Carrie Underwood - "Blown Away"

[Marv]

For me at least, judging a song's merits and/or quality on whether or not it hit #1 or even the top ten can sometimes be just as ludicrous as judging the quality of a movie on the basis of its box office grosses.

Whoever coined the phrase 'Cream always rises to the top' was nuts.

This is unquestionably among Carrie's very best singles to date, and the lyrics are eceptionally thought-provoking when you consider some of the stuff that passes for country music these days.

This certainly isn't a pure country tune by any means, but so what?

[Deleted]

Yeah, I don't think you can really judge the song's on quality. Everybody has their favorites. And Lee's song has been doing very well, and selling very well. For a guy who's only had two top 3 hits, he's already sold more than 600,000 downloads of "Hard To Love" and is well on his way to Platinum status. I happen to think it's one of the best songs out there right now, as well.

But it all just goes to show you that, with the way the industry and the charts are now, weeks at #1 aren't the best measure of success anymore. Everybody likes to get to #1, but since so many artists have become capable of doing so, it doesn't make a lot of sense for the labels to push really hard for a 2nd, 3rd, nth week at #1, if you follow. They go through a lot of resources doing so.

In regards to old songs on the chart, it just seems to me that there are so many artists radio is letting break through (not saying there aren't plenty who don't make it), and it gets very competitive because no one is really not getting played anymore. But moreover, the bigger reason for slow charts, aside from "Nashville chieftains" and radio people endorsing the way of things, is that the industry is changing and is more reflected by singles and not albums. Sure, country albums still sell pretty well, and some, such as Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party and Luke Bryan's tailgates & tanlines, can sell really well. But you look at the new artists, such as Gloriana or Love & Theft, and they can't even crack the 20-30k range in opening album sales anymore. So it makes sense that their respective labels are gonna ride that 'breakthrough' or momentum single for all its worth...hence why both "(Kissed You) Good Night" and "Angel Eyes" had long chart runs to the top. That does more for album sales (and also single sales) than peaking at #10 would, so the label sticks with it. Both of those songs were bigger for those artists than any hit they had off their debut album, yet their sophomore releases still opened with quite a bit less.

The same can be said for Jana Kramer. Her label, Elektra, has been pushing since January...they've put in all that work and the song, as a single, is selling well, but her whole album didn't really sell that well when it came out (not poorly, just not great). So the more exposure they can get for that true 'breakthrough' hit, the better. That's likely the mindset of the labels, and if you think about it from their perspective, it makes sense.

But I really can't get behind the idea that Carrie's song deserves more weeks at #1 than Lee's does, because Carrie's is better. I like both songs a lot. But really, "deserves"? Nothing deserves anything. I wanted the Zac Brown Band's "The Wind" to hit #1, but it didn't. I think Keith Urban's "For You" is one of the best songs of the year, and it peaked at #6. Those songs couldn't climb to the top, for various reasons, whether it was a lack of connect with the listeners, or things going on with the labels, or low sales, etc. They didn't climb their way to #1--didn't earn it--so they didn't deserve it. But any song that can climb to #1 deserves it, right? My point is, quality is subjective so you can't base the airplay charts off that.

The charts are definitely far from perfect, but nothing is perfect. The bigger labels tend to do better with their artists, while the smaller labels continue to fight to gain momentum and establish themselves. I think that country radio could learn to pay more attention to listener feedback, especially at the local level, and not program their playlists based on the national charts. Or basically, you could say that they should program their playlists individually, and not pay attention to what everyone else is doing. I think sales (single and album) should play a factor as well, because obviously sales show another way that a song or songs are connecting with the public. But a lot of the corporate radio programming, such as Clear Channel's artist integration program (hourly spins upon release) or Clear Channel's block adding practice, really need to go.

[joey2002]

Oct 1, 2012 0:08:02 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Nothing deserves anything.

Truer words have never been spoken!

