“We Danced”
Brad Paisley
Written by Chris DuBois and Brad Paisley
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
December 1, 2000
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
December 2 – December 9, 2000
From day one, I’ve understood the appeal of Brad Paisley.
He used the early nineties playbook in the late nineties, launching his career through a nostalgic embrace of an era that had ended about two years earlier. Paisley understood the structure of that specific brand of nineties country, and “We Danced” might be the best example of his mastery of this very specific form.
The steel guitar plays off the key lines in all the right places. The storyline follows the “Don’t Take the Girl” structure of a chorus staying the same but meaning something different as it follows each verse. And Paisley’s twang is just enough to endear him to traditionalists while still being smooth enough to keep suburban moms and dads from changing the station. But the talents are still developing, for sure. He didn’t write a strong enough melody or deliver a strong enough vocal performance to compensate for the flaccid chorus, which would honestly require a Jackson or a Strait to pull off.
With time, I’ve come to appreciate his reverence for the form, and I feel less cynical about the calculated craft of his records. But that clinical feeling still remains with me. Paisley casts himself as a bartender, but this is a meet cute more suited to a university dining hall. A setup that could be genuinely interesting is secondary to the song’s primary goal of supporting the chorus. That’s a subtle but significant shift that foreshadows so much of what I don’t like about modern mainstream country.
A quarter century later, I’m more charitable to someone who can actually sing and write, and who I believe genuinely cares about the traditions of country music and the preservation of the genre. But Paisley’s the canary in the coal mine, as college educated kids from the suburbs overwhelm the artist rosters and songwriting rooms of Music Row and only know the working class experience from what they’ve seen on TV.
Because there isn’t a honky tonk bar on earth where this scenario would play out like this. But it would make for a good episode of Cheers.
“We Danced” gets a B.Tim McGraw, “My Next Thirty Years”
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
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I would agree that “B” seem right. Not exceptional but a good song.
Interesting overall take on Brad Paisley. I don’t doubt that the college boys without traditionally country backgrounds seized control of the industry infrastructure in Nashville, but is it fair to say that Brad Paisley was the opening salvo for that? He grew up in a small town in West Virginia, the son of a DOT employee and a teacher. Maybe there’s more to the story but that sounds like a pretty country and blue-collar background to me, even if he did end up matriculating at Belmont University. Whatever the case, I consider him an important if highly imperfect figure in early 21st century country music, carving out a distinct style with his instrumental prowess, sense of humor, and willingness to take risks. Sometimes those risks failed spectacularly, but there was a creativity to songs rhapsodizing about “water” and “camouflage” that channeled Tom T. Hall and was unlike anything anybody else on radio was doing in his era.
I mostly agree with your take on “We Danced”. It’s a highly pleasant record that probably had the potential to be a great record if it wasn’t so committed to the formula. I differ from you in that I always thought the song had heart, with a compelling vocal performance that matched nicely with the sparse and swooning arrangement that at least for me elevated it above a more factory-assembled formula song like “The Best Day”. Perhaps I gave Paisley too much credit for authenticity based on the legacy of previous hit “He Didn’t Have to Be”, which is up there with “Whiskey Lullaby” as the best song of his career.
If I had to guess between rookie prospects that I expected to have a potential Hall of Fame career back in late 2000, I’d have likely chosen Phil Vassar over Brad Paisley. But both came out of the gate with an impressive debut album and no shortage of potential, so it wasn’t such a surprise that Paisley would go on to dominate country radio for the next decade and beyond.
Grade: B+
Some of his later catalog is plagued by trying too hard (“Ticks”, “Crushin’ It”), being lazy to the point of cliche (“Then”), or just being pure cringe (“Accidental Racist”). But for the most part, I found him uniformly good between his debut and Time Well Wasted. There’s a definite vibe on his first three albums that makes even the second-tier stuff more compelling to me. If this song is built off ’90s country tropes that may have read a little dated in 2000, then at least unlike “Yes!” they’re elevated by a smooth production and charismatic vocal.
