I was already happy, on my way to my grandparents' lakeside house in North Texas one sunny July afternoon, when I heard for the first time what can only be described as, though it pains me to use such a hackneyed phrase, the toe-tapping opening strain of a song that would very soon become my favourite. Keith Urban, an Australian who had, prior to the summer of 2003, released a few songs that had caught my attention, almost immediately became associated with home and joy for me, and I began listening to the local country station with more regularity in hopes of hearing the song.
And thus, I managed to get myself a copy of Golden Road, his latest record (thanks, Marshall!) This is one of the most uplifting collections of music ever assembled. This is not to say that the disc is lacking in sad songs, only that the majority of the songs are on the quicker, happier side, and even those that are more melancholy have a glimmer of hope for the future. I don't think I have to tell anyone that I'm a cynic, but I love this CD.
The music itself is very fun, employing a good deal of the acoustical sound absent from even most modern country music as well as a few very synthetic sounding modern grooves. The lyrics are, overall, even more fun, expressing a contentment with life that I rarely experience myself. Most of the songs make me smile, several elicit a chuckle or two, and one flat out reminds me of PUSA. And the lyrics are even more meaningful when his former drug addiction is taken into consideration. The songs paint a portrait of someone who has been to the bottom and decided the top was worth the long ride back up.
And, hey. If for no other reason, I love it because it's the first CD in a long time that I've really been into that my mother hasn't threatened to throw out the car window yet. My parents don't really care for his haircut [rolls eyes], but they don't have to look at the pictures. Any guy who writes most of his own songs, actually plays the instrument he stands on stage holding, AND sings like that can have whatever the heck haircut he wants.
Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me lyrics
You're Not Alone Tonight lyrics
You're Not My God lyrics
I pull my blue jeans on, I pull my old blue jeans on...
Page created November 28, 2003.
