Brad Paisley – “Then”
Brad Paisley is the current master of earnest love songs; from 2000′s “We Danced” to the more recent “She’s Everything,” Paisley knows where his strengths lie. The fact that sensitive-guy ballads appeal to a larger demographic than Paisley’s cornball humor probably doesn’t hurt a bit either.
“Then” is the lead single from American Saturday Night, Paisley’s upcoming eighth album. It’s actually pretty similar to “Waitin’ On A Woman,” only minus the Andy Griffith music video. And where “Waitin’ On A Woman” has emotional payoff in the song’s final verse (in which the singer reveals he’ll be waiting for his woman even in the afterlife), “Then” has no such payoff.
Not that it doesn’t try–the lyrics mention the woman in question one day carrying children and going gray, but overall it’s a song devoid of depth and nuance, instead settling for tired similes about love being like rivers meeting seas. The concept of “Then” is a strong one, borrowing from a translation of 19th century French poet Rosemonde Gerard’s famous lines “each day I love you more/Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow,” but the song just doesn’t live up to its possibilities. It a poor use of Paisley’s considerable talent.
Previous reviews on The 9513 have addressed the occasionally condescending lyrics in some of Paisley’s songs. “Then” has none of those ain’t she cute moments where the woman in question crashes her man’s truck or always shows up late. Unfortunately, the lyrics don’t replace these moments with anything substantial, but rather with a bland collection of memories and observations about an anonymous girl who is now Paisley’s whole life and world.
Why, he just can’t believe the way he feels about you, girl!
We get a brief glimpse into the relationship as the singer recounts the times under “the front porch light, taking 45 minutes to kiss goodnight“, but overall “Then” is forgettable, especially when you can listen to a number of songs on Paisley’s previous albums that cover the same subject far more deftly.
There’s nothing particularly amazing or earth-shattering or even particularly memorable about “Then;” it’s just a talented singer singing a slightly above average song; but Paisley has quite a streak of chart-toppers thanks to a good voice, great guitar playing, catchy hooks, and boatloads of Average Joe dreaminess– even when the song isn’t one of his best. Don’t expect “Then” to be much different.
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40 Comments
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March 25, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Not sure who said this once (perhaps it was Jim), but I just can’t give a song a thumbs up if it rhymes “girl” and “world”.
C’mon peeps… let’s get a little more imaginative.
March 25, 2009 at 3:30 pm
My first thought when I heard this was Brad’s streak of number ones is going to remain in tact. It’s a decent, radio-friendly song, but I agree that it’s forgettable and far from what he’s capable of.
March 25, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Juli, I’m with you here for sure–both in the praise and criticisms of Paisley and the song itself.
March 25, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Brad has such a huge audience of dedicated fangirls that they will propel each of his singles to the top of the popularity contest that mainstream country radio has become. The two questions “Will this song hit #1?” and “Is this song any good?” have become almost completely decoupled in today’s Top 40 country radio environment. If an artist has a big enough fan base who is willing to call in requests at country radio, they will hit # 1 on occasion.
I was waiting in line at a concert a few years ago that featured Megan Mullins, The Lost Trailers, John Corbett, and The Wreckers. About 90% of the others in line were females and the ones I was standing near began to talk about the “cutest” male country stars. I was amused that of the group of about six gals in the discussion it became almost unanimous for Brad Paisley. Ever since that day Brad’s success has been no surprise to me…
March 25, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Definitely gets a thumbs up from me. It’s much, much better than the average ballad you hear, at least nowadays.
March 25, 2009 at 5:19 pm
This probably deserves a thumbs down if only for the incredibly lame title. What’s wrong with calling it “Thought I Loved You Then” or something like that? And “Like a river meets the sea” sounds like it’s just filler.
March 25, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I guess I don’t care about the title, but “Like a river meets the sea” is probably the lyric that made me wince the most.
March 25, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I agree that I think this song is just simply decent. Nothing spectacular. I think the chorus is the most boring part.
Does anyone feel that Brad released this song already and that we have all heard it once before?