[bluedog6]

FWIW, I feel just a little vindicated about my earlier comment that in that one section where Carrie's voice sounds distorted to my ears and that it makes her sound like Britney Spears (did I get the spelling right that time? LOL). I was at a concert this past weekend and I was talking with someone about current singles on the radio. We were mostly talking about Taylor Swift when the person I was talking to blurted out "And what's with that Carrie Underwood song 'Blown Away'. They make her sound like Britney Spears." I about fell off my chair!!! I might be in the minority, but I am not the only one who has had this thought.

And as a reminder, I actually really really like this song, it's just the production that makes me cringe every time I hear it. Fortunately, at least in my car, the station can be changed easily.

[renee75]

Sept 30, 2012 22:29:43 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

If Blown Away, one of the strongest releases by a Country artist in 2012, is edged out to one week at the top by Lee freaking Brice (can't stand him personally), I'll be really pissed. A song as good flawless as this one deserves to receive, at least, 2 weeks atop. Not only that, but it's probably the best single release of Carrie's since she last spent more than one week at #1 (Just A Dream - 2008).

Either Lee can step back for an extra damn week, or Arista can push like hell to make sure that Carrie maintains the top spot through the two full CMA weeks that the song should be peaking during or near. I won't be happy with one week, especially if Lee kicks Carrie out of a very deserving second (and third, and fourth, etc.)

Well, you should just tell Lee that you hate his guts and he needs to get out of Carrie's way, and I'm sure he'd be happy to oblige. Seriously, with the charts as crazy as they are, I think anyone who gets a #1 for even one week should be ecstatic!

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2012 10:06:51 GMT -5 renee75 said:

I think anyone who gets a #1 for even one week should be ecstatic!

Eh. With the way the charts are now, radio is practically sending out invitations to all of its big names as if it's an already-earned prize on a game show.

How many different #1s has Country radio had this year so far? Usually, it'd be more of a distinctive honor and of larger excitement if there were much fewer #1s than Country's had this past year. It's not exciting anymore knowing that even Blake's dullest will always get 2 weeks, Jason's singles (many of which sound the exact same) will never falter until it hits #1, Kenny Chesney will always get to #1 within 8-12 weeks, and new artists will barely ever crack the Top 20. How is that supposed to be exciting or anything worth getting ecstatic over anymore?

[onebuffalo]

^29 #1s if you include the holdover of the Zac Brown Band's Keep Me In Mind. I believe Carrie Underwood will be stuck at #4 for a second week.

[Marv]

As I've stated before, arguably the biggest culprit today is the fact that too many Pds program their stations according to the national charts, which has never made any sense; 'Don't Miss Your Life', one of my five favorite country tunes of 2012, spent four weeks at #1 with 45+ spins at San Diego's legendary KSON, but that's sadly the exception instead of the rule--programming what works for your listenership instead of by using national charts.

I really didn't have a problem with Steve Holy & Cyndi Thomson respectively, taking 26 and 27 weeks to reach #1 back in 2001 & 2002 with two of the very best singles of the past dozen years or so, but 41 weeks for Tracy Lawrence's masterpiece in 2007 was way over the top IMHO, and those slow and tortorous crawls up the charts have only soared in frequency since then.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2012 16:43:52 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

Kenny Chesney will always get to #1 within 8-12 weeks

That's a little fast, even for Chesney. We've only had 2 songs in the last 3 years hit #1 in 10 weeks--Blake's "Honey Bee" and Jason's "Take A Little Ride". Nothing has made it any quicker than that. Chesney has made it in 11 weeks with "The Boys Of Fall" (2010) and just recently with "Come Over". "Live A Little" hit the top in its 12th week, and "Somewhere With You" hit #1 in its 13th week. But "Reality" waited til its 21st week to hit #1, and "You And Tequila" also had a longer chart run up to its #3 peak. Also, "Feel Like A Rock Star" wasn't awarded an automatic #1 peak, let alone the top 10.

