Randy Houser - "Cancel"

[recordyear]

Artist: Randy Houser
Single: Cancel
Album: TBA
Label: Magnolia
Impact Date: 2nd October, 2023
Writers: Randy Houser

To be released this Friday. Already have 15 total historic adds this week.

[matty005]

Pass.

[rowdawg21]

There's a quote from him on Play MPE on why he wrote this song: "I think we live in a world today where divide and conquer is the theme, and I think it’s important to keep some of the values of the American family together and not let that be torn apart. It’s also about respecting each other's opinions about the way they want to live their lives and not cancel people because of what they believe and what’s important to them. That’s why I wrote this song. I hope it hits you like it does me in this crazy world we live in"

Personally, I don't feel like the lyrics achieve what he was going for...

[phil1996]

RIP to the absolutely beautiful “Still That Cowboy”

[CoJoFan]

Sept 26, 2023 14:24:23 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

RIP to the absolutely beautiful “Still That Cowboy”

Should’ve been a single!

[CoJoFan]

Sept 26, 2023 14:24:23 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

RIP to the absolutely beautiful “Still That Cowboy”

Should’ve been a single!

[countryfan43]

I enjoy this a decent amount and can’t wait for the studio version. This should do really well with that many early adds so hoping for 40 or more on impact.

[ethanhunt]

yikes lmao

[recordyear]

[phil1996]

Randy’s one of the few mainstream artists I’m interested in anymore but this seems like an attention seeking rehash of a few of his other, better tracks from over the years.

He sounds great, but the song itself just kinda falls flat for me. Hard to see it doing much

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Yikes, one of the worst radio singles I heard in years. The melody and vocal both sound horrendous. Wish he released something else from the album, instead of this garbage.

[matty005]

His best shot at this being a hit is filming the video at some controversial site so CMT can pull the video and he can get the Aldean MAGA folks to pretend they love this song. This song is awful in every way.

It's also so transparent what he is trying to do. Pathetic.

[Kanenrá:ke]

It truly is very transparent what he’s going for. No way was this from the heart, it reads very much so as chasing $$

I don’t find it sounds bad though, he’s always sounded like this. Just pandering is the issue here.

[bboat11]

The message is a good one, if you take it completely at face value and don't think about it at all. Like raising your kids with strong family values, teaching them that they aren't any better than any one else, they should be thankful for what they have been blessed with, etc. is objectively a good thing! As is you and your spouse holding each other tighter as you navigate hard times.

But my problem with songs like this one is the blatant attempt to "otherize" people who think differently from the narrator. Like, "right is right, and God is the answer" has got to be THE most self-righteous and tone-deaf way that you could possibly have gotten this point across... And because of lines like that, statements like "The Devil's on the move working out a plan" start to feel a bit more...suspicious. Like, at this point Randy COULD be lamenting all the genuine hatred and bigotry that is making this world a scary place to live these days. Oooooor he could be flirting with the people who think that God not being worshiped in public school is the #1 problem in our country these days, or think that the death penalty should be handed out for kneeling for the national anthem

That is a potentially WIDE swath of people that this song might appeal to.....and the ones who miss the wholesome parts of the message and bend it in support of their crazy narratives are the ones who are going to get the most mileage out of it 😬

[SabrinaFan]

I think what bothers me most about songs like this is that many of the lyrics are vague in a way that feels very calculated. He and the other artists who do this know it's going to appeal to the narrative-bending folks, and are intentionally padding it with a bunch of vaguely positive messages to make it seem like "common sense," so they can more subtly plant the seeds of their "us vs. them" narratives. It doesn't escape me that he preaches that nobody is better than anybody else, yet the lyrics seem to blatantly other anybody who doesn't share his religious beliefs, so apparently he can't take his own advice lol.

[LBTrocks]

I actually like the song, musically speaking. His voice sounds awful, but it always has to me.

[recordyear]

10 adds and 25 total historic adds this week.

[countryfan43]

After all those early stations I thought it would do better but I do consider this a weaker song by him right now so I guess it’s not too surprising it didn’t do well. I really enjoy most of his music so I hope to see this do well enough to give him another radio single.

[.indulgecountry]

This is absolutely awful and honestly worse than I expected based off the title alone. Will be disappointing if he's able to somehow get some traction for this like his last single randomly did despite his radio career being dead.

[raylatch98]

Debuts at #60 on Billboard Country Airplay this week.

[countryfan43]

I doubt this does much more than this but I love this song so I’m hopeful it can at least stay on the chart a little while.

[countryfan43]

This re-enters at 60 on airplay this week. I doubt it does much more than scrape the top 50 at best but hopefully it can gain some traction.

[countryfan43]

And after a long time of not charting it appears this is done as it’s spin leaders are disappearing quickly. I loved this song I think it should have been at least another top 30 like “Note To Self” was. Even if he can’t succeed at radio I’m glad he put the bro-country behind him and started releasing great sounding well written music.

[.indulgecountry]

Glad this flopped -- was a bit worried it might do some damage after radio randomly let "Note to Self" get into the top 30 after years of diminishing returns for Randy. He's had some good ones over the years, but "Cancel" was just a truly awful, whiny song.