zjames
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Post by zjames on Aug 10, 2015 14:44:36 GMT -5
Artist: Michael Ray Single: "Real Men Love Jesus" Writers: Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Lance Miller, Adam Sanders Album: Michael RayLabel: Warner Bros. Nashville Add Date: September 14, 2015 Source: R&R Going For Adds
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Post by defying gravity on Aug 10, 2015 14:49:51 GMT -5
Is this the male version of "God Made Girls"? It's much better than "Kiss You In the Morning" though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 15:25:41 GMT -5
Wow, it still absolutely amazes me that they released "Kiss You in the Morning." I guess it was good to get his name out there, but he has stuff that's miles better.
This is one of those songs. Talk about throwback 90s country.
I hope nobody was fooled by his lackluster debut. This song is the real deal folks.
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Markus Meyer
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Post by Markus Meyer on Aug 10, 2015 16:04:49 GMT -5
Not feeling this.. Sounds good, he sounds good, but the lyrics are basically, as others have said, the male version of "God Made Girls".
Think it'll do pretty well though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 16:22:01 GMT -5
Maybe I am just thickheaded or just so overwhelmed that we're actually getting an underproduced country song with a slide guitar in 2015, but I just don't see the similarities in the lyrics.
RaeLynn was giving all the reasons that God made girls and everything that girls are able to do to help guys. Here, I see this as Michael talking about characteristics of real men. Everything "real" manly men do. He caps it off with "real men love Jesus." Which to me, is kind of the opposite relationship as RaeLynn's.
Writers are Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Lance Miller, Adam Sanders
Also worth noting that apparently Thomas Rhett was interested in this song. I'm guessing if both guys wanted it, Rhett would have gotten it so clearly he passed. (I assume he then proceeded to call Lunch Money Lewis).
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Post by winstonmurdock on Aug 10, 2015 16:27:11 GMT -5
Pretty certain Adam Sanders, Brett Warren, and Brad Warren are the writers on this. In fact, Adam's demo of the song is OUTSTANDING. I was hoping that it would be his next release, but at least Ray is releasing it as a single. Great song in my opinion.
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carriekins
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Post by carriekins on Aug 10, 2015 16:28:47 GMT -5
I heart Adam Sanders, so I will be forced to give this song a listen - because Michael Ray does nothing for me as an artist.
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sixofone
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Post by sixofone on Aug 10, 2015 16:37:24 GMT -5
Maybe I am just thickheaded or just so overwhelmed that we're actually getting an underproduced country song with a slide guitar in 2015, but I just don't see the similarities in the lyrics. RaeLynn was giving all the reasons that God made girls and everything that girls are able to do to help guys. Here, I see this as Michael talking about characteristics of real men. Everything "real" manly men do. He caps it off with "real men love Jesus." Which to me, is kind of the opposite relationship as RaeLynn's. Writers are Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Lance Miller, Adam Sanders Also worth noting that apparently Thomas Rhett was interested in this song. I'm guessing if both guys wanted it, Rhett would have gotten it so clearly he passed. (I assume he then proceeded to call Lunch Money Lewis). I don't see the similarities between this song and "God Made Girls" either. This is a great song, vastly superior to "Kiss You In The Morning" (and as cliché as it might sound, my first thought was, "Wow, this sounds like a real country song"). Hope this does well.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Aug 10, 2015 16:58:14 GMT -5
I heart Adam Sanders, so I will be forced to give this song a listen - because Michael Ray does nothing for me as an artist. Adam heard your disappointment with him co-writing "Hell Of A Night", so he wanted to make amends. :)
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Markus Meyer
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Post by Markus Meyer on Aug 10, 2015 17:20:24 GMT -5
I guess I see similarities in that both songs are enforcing gender roles, as if each gender is only authentic if they do what's depicted in the lyrics.
"God Made Girls" is clearly a worse offender, but I still can't behind the premise of this song that you're only a supposed "real man" if you like football, fast cars, cold beer, etc.
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carriekins
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Post by carriekins on Aug 10, 2015 17:26:18 GMT -5
I guess I see similarities in that both songs are enforcing gender roles, as if each gender is only authentic if they do what's depicted in the lyrics. "God Made Girls" is clearly a worse offender, but I still can't behind the premise of this song that you're only a supposed "real man" if you like football, fast cars, cold beer, etc. I tend to agree with this, because my husband likes none of those and he, frankly, runs circles around most "real men" as depicted in the song.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Aug 10, 2015 17:37:18 GMT -5
First of all, almost anything would have been better than "Kiss You In The Morning" and this one actually is quite pleasing in production and instrumentation, and for that I'm grateful.
