Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 10, 2018 10:48:22 GMT -5
I can empathize with the daughter in "Concrete Angel" despite the fact that I have never been literally beaten to death by my parents... Then what do you get out of that song? I don't think anybody or especially you is supposed to care that the child is from Uganda. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the whole Uganda lyric is necessary to make the verse make sense, as Zaclord so eloquently explained. Sure, maybe the verse is sloppily put together and should have been rearranged so that the Uganda lyric didn't have to be a thing... Again, why is it even there? Would the song be any different if "Uganda" were taken out? The fact that he literally makes the song skip a beat to overemphasize that word makes it seem like he's just screaming "I GOT MY KID FROM UGANDA, BITCH!" Okay, so maybe I don't have to have experienced a song's context personally to "get" it. But the song is so restrictively personal that I don't see how anyone not named Thomas Rhett can relate to it. No one listening to this song is going to say "Wow, this song is totally relatable because I, too, have a wife with a verified Instagram!" But when they hear that line, what is their reaction gonna even be?
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Troublemaker
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Post by Troublemaker on May 10, 2018 10:59:19 GMT -5
I can empathize with the daughter in " Concrete Angel" despite the fact that I have never been literally beaten to death by my parents... Then what do you get out of that disaster of a song?
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Ten Pound Hammer
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I watched it all on my radio
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 10, 2018 12:06:07 GMT -5
Also, going back to an earlier point:
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.indulgecountry
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Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on May 10, 2018 12:13:05 GMT -5
Also, going back to an earlier point: My dream is for you to stop beating dead horses every single time you post, but it seems equally unattainable at this point.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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I watched it all on my radio
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 10, 2018 12:18:44 GMT -5
Okay, stripping it down, seriously.
What SHOULD my reaction be when I hear the Instagram or Uganda lines in this song? What should any listener's reaction be?
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Kanenrá:ke
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Post by Kanenrá:ke on May 10, 2018 12:28:58 GMT -5
Okay, stripping it down, seriously. What SHOULD my reaction be when I hear the Instagram or Uganda lines in this song? What should any listener's reaction be? Please stop, it's been explained multiple times why the lyrics are the way they are. Unless you can give me an example of how it should be written or literally anything at all to add to the discussion move on.
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.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on May 10, 2018 12:29:38 GMT -5
Okay, stripping it down, seriously. What SHOULD my reaction be when I hear the Instagram or Uganda lines in this song? What should any listener's reaction be? For you to turn off your computer and find something better to do with your time, because there's been nothing 'serious' about this discussion from your end. A half dozen people have tried to engage you in conversation over and over and over only to have you completely ignore anything anyone says in order to continue to regurgitate the same tired, stale, and inaccurate talking points back at them as you always do. In a few months down the line, you'll probably pop back into this thread and try to do the same thing again like you do with most things that bother you (which seems to be damn near everything). In my humble opinion, I think you should just drop this while you're behind and go out in the world and experience something -- anything -- so you can hopefully learn to appreciate and understand more music, and also to be able to have a discussion with other people where you actually try to sound interested in taking in someone's viewpoints that vary from your own. I have to applaud everyone who has attempted to educate you because they've got some mighty fine patience, but it's abundantly clear that it was all in vain. Please just move on.
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thewp
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Post by thewp on May 10, 2018 12:34:59 GMT -5
Why do y’all keep engaging him, though? Just ignore.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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I watched it all on my radio
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 10, 2018 12:46:32 GMT -5
I think there may be some deeper psychological hang up of mine at play here.
I've always been innately jealous of anyone better off than I am. To the point that merely TALKING about something new that you have that I don't always comes across to my ears as boasting. If someone tells me they have a new pair of shoes, all I hear is "I have new shoes and you don't! Ha ha ha! Loser!"
