“That’s the Way”
Jo Dee Messina
Written by Holly Lamar and Annie Roboff
Radio & Records
#1 (3 weeks)
September 15 – September 29, 2000
Billboard
#1 (4 weeks)
September 16 – October 7, 2000
I’m Alright was such a massive hit at radio that Jo Dee Messina picked up four classic hits from hit in a row: “Bye Bye,” the title track, “Stand Beside Me,” and “Lesson in Leavin’.” Given that her debut album had also launched with a bona fide classic (“Heads Carolina, Tails California”) before that, it’s understandable that radio was primed to play the heck out of “That’s the Way.”
And play the heck out of it radio did, despite it being a flaccid and uninspiring motivational track. Messina’s a captivating vocalist at her best, but good luck finding her under all the vocal effects on this record.
It’s a big step backward for one of the genre’s most promising acts from the turn of the century, but thankfully the next single from her in this feature is a winner. Before that, we get the overwrought title track, which went top five, and the quite enjoyable “Downtime,” which went top ten.
“That’s the Way” gets a C.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
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I liked this song (and album) at the time, but now I think it’s just a blatant rip off of Celine Dion’s “That’s The Way It Is” from 1999. Many such cases I suppose.
Also – I don’t remember what year it splits, but when the chart splits to Hot Country Songs vs. Airplay which will you continue to cover for this feature?
The Songs/Airplay split was in October 2012.
I’ll do both. You can’t tell the story without the streaming hits, even though I have issues with the way that they contribute to the chart in the way that it’s currently configured.
Honestly my main problem with Hot Country Songs is that it counts airplay from non-country stations.
This is interesting, because I actually have the opposite opinion. I’ve always found Jo Dee Messina extremely one-note. Even if I’ve softened on motivational lyrics, I’ve always found her vocal tone, production, and lyrics are way too same-y between songs. I genuinely do not remember any of “Because You Love Me”, “Downtime”, “Dare to Dream”, “Was That My Life”, or “I Wish”, and that’s a lot of top 20 or almost-top 20 to not recall at all.
Conversely, the unusual production on this one gives this song, to me, a degree of color I find sorely lacking in her other material. I like the acoustic guitar and timbales. I also notice that she sings “you live, you learn, you crash, you burn” distinctly differently each time. I also think lines like “hung my tears out to dry” or “sometimes I feel like throwing something” are way more inspired than what I usually heard from this kind of song. It has way more ways to latch onto me than her songs usually do, and I’m genuinely surprised that, despite being her longest-lasting #1 and highest Hot 100 entry, it’s had seemingly zero staying power.
But what works on one person doesn’t on another. And that’s the way it is.
I was fully onboard the Jo Dee Messina train for her first two excellent albums. While I burned out on “Lesson in Leavin'” and preferred the Dottie West version, everything else from her debut and follow-up was a tidal wave of attitude and zippy kinetic energy. I was so glad to see she was heading into the new millennium with the momentum she deserved. Unfortunately, then came the “Burn” album….
“That’s the Way” was an indisputably weak song for the first single and multi-week #1. I’ll give her team the benefit of the doubt that the song was written and recorded before the much better Celine Dion song of the same name became a pop hit the same year, but either way this is thin gruel. It’s hard for me to reconcile the notion of “I Hope You Dance’s” lyrics being cliches when Jo Dee Messina’s follow-up #1 gleans “you gotta roll with the punches” and “you gotta bend when the wind blows” as its oft-repeated inspirational hooks.
I’ll rate it similarly to Kevin but acknowledge that it’s a bit of an earworm. Then again, any song played as much as this was in 2000 is likely to have some earworm effect. Worse yet, none of the five singles from her “Burn” album offered more than minor rewards for me. “Downtime” was my favorite, but even that wasn’t in the same galaxy as any of the bangers from her first two albums. Jo Dee would win me over to some degree again years later, but never to the extent teased in her first two albums.
Grade: C+
I like a fair amount of Jo Dee Messina and her material. But this one being so successful always baffled me as it always sounded fine but nothing special at all.
This is a fair grade. I would have probably given it a “B-“. I always liked Jo Dee as she was different than the other female singers and I liked that she had her own style.
