Reinforcing My Love For Country: "Annie, I Owe You A Dance" by Tim McGraw

This guy just keeps getting better.  Tim McGraw is having a major comeback and I LOVE IT.  His latest CD, Two Lanes of Freedom, is one of the best country albums I’ve heard in a while, but I’ll admit that I was apprehensive about it at first.  To be completely honest, I died a little bit inside when I heard “Truck Yeah” for the first time.  Now, it’s grown on me a bit since then, but my first listen was not pretty.  Snippets of some of Tim’s earlier and incredible songs (i.e. “The Cowboy In Me”, “Drugs or Jesus”, “I’ve Got Friends That Do”) kept playing over and over in my head as I heard "Truck Yeah" and a horrible feeling of dread came over me as I tried to accept that the old Tim we all know and love might forever be a thing of the past. 

Then he released “One of Those Nights” and an old forgotten feeling of hope started to creep up inside of me.  Yet, I still didn’t let myself believe that Tim’s new stuff could rival his past hits.  

But then something glorious happened.  

Tim released Two Lanes of Freedom and busted back into the New Country scene with vengeance.  I’m telling ya, this CD is rockin’.  Between the beautiful ballads, a collaboration with Taylor Swift AND Keith Urban, fantastic story telling, and just some fun, roll-down-your-windows-and-jam songs, Tim has totally stepped up his game.  And it’s awesome.    

 One of my favorite songs from this album is “Annie I Owe You A Dance”.  If I ever forget why I love country music, I’ll just listen to this song and be reminded of how unique and honest the genre is.  It starts off with just Tim and a piano, which is sort of rare for a country song and tells a really cute story that may not make you cry, but will probably garner some sort of sad smile by the time he says, “Annie, thanks for the dance”.  It’s definitely bitter sweet but in the best possible way.

 Thank you for this beautiful piece of art, Tim.