And that's just how my mind has always worked. I HAVE had a major positive life change recently -- I won on Wheel of Fortune -- but I don't tell people what I won unless they press me, because I don't want them to be consumed with envy. I have friends who were on the show who won more than I, and I am severely jealous of them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2018 13:31:05 GMT -5
Does your wife have a verified instagram account? What part of this song do you relate to?Again, why should I or anyone else care that the freaking kid is from Uganda? But why do you have to literally experience something to be able to relate to it? I can relate to and enjoy the love story in "Check Yes Or No" even though I didn't personally have a 3rd grade crush. I can relate to the character in "Dirty Girl" even though Terri Clark has never whispered "What you really need's a 3/16ths" in my ear. I can relate to the character in "I'm Alright" even though I have never literally stumbled across an old friend wearing a 3-piece suit and told him he'd better grab a chair and a couple of beers. I can relate to Sara Evans even though I am not schizophrenic. I can empathize with the daughter in "Concrete Angel" despite the fact that I have never been literally beaten to death by my parents... I don't think anybody or especially you is supposed to care that the child is from Uganda. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the whole Uganda lyric is necessary to make the verse make sense, as Zaclord so eloquently explained. Sure, maybe the verse is sloppily put together and should have been rearranged so that the Uganda lyric didn't have to be a thing, but tbh I don't think you are actually looking for any sort of proactive discussion here about ways to make the song better. Which can mean only one thing: Wig!!! Post of the year contender!! I need to hangout in the country forum more cause ya'll are entertaining.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2018 13:34:04 GMT -5
I HAVE had a major positive life change recently -- I won on Wheel of Fortune -- but I don't tell people what I won unless they press me, because I don't want them to be consumed with envy. I have friends who were on the show who won more than I, and I am severely jealous of them. If I were you, I'd tell you to stop boasting about winning that show. You could have left it at "major positive life change" and be done with it. But no, you felt the need to tell us, and that's to me, boasting.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on May 10, 2018 13:37:03 GMT -5
I think there may be some deeper psychological hang up of mine at play here. I've always been innately jealous of anyone better off than I am. To the point that merely TALKING about something new that you have that I don't always comes across to my ears as boasting. If someone tells me they have a new pair of shoes, all I hear is "I have new shoes and you don't! Ha ha ha! Loser!" And that's just how my mind has always worked. I HAVE had a major positive life change recently -- I won on Wheel of Fortune -- but I don't tell people what I won unless they press me, because I don't want them to be consumed with envy. I have friends who were on the show who won more than I, and I am severely jealous of them. That's interesting, because I could have sworn you just casually dropped the hint that you won a Mazda in Wheel of Fortune on the previous page, and we definitely were not pressing you to tell us... I guess it must have just been a humblebrag though, because it is something you have accomplished that most people have not.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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I watched it all on my radio
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 10, 2018 13:39:23 GMT -5
I HAVE had a major positive life change recently -- I won on Wheel of Fortune -- but I don't tell people what I won unless they press me, because I don't want them to be consumed with envy. I have friends who were on the show who won more than I, and I am severely jealous of them. If I were you, I'd tell you to stop boasting about winning that show. You could have left it at "major positive life change" and be done with it. But no, you felt the need to tell us, and that's to me, boasting. And see, I knew you were going to turn that around on me. I KNOW that "You're rubbing it in my face just by saying it happened" is not a proper reaction to someone merely SAYING something positive or new happened to them. But it's the only reaction I ever seem to have to such a thing, and I don't know how to get myself to provide any other reaction. And I think that's what's so negatively coloring my interpretation of this song. I now at least get that the song isn't TRYING to be boasting about being a celebrity. But that's just the only way I can find to interpret it. But just like anything else, I can't get out of my own way and just enjoy it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2018 13:53:18 GMT -5
Okay, stripping it down, seriously. What SHOULD my reaction be when I hear the Instagram or Uganda lines in this song? What should any listener's reaction be? For you to turn off your computer and find something better to do with your time, because there's been nothing 'serious' about this discussion from your end. A half dozen people have tried to engage you in conversation over and over and over only to have you completely ignore anything anyone says in order to continue to regurgitate the same tired, stale, and inaccurate talking points back at them as you always do. In a few months down the line, you'll probably pop back into this thread and try to do the same thing again like you do with most things that bother you (which seems to be damn near everything). In my humble opinion, I think you should just drop this while you're behind and go out in the world and experience something -- anything -- so you can hopefully learn to appreciate and understand more music, and also to be able to have a discussion with other people where you actually try to sound interested in taking in someone's viewpoints that vary from your own. I have to applaud everyone who has attempted to educate you because they've got some mighty fine patience, but it's abundantly clear that it was all in vain. Please just move on. K 2nd post of the year contender this is SCATHING and beautiful god damn
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tryexp
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Post by tryexp on May 10, 2018 14:08:29 GMT -5
Turning the discussion back to the song and it's merits or lack thereof...I actually really like this one, I think the verses are just there to highlight the odd/funny ironies of life, and build it up for the chorus and the idea that you make plans and life changes everything but things turn out a lot better than you imagined. I also think it comes out less about bragging and more about "look at how wonderful everything turned out- I could never imagined it". That being said, I find very little 'country' about this song, but that's a moot point these days.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 10, 2018 14:20:50 GMT -5
Wow. I really am sorry for making such a mess of this thread.