March 25, 2009 at 6:00 pm
“Like a river meets the sea” is also a lyric from the wonderful song “That’s Alright By Me” as capably performed by both Mandy Barnett and Jypsi. Its just Brad and this song that make that line wince worthy…
March 25, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I’m pretty sure those two songs are not the only songs that line is in, which is the problem with the line in general.
March 25, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I love this song =)
March 25, 2009 at 7:04 pm
A fairly good idea, with a slightly better than average treatment, marred by a couple (or more) horribly cliche lines, sung by a good singer with a penchant for self-indulgent guitar licks… and it’s better than most of the stuff on the radio. It’s basically an inferior rehash of something on his last album (I think it was called “It Did?”).
March 25, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Good review. Not one of his best. Like I said before…I cringe each time I hear “World” and then it rhymes with “Girl”..the most overused rhyme in a love song. That right there knocked this song down for me.
March 26, 2009 at 6:27 am
Yes! When I heard this song, the first thing I thought of was “It Did”.
Don’t these two songs sound very oddly similar?
March 26, 2009 at 6:36 am
I felt as though I’d heard something similar to this melody as well, but couldn’t place why. I’d have to listen to “It Did” again to know if that is the song.
March 26, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I agree with much of this review, except for the notion of a “payoff.” I’ve come to hate the third-verse twist (“Waitin’ on a Woman” especially makes me cringe) so much that I like this song more for resisting it. I was fully expecting the third verse of “Then” to be about a baby or someone dying, and when he let it go with just a few passing references, I was impressed. But it does feel a little rote.
March 27, 2009 at 3:40 pm
One of the best songs I’ve ever heard.
March 28, 2009 at 7:41 am
This is a good song. It definitely deserved a thumbs up review and I really don’t understand the negativity from you people. Its not his BEST song but it is one of his best singles. And it’s better than any other country song out right now. I think you guys need to take a step back and not be so critical of a guy who has far more talent than any of y’all ever will
March 28, 2009 at 8:17 am
Decent song – nothing more, nothing less
I’d give it a sideways thumb
March 28, 2009 at 11:32 am
I wonder what would happened in the9513 if Carrie wins the ACM Entertainer of the year.
Hmmm… let me guess
1. Jim Malec would cry for a week
2. Brady would eat everything until she gain 50 pounds
3. the rest will cursed carrie for a year
That’s my guess
tell me yours
March 28, 2009 at 5:45 pm
this song 10000xxx times better than love story. BIAS and BS
March 30, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I’m actually looking forward to his next album sounding the same. It doesn’t work for Rascal Flatts but it would work for him!
March 30, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I think it’s a really good song. As previously stated, not his best, but how can somthing not be good from Brad Paisley? No doubt it will hit #1 just because it’s by him. Any negative critics should try writing their own songs and see how well it does. The only people who can critisize this song is people who can write a better song, and do better than Brad Paisley. Unfortunately, that is no one who comments here haha
April 1, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I’m with you CB4. I am a big fan of Mr. Paisley and of this song. I do not believe it is one of his best, but it will undoubtedly be a hit.
Clemson – After reading your posts, I’m curious to know if you are a Kenny Chesney fan?
April 6, 2009 at 9:48 am
I am not a huge fan of Paisley’s corny humor, but I like most of his love songs. This one I just heard the other day on the radio, and I immediately fell in love with it. I think it sounds very nice, and my fiancee and I are now going to use it as our first dance song at our wedding reception in two months. I don’t understand most of the negative criticisms. I think that anyone that has anything bad to say about this song, that they should try to write a song themselves, and see what they come up with. Yes there are a few cliche lines in this, but it is a beautiful love song, just the same
April 16, 2009 at 6:31 pm
i love this song this song will hit #1 for sure .. i cryed the 1st time i heard it. it so sweet Kim so lucky to have Brad . “Like A river meet the sea ” is one of the best lines i have heard in along time .
April 16, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I totally Love the song. Then is a perfect title. I don’t understand the negative comments. Brad Paisley is the best and I hope he continues to put songs out like this. I now have it as my ringtone. Keep em coming Brad.
April 18, 2009 at 3:50 pm
You are so wrong. The very reasons you hate the song are the reasons that it will be huge. I had goosebumps when I heard it. Did you give a thumbs down to “Amazed” by Lonestar?