I understand your complaints, and I echo many of them myself, but today's superstars used to be new artists as well, and didn't get automatic trips up the chart. Nowadays, the new artists are going to have to fight their way up the chart, and why shouldn't they? Many of the stars that radio has been playing for years have earned it, with vigorous schedules, radio tours, stadium tours...they've built up fanbases, so loyal country radio listeners expect to hear the newest from Chesney, Paisley, or Underwood (etc) before they hear something from, say, Lauren Alaina or Jon Pardi. There's no shortage or artists or new music to play, so if you're new, good luck. You'll need it. It's a tough business, and only a fortunate few make it. There would be uprisings (maybe not literally, but you get the picture) if radio suddenly quit playing the stars that have big fanbases...stars like Carrie, Taylor, Keith, Brad, Kenny, etc. You don't see them fade overnight, to make room for new artists that only a few people have ever heard of. It takes a lot of time to break a new artist. I agree that it probably takes longer than it should now as compared to even 3-4 years ago, but that's the state of the industry.

Oct 3, 2012 16:47:47 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

^29 #1s if you include the holdover of the Zac Brown Band's Keep Me In Mind. I believe Carrie Underwood will be stuck at #4 for a second week.

Actually, she'll likely climb to #3 at least. Carrie was only 111k behind Jana Kramer on the 10/13 Billboard chart, and so far we've seen Carrie gain 1.15 million on Mediabase these last 2 days, while Jana is up a much smaller 470k. So Carrie is gonna pass Jana this week, bumping Jana back to #4. Looks like Jason may be the 1st since January to score 3 weeks at #1. Dustin Lynch will probably hold at #2, but it's possible that Carrie could catch him as well.

[onebuffalo]

^Thanks jhomes87, the wet noodle felt good!

[Deleted]

^Sorry, didn't mean to 'wet noodle' you, lol. I just edited my last post, with a line at the end to note that, at the rate things are going, there's even a chance Carrie could steal the #2 spot from Dustin. But right now I'm leaning toward Jason getting a 3rd and final week at #1, with Dustin hanging on to #2 and Carrie up to #3, passing Jana. Jana is still fighting, but I don't see her holding Carrie off this week. Looks like, at best, "Why Ya Wanna" will make a bulleted 3-4 move...but we'll see if Jana is even still gaining audience by the end of the week.

[onebuffalo]

^That's all right. I just checked the audience totals and they (Carrie Underwood and Jana Kramer) are close now.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2012 17:27:38 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

^That's all right. I just checked the audience totals and they (Carrie Underwood and Jana Kramer) are close now.

Yeah, Carrie's still a little bit behind on Mediabase, but we all know how that chart works... I suspect that, if we could see the daily Billboard numbers, Carrie would already be ahead of Jana there.

[Zazie]

Oct 3, 2012 17:26:07 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

^Sorry, didn't mean to 'wet noodle' you, lol. I just edited my last post, with a line at the end to note that, at the rate things are going, there's even a chance Carrie could steal the #2 spot from Dustin. But right now I'm leaning toward Jason getting a 3rd and final week at #1, with Dustin hanging on to #2 and Carrie up to #3, passing Jana. Jana is still fighting, but I don't see her holding Carrie off this week. Looks like, at best, "Why Ya Wanna" will make a bulleted 3-4 move...but we'll see if Jana is even still gaining audience by the end of the week.

Go on, hit him again! Actually Carrie has a reasonable chance to move to #2 unless Dustin Lynch decides to push hard and push immediately. That would leave Jana in the distressing position of being pushed back to #4, but for some reason her song is still gaining when one might imagine it had peaked.