I have an absurdly strong vice of jealousy, and when it gets a hold of me, it will not let go. It just completely consumed me and made me go way off the rails on this song.
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Post by Naos on May 10, 2018 14:52:48 GMT -5
Turning the discussion back to the song and it's merits or lack thereof...I actually really like this one, I think the verses are just there to highlight the odd/funny ironies of life, and build it up for the chorus and the idea that you make plans and life changes everything but things turn out a lot better than you imagined. I also think it comes out less about bragging and more about "look at how wonderful everything turned out- I could never imagined it". That being said, I find very little 'country' about this song, but that's a moot point these days. I'd say it's still a pop country song. I cannot see this touching CHR at all.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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I watched it all on my radio
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 11, 2018 1:43:32 GMT -5
Okay, I gave it one more listen and...
...you know what, you're right. As I said, I was so consumed by envy that I let it competely pollute my opinion of the song. Envy is by far my biggest deadly sin, and if the slightest bit of it shows up, all I can do is keep pumping up that envy until it blocks out everything else. My first impression was "boasting about cool things that I can do simply because I'm famous", which is one of my least favorite tropes ever. And that set me off on this fiery tangent that took up nearly half this thread so far, because that's just how strongly envy and jealousy rile me up. Because that was all I could see. And that was all I wanted to see.
But now that I've managed to clear that out of my head and take the song at face value, I finally "get it". He obviously didn't set out to be one of the biggest country stars of this decade, regardless of his heritage. He really did know his wife since first grade. I would bet he didn't expect "Die a Happy Man" to blow up the way it did. I would bet that not even married celebrities expect their spouses to have separate fanbases and verified Instagram accounts unless that spouse is a celebrity in their own right. I would bet that he did not expect Lauren to get pregnant so quickly after they adopted. Now that I have the anger and envy cleared out of my head, I can see that those are some pretty damn cool details. I no longer feel like he's being cocky or rubbing it in the listener's face.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2018 13:04:53 GMT -5
Okay, I gave it one more listen and... ...you know what, you're right. As I said, I was so consumed by envy that I let it competely pollute my opinion of the song. Envy is by far my biggest deadly sin, and if the slightest bit of it shows up, all I can do is keep pumping up that envy until it blocks out everything else. My first impression was "boasting about cool things that I can do simply because I'm famous", which is one of my least favorite tropes ever. And that set me off on this fiery tangent that took up nearly half this thread so far, because that's just how strongly envy and jealousy rile me up. Because that was all I could see. And that was all I wanted to see. But now that I've managed to clear that out of my head and take the song at face value, I finally "get it". He obviously didn't set out to be one of the biggest country stars of this decade, regardless of his heritage. He really did know his wife since first grade. I would bet he didn't expect "Die a Happy Man" to blow up the way it did. I would bet that not even married celebrities expect their spouses to have separate fanbases and verified Instagram accounts unless that spouse is a celebrity in their own right. I would bet that he did not expect Lauren to get pregnant so quickly after they adopted. Now that I have the anger and envy cleared out of my head, I can see that those are some pretty damn cool details. I no longer feel like he's being cocky or rubbing it in the listener's face. There is some saying (and I don't know if it's a spanish only saying or worldwide) and it goes: It's of wise people to change their minds. :)
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shrk314
New Member
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Post by shrk314 on May 11, 2018 19:25:51 GMT -5