May 8, 2009 at 12:39 pm
I used to be a staff writer in Nashville a million years ago (1989 – 1994) and although I have a hard time listening to country music anymore, I thought this song was lovely (except for the “river to the sea” line). I was waiting to see if there would be a pay-off in the bridge, and there was a great one – I couldn’t love you more, but I’ve said that before. Anyway, this stuff is hard to do, and so many artists get really lazy with thier hooks and get away with it because they can. I thought this hook was treated well, and is the best country song I’ve heard in awhile. I was looking for the songwriters – is it all Brad’s?
May 13, 2009 at 9:33 pm
you people are insane if you think this song is average. its the best song ive heard in quite some time. brad did a very good job with this one, it gave me goose bumps.
May 13, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I think it’s just an average song and I don’t care for it.
May 31, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Concerning some of Brad Paisley’s lyrics, i’ve lived all my life in a house about two miles from where brad paisley grew up, and let me tell you the guy grew up in a nice house in an affluent neighborhood. the mall is 35 miles away and there is no food court there where he fried chicken for ‘bob’, there is no ‘down by the lake’ where he could get ‘mud on the tires’ within a 50 mile radius of his house. In the song ‘famous people’ he says, ‘your the first car to come by in an hour or so’ even though he lived a hundred feet from a four lane road surrounded on each side by restaurants, gas stations, car dealerships, and any other sort of business you can think of, not to mention the the general hospital and triple a school right across the street where 2,000 students are enrolled. and believe me when i say that anybody under the age of 60 who says ‘ya’ll’ when speaking to a group of people is a person who will become the target of abuse in this county. the point i’m trying to make is this, while the man might entertain you and have a good singing voice to your ears, his entire background, the experiences he sings about in his songs are a work of complete fiction. I believe that if the musician has to make things up in order to appeal to a particular group, then he or she has no business writing that material in the first place. it’s especially true in country music, which is founded on the experiences of relying on oneself and facing the realities of a hard, character building lifestyle, something brad paisley knows nothing about…
May 31, 2009 at 10:26 pm
And you grew up two miles away, you say?
June 1, 2009 at 7:04 am
Tim,
I absolutely disagree with your notion that Brad Paisley is disqualified from singing convincing country music because he wasn’t poor or uneducated.
Vince Gill, my favorite artist and quite respected in the business, is the son of a judge and grew up playing golf. Similarly, Bucky Covington grew up in a less affluent environment and his music doesn’t move me in the least. Being poor or uneducated is not a prerequisite for the making of good country artists.
July 23, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I LOVE this song..this is me and my boyfriends song!!!
September 6, 2009 at 3:55 am
…definitely the chorus itself makes me cringe…coz it should be the language of a man for his wife when nowadays, divorce is very common…i think the song is romantic:)
September 10, 2009 at 4:42 pm
I think that the review of this song is harsh and over-analyzed. This song is one of the most beautiful love songs that I have heard, and if you use common sense, I’m sure that you can decipher that Brad is talking about his wife Kimberley. How does this song compare to his others? Maybe not as well or maybe it wasn’t what you were expecting, but if you take the song at face value, the way you should take things like this and other things in life, then it’s an amazing song with an incredible message behind with a great singer to go along with. Go Brad!
December 31, 2009 at 7:21 pm
I happen to love this song. My husband and I danced to it as our first song at our wedding. I especially like when he says “but I’ve said that before”. While it is reminiscent of some of his other songs like “It Did”, I think it’s a beautiful song, well written and well sung.
February 16, 2010 at 9:21 am
i love this song i give it 2 thumbs up. i just recently started talking to this guy that my partents didnt like at first. so him and i would talk but not let them know. well in this time period we had feels grow for each other and when my parents started to let us talk we realized how much we really liked each other. so this is a song that we liked and we listen to it all the time. one day we were at a hotel in the fitness room and this song came on and he looked at me and said baby this is our song.
March 4, 2010 at 8:53 pm
This song is awesome. I love it and it is so sweet. If you are in love with someone then this song is for you. This song really shows how much you can love someone.