I like most of the lyrics, except the first verse. The stereotypical cliches are just as such in tasteful sounding songs like this as they are in some of the others songs that have dominated country radio lately. Obviously, you can be a "real man" if you don't like fishing, fast cars and football -- I wish the Warren Brothers, Lance Miller and Adam Sanders didn't start the song off with those topics. However, the song's lyrics improve dramatically after that. You get some more throwaway lyrics like "loving cold beer" but the calling home every chance you get and not leaving a girl hanging when the going gets tough is something that is more from the heart than fishing or watching a football game, and I think think the song would have been stellar if it strictly involved those topics. I do think the songwriters intentions were good though.
I will say that even though I have no problem with the title myself, I do know some don't "love Jesus" and using his name in the title of a song sent to radio can be risky sometimes. I can't exactly say how good this one will do since its a complete 180 from his debut single, that was significantly aided by the "On The Verge" program. I think "Kiss You In The Morning" had the makings to do well enough on radio based off the positive feedback from his radio tour but we'll never know and because of "OTV" it's hard to forecast this song's peak. I guess I'll say a solid top 20 peak.
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Kentucky25
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Post by Kentucky25 on Aug 10, 2015 19:58:05 GMT -5
I think this is a pretty darn good song, sure I'm one of those guys that does like a lot (not all) things that he mentions in the song, but I think it's a pretty universal theme for a lot of males my age living in the South and should do well. I never take these songs as things that are clearly defining gender roles or types, it's just the songwriter's writing about what they have grown up with and feel. I most certainly don't think this is the male version of "God Made Girls" which was more annoying sonically than lyrically to me.
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robenglund
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Post by robenglund on Aug 10, 2015 21:31:54 GMT -5
I was kind of hoping and thought the next single would be "Another Girl" because that was the first track off the new album available besides "Kiss You In Morning". "Another Girl" seriously rocks, I love the guitars and banjo in it, and fits perfectly into 2015 country radio but I guess that song is similar themed to "Kiss You In The Morning" so it's probably a good idea they didn't go with that.
As for this song, great choice. Definitely a game changer and obviously much different than "Kiss You In The Morning". The production is very country. Hope it does well for him.
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wilbur
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Post by wilbur on Aug 10, 2015 21:59:58 GMT -5
Another home run for the Warren brothers/Sanders/miller. Def my favorite off the album along with"think a little less" and "wish I was here". Don't judge him by his fluff debut single but this guy is great and gonna be huge.
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codyj100
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Post by codyj100 on Aug 10, 2015 22:03:17 GMT -5
I really like this one. It's ten times better than, "Kiss You In The Morning" which totally skewed me from buying the album. However, "Real Men Love Jesus" is so good. I can see where some of the lyrical comparisons to "God Made Girls" comes from. His voice, especially on RMLJ gives me Jason Michael Carroll vibes. I've always like Jason, so hopefully Michael can be a little more laid back with his label and not so 'hard to work with,' if you will. Isn't that the reason, JMC got dropped from Arista after his sophomore album? Anyway, good song.
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matty005
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Post by matty005 on Aug 10, 2015 22:04:54 GMT -5
He's 0-2 for me. I don't like the lyrics at all. Like carriekins said, there are plenty of ways to be a real man. You don't have to love sports, or beer or Jesus to be it. This is an instant station changer for me.
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LBTrocks
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Post by LBTrocks on Aug 10, 2015 23:03:36 GMT -5
Yes! Love this song! Such a great country melody. Glad they're going with it as a single! Nice change of pace from "Kiss You In The Morning." I really, really want this to do well for him.
I guess I get where a slight comparison to "God Made Girls" can possibly made, but I have to say I still think it is a fairly weak one and I personally would have never made a connection between the two. And I still definitely would not call this the "male version" of that song. Also, in terms of vocals, the two are miles apart for me. I love Michael's voice. Whereas RaeLynn, for me, has one of the worst voices I have ever heard in my life.
I definitely don't agree with all the lyrics. "Real men" don't have to love football, fast cars, women, or any of the other things the song mentions. I do like that a part of the song's meaning is about loving Jesus, but I also understand that the 'real men love Jesus' line could easily alienate and offend listeners who are not Christians. Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see how this ends up performing. I think it's really hard to predict how this one will do. I'm hoping at least top 20.
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kw9461
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Post by kw9461 on Aug 10, 2015 23:37:31 GMT -5
I want so badly to like this that I'm going to give it time to grow on me. The melody is just terrific and after sounding like white bread on his debut, his voice sounds well suited to this song. But that hook makes me cringe each time I hear it. I can handle all the cliches like fishing and football, and the chorus is otherwise pretty strong, but it's all undone with that hook.