Okay, I gave it one more listen and... ...you know what, you're right. As I said, I was so consumed by envy that I let it competely pollute my opinion of the song. Envy is by far my biggest deadly sin, and if the slightest bit of it shows up, all I can do is keep pumping up that envy until it blocks out everything else. My first impression was "boasting about cool things that I can do simply because I'm famous", which is one of my least favorite tropes ever. And that set me off on this fiery tangent that took up nearly half this thread so far, because that's just how strongly envy and jealousy rile me up. Because that was all I could see. And that was all I wanted to see. But now that I've managed to clear that out of my head and take the song at face value, I finally "get it". He obviously didn't set out to be one of the biggest country stars of this decade, regardless of his heritage. He really did know his wife since first grade. I would bet he didn't expect "Die a Happy Man" to blow up the way it did. I would bet that not even married celebrities expect their spouses to have separate fanbases and verified Instagram accounts unless that spouse is a celebrity in their own right. I would bet that he did not expect Lauren to get pregnant so quickly after they adopted. Now that I have the anger and envy cleared out of my head, I can see that those are some pretty damn cool details. I no longer feel like he's being cocky or rubbing it in the listener's face. The internet could learn a few lessons from your humility!
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Post by Naos on May 13, 2018 20:42:49 GMT -5
Top 100 on iTunes at #80.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2018 21:23:10 GMT -5
To me, this particular song sounds poppy enough to at least consider a crossover with pop. Sure, this kind of pop isn't played in top 40 stations, but it would be cool if this became a multi format hit.
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jdbowman
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Post by jdbowman on May 14, 2018 15:26:16 GMT -5
Been awhile since I chimed in on this thread, but boy has it turned into something special.
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Post by Naos on May 15, 2018 19:32:39 GMT -5
Country Airplay: #25 (+2) Country Songs: #28 (=)
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Post by Naos on May 22, 2018 16:14:13 GMT -5
Country Airplay: #23 (+2) Country Songs: #26 (+2)
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phil1996
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Post by phil1996 on May 22, 2018 16:59:55 GMT -5
I really enjoy this song. I can relate to it because it’s such a true song. Life changes constantly. No I didn’t have a smash hit or 10,000 likes on Instagram, but life changes dramatically quite often for lots worldwide, myself included.
The plans I had a year ago aren’t close to the ones I have today. The person I was 5 years ago isn’t remotely close to who I am today. Life changed. I don’t see what caused such a problem earlier in this thread, lol. A really strong lyric from TR, I expect it to be massive.
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avalyn
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Post by avalyn on May 23, 2018 12:23:54 GMT -5
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on May 24, 2018 15:36:56 GMT -5
So, I heard this song on the radio today... and it sounded like the following line(s?) from the album version: A bigger wrench got thrown in the plans we thought we'd had Now Lauren's showin' and got one on the way Yeah that's two into two, hey, what can I say? was changed in the version that was played on the radio. I couldn't quite tell what it was. Was this just me that thought I heard something when it didn't happen / this specific radio station, or are these lyrics actually changed for radio? "Now there's Willa and sweet Ada James" is the edit. It's likely because Lauren gave birth to Ada James, so it can be more reflective on Thomas's life now rather than when he was making the album. I believe the original line is "two under two"; i.e., two kids under years old.
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Post by Naos on May 30, 2018 1:50:29 GMT -5
Bubbling Under Hot 100: #24 (re-entry) Country Airplay: #22 (+1) Country Songs: #22 (+4)
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Post by Naos on Jun 5, 2018 16:53:35 GMT -5
Bubbling Under Hot 100: #25 (-1) Country Airplay: #20 (+2) Country Songs: #20 (+2)
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