I didn’t really get into Brad Paisley’s music until the Mud on the Tires album and even moreso with the Time Well Wasted album. Until then, his music seemed pretty thin /boring , which included this song.
Pretty much how I felt with Mud on the Tires, too. Other than “Who Needs Pictures”, I don’t remember his music leaving much impact on me until I listened to the entire Mud on the Tires album. It drove me to revisit the first two and find some of the other gems, such as “I Wish You’d Stay”.
“I Wish You’d Stay” is another one of my absolute favorites! Brad’s first two albums are still my favorites and his very best ones, imho, but I do enjoy a lot of the Mud On The Tires, album, too.
This song is about right as a “B”. For me the genius of Brad Paisley was due to some of the very interesting album tracks, many of which had great appeal to traditionalist such as myself.
Moreover, Brad may be the country artist with the strongest humanitarian impulses. He has involved with many such projects – below is one of them
https://thestore.org/
Brad Paisley became an immediate favorite of mine after I picked his debut album at Best Buy as a late birthday present in the Spring of 2000. I chose it on the strength of the first three singles and because his style reminded me of the older, more traditional sounds of early 90s country from when I was little. In the store that night when looking at a copy of the CD, it was also the first time I ever saw what he looked like (I missed the videos of the first three singles up to that point), and I remember thinking that he looked a little bit like Tracy Byrd on the cover wearing that black hat. When I opened the CD later that night in by bedroom and looked at the booklet and liner notes, I then thought he kind of looked like the Mighty Ducks guy (Emilio Estevez) in some of the pictures of him without the hat. When in bed listening to the album on my portable CD player, I was loving it more and more with each song. And I listened to it again after it was done. The familiar, comforting new traditionalist style, the melodies, and his voice, which to me sounded like a combination of Alan Jackson and Paul Overstreet were way up my alley. Besides the singles, other songs that became immediate favorites of mine were “Don’t Breathe,” “Holdin’ On To You” “I’ve Been Better,” and “Long Sermon.” I loved the entire album, though. My overall enjoyment of this album is part of what got me bitten by the CD collecting bug from that point on. Brad’s Who Needs Pictures album was one of the CDs that I would always bring with me on trips to York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania during the Summer of 2000, along with others I picked up that summer, including Mark WIlls’ Wish You Were Here (1998), Jerry Kilgore’s Love Trip (1999), and Keith Harling’s Bring It On (1999) (Jerry and Keith are also great talents that deserved better, imho. Still love those albums today, as well).
This was also the first time I was old enough to experience the excitement of owning an album before its cycle was done at radio and guessing which songs were going to be the next single and hoping for certain songs to be chosen. I’ll admit that I was a bit underwhelmed when I found out that “We Danced” was going to be the new single after “Me Neither”, not because I disliked the song, but just because there were other songs on the album I liked better, especially “Don’t Breathe,” “Holdin’ On To You” and “I’ve Been Better.” To me, those songs had stronger melodies and hooks and were more memorable, overall. The first time I heard “We Danced” on the radio was while my mom and I were with my dad in his car during the late Spring of 2000. It was being featured in one of those “battle of the new releases” type of contests in which listeners would call to say which song they liked better. Paisley was described as “a heavyweight” who was going up against Ty Herndon with “No Mercy,” which I liked, as well. I was rooting for Paisley, though, not only because I was a new fan, but because “We Danced” was beginning to grow more on me. Unfortunately, I never got to hear who won, since we got home before the match ended. Seeing that this song peaked in December when I first heard it in the Spring shows just how long chart runs had gotten compared to the 90s.