Love Jo Dee, but this is inarguably her most pedestrian single to top the chart. I actually liked the other singles she released from the Burn album (though I prefer Tina Arena’s original version of the title track to Jo Dee’s).
This just feels like a High School Musical song. Completely forgot about this one. I do love the hilariously 2000 music video though. What a strange era the late 90s, early aughts were in regards to style and visuals.
Agreed on the visuals. I don’t remember it being that over-the-top at the time. It’s enough to trigger an epileptic seizure.
Pretty mediocre – a very disappointing single from Ms. Messina – I’d give it a “C-” and that is being generous.
This hit is in no way sticky for me. I couldn’t even recall the song at all from just the title, but it took only two lines for all the lyrics to come spilling out of my brain and off my lips. Somehow the bad taste it left in my mouth is connected to the sound of Messina missing here, especially when compared to the frenetic promise and hope of her earlier material.
Guess I’ll have to be one of the minority, because I like this one.
I actually didn’t care too much for it at first, because the whole pop country trend was kind of annoying me at the time as someone who still mostly preferred my country more traditional in 2000 (I agreed with Strait and Jackson on “Murder On Music Row” at the time, but now I think it was ahead of its time, and that song would’ve made more sense if it came out later in the decade or during the bro-country era). I also originally found the lyrics to be too preachy, similar to “I Hope You Dance” which was also getting overplayed. Unlike Womack’s song though, “That’s The Way” had much more of a catchy melody and more interesting arrangement for me to eventually warm up to it. I remember having it stuck in my head while riding the school bus back home one day during my freshman year in high school. I would always picture a boxing match whenever she sang “You gotta roll with the punches” (The loud drums by Byron Gallimore’s production style kind of resemble blows from a boxer). And whenever she sings “You gotta bend where the wind blows” I still think of someone literally stretching their arms out like branches and bending to the side, lol.
Like many of the other pop country songs of the time, I love the sunny, feel good vibe throughout the entire song. There’s just something about the melodies of a lot of late 90s/early 2000 contemporary country that always puts me in a better mood, and this is no exception. And once again, there’s a really neat futuristic feel to the intro, this time made by what I’m guessing is the mandolin, along with the low acoustic guitar and steel. I also love the “ahhhh” backup vocals as Messina sings “I was walkin’ in the clouds…” during the first verse. The beat and rhythm of the song is also perfect for taking a walk on a nice sunny day. While I think a lot of modern pop country relies too much on staccato singing, I think it plays to Messina’s strengths here, and along with “I’m Alright,” it helped make her more unique throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. Lyrically, it’s one of the more tolerable motivational/inspirational songs for me. I especially love the line “They say your soul is growing, but sometimes I feel like throwing something,” which I think gives the song more relatability than others of its kind. I know I sure as heck know how that feels!
Also, there is no way I can NOT smile while watching the song’s music video. Watching it again with the bright colors, the dancing, the clothing styles, the neat camera angles, Jo Dee’s cheerfulness, and the feel good vibe of the song, I couldn’t help but have a big ol’ grin the whole way through! It’s so early 2000s, and for me that’s a good thing. I miss the much more colorful aesthetics of that time, along with the happier, cheerful vibes, and more creative concepts of videos back then. Though I’m very elated that a lot of the baggier/looser fitting fashion of that time has finally come back lately! (Good riddance to everything being so tight fitting, lol) Also love that Jo Dee was beginning to incorporate dance moves to her videos and stage performances around this time, which also helped separate her from the pack.
I do agree with most here about the Burn era not being quite as strong as the I’m Alright era. I absolutely LOVE “Downtime” though, and I really wish that one had gone number one! It’s a great song written by the underappreciated Carolyn Dawn Johnson, and it brings back great memories from Spring of 2001. Also unlike Bobby above, I do remember the other songs he listed. I especially love “Because You Love Me” and “I Wish” and think both are very underrated. I think they both tend to get overlooked because Messina is not usually known for doing ballads.
I couldn’t think of what this song was by its title, but I did remember it once I heard it again. I’m not big on the production of this song and for some reason her voice sounds processed.
I’m with Jamie. I actually really like this song. I think it sounds diffrent than most her hits and vocally it’s one of her best upbeat songs. B+ But my favorite song from this album cycle was Downtime. Why that wasn’t a bigger hit baffles me.