And, on another topic from earlier on this page, I agree that the topic of songs "deserving" to be #1 is entirely subjective and not worth trying to fight out. I was taught that lesson by a couple of big Steve Holy fans who just loved Brand New Girlfriend and were unhappy that I said that song didn't "deserve" top 10, let alone #1. The more I thought about it, the easier it was to see it from their view -- and there was no way their view of a song's merits was ever going to match mine. Don't worry, there are plenty of people who don't think Blown Away "deserves" its stellar chart run, and who think Truck Yeah is the best song they've heard all year -- and their opinion's more or less as good as yours.

[peterca]

Carrie passes Jana this morning on Mediabase, and is closing the gap on Dustin. Jason is starting to drop. BA looking good to be at #2 on both charts this week.

[.indulgecountry]

I'm glad this is making big moves right now. I really want to see this get to No. 1 and hold onto it for 2 weeks, at least. Its really surprising how long its been since she spent more than a single week at the top with a song.

[Deleted]

If this passes Dustin and becomes #1 after Jason, will it be able to sustain a second week, or will Dustin hop over Carrie again?

[Deleted]

Oct 4, 2012 15:30:56 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

If this passes Dustin and becomes #1 after Jason, will it be able to sustain a second week, or will Dustin hop over Carrie again?

A few years ago, I would've said that Dustin would be SOL, if Carrie gets to #1 first. But if enough stations start to tamper with their rotations, it might not be all that tough for him to get back ahead. It depends on Arista, but also on Broken Bow. You just never know with these crazy charts nowadays..

[Cody Wants Out...]

Shocked at how quick this is flying, but I'm glad that she's getting another big hit from it. Maybe she can getting two or even three weeks since I don't really see any future #1 contenders in the top 5 yet (bar Dustin and maybe Jana).

Oct 4, 2012 15:30:56 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

If this passes Dustin and becomes #1 after Jason, will it be able to sustain a second week, or will Dustin hop over Carrie again?

I can see either happening, but honestly, I have no clue. Dustin may have to start falling some time since C&A has been on the chart for so long and a second single has already been announced. We haven't had #1 singles flip-flop since Jimmy Wayne's "Do You Believe Me Now", right? I thinking something like that can happen with Carrie if she were to beat Dustin to the punch. From what I can read on the daily radio updates so far, Dustin may be able to make it on one chart, but not the other.

[onebuffalo]

Oct 4, 2012 16:04:42 GMT -5 Cody Wants Out... said:

Shocked at how quick this is flying, but I'm glad that she's getting another big hit from it. Maybe she can getting two or even three weeks since I don't really see any future #1 contenders in the top 5 yet (bar Dustin and maybe Jana).

Oct 4, 2012 15:30:56 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

If this passes Dustin and becomes #1 after Jason, will it be able to sustain a second week, or will Dustin hop over Carrie again?

I can see either happening, but honestly, I have no clue. Dustin may have to start falling some time since C&A has been on the chart for so long and a second single has already been announced. We haven't had #1 singles flip-flop since Jimmy Wayne's "Do You Believe Me Now", right? I thinking something like that can happen with Carrie if she were to beat Dustin to the punch. From what I can read on the daily radio updates so far, Dustin may be able to make it on one chart, but not the other.

I covered that in my latest Country ChartBeat:
Since Brooks' feat, these songs had non-contiguous reigns at #1. They are:
1. I Can Love You Like That-John Michael Montgomery-1995-3
2. When I Said I Do-Clint Black and Lisa Hartman-Black-1999-2
3. You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This-Toby Keith-2001-3
4. One More Day-Diamond Rio-2001-2
5. Where I Come From-Alan Jackson-2001-3
6. Beautiful Mess-Diamond Rio-2002-2
7. It's Five O'Clock Somewhere-Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett-2003-8
8. Live Like You Were Dying-Tim McGraw-2004-7
9. Come A Little Closer-Dierks Bentley-2005-3
10. Do You Believe Me Now-Jimmy Wayne-2008-2

[jptexas]

Number 2 this morning, with a good shot at the top this week.

