the country singles from this time that I’ve come to truly appreciate and enjoy it.
I have to agree, though, that it comes dangerously close to the overproduced power ballad style that Travis would develop a bit later, and for an early 90’s record, the production seems a bit heavy handed, especially at the song’s climax. I admit though, that I like the cool “exploding” sound of the drums during that part of the song where Travis growls his way through the second chorus. I also really like how the production sounds on the much more calm intro, and Travis’ performance during the opening and final verses. I also agree that he is at his best when he plays the tough guy with the tender heart, and I really like the lyrics to this one. Lyrically, it’s another song that I have a hard time imagining coming from most modern male mainstream country artists. All in all, this is another love ballad from this era that I really enjoy that probably would’ve been made even better with the production scaled back a bit.
As for the video, I didn’t even know there was a video for it until you just mentioned it! I just looked it up on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEhjweP3ikQ I quite like it, and it’s hard to believe that there was actually controversy over it, especially after seeing what’s in a lot of modern country videos from the past decade and a half or so.
I still have a hard time believing that “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” didn’t even make the top ten since that still seems to be one of his most popular songs. I also really like “Lord Have Mercy On The Working Man.”
I can’t explain why Doug Stone so offends me with the previous number one while loving the bombastic production of this power ballad from Travis Tritt. I suspect it has to do with my believing Tritt’s persona more than Stone’s. I can get behind what Tritt sings, whether he over does it or not.
I can convince myself that the rise and fall of the production intensity of this single mirrors the vulnerability of offering your heart to someone. It is a tender and tough moment riddled with uncertainty. You want your gift to be gently received as you nervously offer it, but you are just as poised to aggressively defend yourself against the pain and hurt should it be rejected.
Maybe this is the country sounds of a fight or flight response?