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baltized
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Post by baltized on Aug 11, 2015 0:57:45 GMT -5
It's decent. It's not "groundbreaking" or anything like that, but I can appreciate the production and how it isn't EDM or hip hop influenced. I love that country isn't afraid of being politically correct as far as religion.
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rjz
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Post by rjz on Aug 11, 2015 6:39:38 GMT -5
I really like this, even though the lyrics taken at face value are very cliche. Too bad; it could have been a great song with a little more thought put into the lyrics instead of the same old stereotypes.
Premise of the song is similar to God Loves Girls.....and my husband would roll his eyes since he must not be a 'real man' ;)
But I still enjoy it-beautiful melody,lovely vocals, actually country; and time will tell whether it is polarizing.
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carrieidol1
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Post by carrieidol1 on Aug 11, 2015 7:22:52 GMT -5
God dayum he's hot.
Not my favorite, but it's refreshing to hear a bit of a departure from "bro-country". Still talks about beer and girls, but at least there's more to this song than just that!
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Dustin J.
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Post by Dustin J. on Aug 11, 2015 10:19:29 GMT -5
I'm pleasantly surprised to see this being released as the follow-up. Great choice...probably my favorite from the album.
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Post by 43dudleyvillas on Aug 11, 2015 10:57:18 GMT -5
Well, on the bright side, Michael Ray's performance here suggests that he can actually sing and deliver a song.
As for the song, there are non-exclusionary ways to celebrate or promote one's values, and that's where "Real Men Love Jesus" fails. Dierks Bentley's "Riser" is a show of the same values as this song: determination, vulnerability, faith, and steadfastness, but "Riser" does it with some self-awareness and, perhaps more importantly, without the implied negative judgment of others. Ultimately, "Real Men Love Jesus" reads as a pandering attempt to align oneself with the masculine values and images typically associated with the country market. Michael Ray, to his credit, nearly redeems it with his performance. But for more compelling testimony from him, I would recommend "23rd Psalm" (written by Joe Doyle & Jeff Hurst).
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Uncle Lumpy
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on Aug 11, 2015 13:26:44 GMT -5
I listened and its not really my thing but I have to say I completely prejudged it before I even listened. Everytime I see "Real Men Love Jesus" bumper stickers I have to give a massive eye roll and groan.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2015 14:56:55 GMT -5
Doesn't sound bad instrumentation wise, but seriously can we quit with the stupid, cliche, checklisty lyrics? This isn't something I'd listen to on my own, but its better than "Kiss You In The Morning"......not that that was hard to accomplish.....
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Aug 11, 2015 15:50:30 GMT -5
Absolutely love this. I disagree with those that think this is lyrically different than "God Made Girls," because I feel like this song is definitely the same kind of concept, but I'm one of the few who absolutely love RaeLynn's song, so it's not surprising to me that I also love this. I'm totally in love with the melody, production, and his vocal performance here though. I never detested "Kiss You in the Morning" and I actually kind of like it and it's grown on me, but this is just infinitely better. I need to check out the rest of the album. <3
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Post by Daryl the Beryl on Aug 15, 2015 9:37:21 GMT -5
He's 0-2 for me. I don't like the lyrics at all. Like carriekins said, there are plenty of ways to be a real man. You don't have to love sports, or beer or Jesus to be it. This is an instant station changer for me. Really? I'd thought this would be right up your alley, considering you're one of those who likes the current trent of country pop now.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Aug 15, 2015 11:15:24 GMT -5
He's 0-2 for me. I don't like the lyrics at all. Like carriekins said, there are plenty of ways to be a real man. You don't have to love sports, or beer or Jesus to be it. This is an instant station changer for me. Really? I'd thought this would be right up your alley, considering you're one of those who likes the current trent of country pop now. First of all, this song isn't "country pop" and Matt has expressed before that he isn't religious, so the title could certainly be off-putting to someone that isn't. I know you mean well with good intentions but typecasting posters into what they will or won't like isn't something that I think is at all necessary, especially here. Matt can have his opinions just like you or I.
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jesster
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Post by jesster on Aug 15, 2015 11:34:57 GMT -5
I didn't have any problem with God Made Girls, and I don't have a problem with this. Someone can sing about a particular set of ideas or things without that meaning that they are trying to force everyone else into the same model.
The lyrics are hardly revolutionary for country music, and there should be a place in country music for traditional views/topics. (If not here, where?)
I don't know anything about Michael. If it's the case that he "isn't religious" that does raise a question for me. Why would you want to record something like this in that event, much less put it out for a single.
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