[Marv]

Two weeks at #1 would appear to be a certainty, since Lee Brice is over 1150 spins behind her, as well as 7,300,000 AIs @ in arrears at Mediabase.

[thescene]

Oct 8, 2012 9:52:02 GMT -5 Marv said:

Two weeks at #1 would appear to be a certainty, since Lee Brice is over 1150 spins behind her, as well as 7,300,000 AIs @ in arrears at Mediabase.

My biggest worry is that generally Carrie's songs plummet after formally reaching the top spot.

[peterca]

This song should reach 50 million AIs, like the previous two #1's (Take a little ride, Wanted). A possible scenario is that BA gets #1 this week at around 48.5 million, next week at #1 at ~50 million, and a third week at #1 at 48 million. With a 7.3 million lead on Lee Brice, it will probably take 3 weeks for Lee's tune to do that.

[McCreerian]

Now that BA is a lock for #1 thru most of October, I guess first of November we'll get single #3. I think it'll be "Thank God For Hometowns" or "Good in Goodbye." Those seem like good Winter singles. BA I have no doubt will get 5 singles at least, maybe 6!

[Deleted]

Oct 8, 2012 10:04:26 GMT -5 thescene said:

Oct 8, 2012 9:52:02 GMT -5 Marv said:

Two weeks at #1 would appear to be a certainty, since Lee Brice is over 1150 spins behind her, as well as 7,300,000 AIs @ in arrears at Mediabase.

My biggest worry is that generally Carrie's songs plummet after formally reaching the top spot.

I'm thinking that they're going to work to hold this one. There's no blazing competition behind it once it hits #1 for at least a couple of weeks, so I don't see why Arista would just let it fall when they certainly have a very open window to push for 2 weeks and get Carrie the multi-week #1 that she hasn't had for 4 years.

Plus, with AC and potential Pop pushes, the label wouldn't just let this one fall. Keeping it at #1 would really help give it more steam.

[strikeleo]

I think this is definitely going to keep steady for a week or so, and will stay on top for 2 weeks or more. With that said, I don't think Arista cares as much as some fans about a multi-week #1. I'm also starting to doubt they will push this to pop.

[Deleted]

Oct 8, 2012 14:29:08 GMT -5 strikeleo said:

With that said, I don't think Arista cares as much as some fans about a multi-week #1.

I agree in the sense that they probably don't care all that much about its streak at #1 as opposed to the fans, but I think they'll surely keep pumping the song since they have an advantage of being able to keep it up there for a couple of weeks.

[joey2002]

Guys, this is pretty much a lock for multiple weeks at #1. Perfect timing.

The question now: will she get 2 or 3 weeks?

2 seems most likely, as long as Lee Brice continues to climb at a moderate rate.

[Deleted]

Oct 8, 2012 14:12:37 GMT -5 McCreerian said:

Now that BA is a lock for #1 thru most of October, I guess first of November we'll get single #3. I think it'll be "Thank God For Hometowns" or "Good in Goodbye." Those seem like good Winter singles. BA I have no doubt will get 5 singles at least, maybe 6!

I hardly think it's a lock for "#1 thru most of October". I think she will get 2 weeks for sure, maybe 3...but the chance for a 3rd week on top, the maybe, is definitely far from a 'lock'. If it gets 3 weeks, an argument could be made that that's 'most of October', but predicting that 3 weeks is a lock at this point in time is impossible to do. And if it gets its 2 weeks at top, that's not really most of the month, either..

Anyway, as for the 3rd single, I think it will be "Do You Think About Me", which is a good choice, although I think I'd prefer "Good In Goodbye" or "Wine After Whiskey" even more. But I definitely think they're leaning toward DYTAM right now, if they haven't already decided yet. I really don't want "Thank God For Hometowns" as a single...I think it would do well, but it's one of the few below average tracks on the album, in my opinion. It's just too cliched for my tastes.