Eventually, I really got to loving “We Danced” the more I heard it on the radio. The pretty melody started growing on me the more I heard it, and it kind of reminded me of another song that David Kersh could’ve recorded (since he also recorded Brad’s “Another You”). And I especially loved the fat sounding drums during the second and final choruses, which reminded me of early 90s country, making it stand out on the radio in 2000. I also loved his laid back, Paul Overstreet like delivery on the verses. I liked how his vocals sounded with the harmony vocalists during the choruses, as well. My step dad was also a fan of this song (as he was with the other three singles), and the first time we all heard it in the car together, he said he sounded like George Strait. I remember him singing along to it during other occasions we heard it on the radio and how he rooted for it to win Song/Single of the Year at the 2001 ACM’s.
I do agree with Kevin on how the bar setting is not realistic or perfectly fitting for the overall feel of the song, but I do still like image it puts in my head of the couple slow dancing in a dimly lit empty bar. The real charm of the song for me is the love story itself with the couple’s relationship progressing, and the pretty melody combined with Paisley’s smooth, easy going, heartfelt delivery. Sonically, I love how its new traditionalist while still being smooth enough to appeal to suburban listeners and city folks. For me, the song also sounded very nice while walking through York Galleria Mall at York, PA in 2000, especially during the daytime with the sunlight coming through the skylight ceilings, naturally lighting up the mall. The fat drums in the final chorus and reverb throughout Paisley’s vocals and harmony vocals especially sounded great in that setting.
While my enthusiasm for Paisley would start to dwindle with the third and fourth album eras (Mud On The Tires is another good album by him, though), it’s just amazing to look back and remember how big a part his music played in my life throughout the years 1999 and 2000. “Who Needs Pictures” was a new song by a new artist that I always loved hearing on the radio while I was still in 7th grade, and I even remember one afternoon while in the car with my dad after school, the female DJ was talking about what a handsome looking guy he was (though I had no clue myself what he looked like yet). “He Didn’t Have To Be” was, by far, one of my most favorite songs that was on the radio during the Fall of 1999 and Winter of early 2000. The beautiful steel guitar throughout, the beautiful melody, the cozy traditional sounding production, and the heartfelt lyrics about his family and stepfather were all a perfect match for the cold weather and warm holiday seasons, and the song would give me chills and make me teary eyed whenever I heard it. My own step dad loved the song, as well, and I especially remember him singing along to it during one of our Pennsylvania trips in late 1999 on a cloudy day when we were on our way to the Frazer/Malvern area. Both “He Didn’t Have To Be” and “Who Needs Pictures” are still my two most favorite songs of his to this day. My step dad and I also loved “Me Neither” when it came out in early 2000, and the first time we both heard it was on our way back home one night after we had seen the Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins movie, Mission To Mars, together. It was the first time we both heard the funny side of Brad, and it remained a favorite of ours during the rest of its radio cycle. Other songs on the Who Needs Pictures album, like “Holdin’ On To You” and “Don’t Breathe” remind me of us seeing the movie Shanghai Noon (starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson) that Spring. “I’ve Been Better” takes me back to when we went to the original IKEA store inside Potomac Mills Mall and later that summer when I was listening to the album as we were driving through Wilmington, Delaware, not long after we saw X-Men. The entire album is just like a soundtrack to my life in 2000!
I also loved getting to see Brad perform at the CMA awards later in 2000 while staying up late on a school night, especially when he performed “Me Neither” with Ricky Skaggs. I had such a great feeling that he was going to win the Horizon Award when Ricky said “It’s time to stop pickin’ and read the winner!” And sure enough he did! I love looking at pictures of him at that moment and seeing that cool purple Western coat he wore with his nice big white hat. I just love and miss the way he dressed during this era, as well, with the cool western shirts and jackets, basic Wrangler jeans, and large cowboy hats.
Besides the other songs I’ve already mentioned, another song off his debut I’ve really grown to love is “Cloud Of Dust,” which is another throwback to the early 90s when a lot of songs about struggling farmers were coming out. Also love the fiddle on that cut.