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Country
This essay, More “Backseat Songwriters” Weigh In, was written by Phyllis Stark for Radio-Info.com's Country column.
More “Backseat Songwriters” Weigh In
In Tuesday’s Stark Country newsletter, we shared the thoughts of a bunch of “backseat songwriters” about the words or phrases that drive them crazy in hit country songs—the ones they wish the songwriters had spent just a little bit more time fine-tuning. Since that article was published, we heard from several more industry vets, who weigh in with their own hilarious pet peeves.• Carol Hughes, APD/MD/middays KFDI Wichita, Kan.: “I have a lyric that drives me crazy [from] Blake Shelton’s ‘Who Are You When I’m Not Looking’: ‘Do you paint your toes ’cause you bite your nails.’ Huh??? So you paint your toenails to keep from biting them? Who does that?”
• Country artist Benton Blount: “I like Thompson Square, but when he says ‘So I took a chance, bought a wedding band, and I got down on one knee,’ I imagine myself proposing with the little wedding band instead of the big diamond engagement ring! Not sure if she would say ‘Are you gonna kiss me or not!’”
• Veteran country radio programmer Bob Moody: “It isn’t easy being a country programmer and a former English lit major, but the song that always makes my blood boil is ‘Grandpa’ by the Judds, when they sing, ‘…paint me a PITCHER of long ago.’ Dizzy Dean, maybe? Mordecai ‘Three-Fingers’ Brown? The Kool-Aid mascot?
“From time to time, I would ask labels for the ‘grammatically correct’ version of their new releases. Nobody ever took me seriously, although for a few minutes there was a chance that Craig Morgan might be asked to sing ‘This Isn’t Anything.’”
• Jim Feuerstein, production director, WDKX-FM Rochester, N.Y.: “Absolutely love the song ‘You and Tequila’ by Kenny Chesney. In fact, it’s my favorite song of 2012. However, there’s one line that would resonate better with me personally. Instead of ‘It’s so easy to forget/The bitter taste the morning left,’ I think it’d be better as ‘It’s NOT easy to forget… ’ To me, it better suggests that ‘You’ are the reason for the ‘Tequila.’”
• Larry Rosin, president, Edison Research: “[In] Garth Brooks’ ‘Unanswered Prayers,’ he says, ‘Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered/Some of God’s greatest gifts, are all too often unanswered/Some of God’s greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers.’ Shouldn’t it be: ‘…are all SO often unanswered?’ I’ve always thought he blew that line every time I hear it. And for the record, there is no bigger Garth fan than I.”
About the Writer
Veteran entertainment journalist Phyllis Stark is Executive Editor of Country Music at Radio-Info.com and author of the company's twice-weekly Stark Country newsletter. She is also a freelance writer whose work appears regularly on MSN and numerous other publications and sites. She authors MSN's music blog, One Country.




























