Carrie Underwood – "Cry Pretty"

[matty005]

Jul 20, 2018 13:14:06 GMT -5 musicfix18 said:

Jul 20, 2018 13:07:45 GMT -5 matty005 said:

Let’s stop making this song a martyr. Carrie hasn’t been critically acclaimed? Wait what?!?! She has 7 Grammy’s and countless other awards. This song isn’t nearly as good (nor radio friendly) as her other material and I think that’s why it’s not performing as well.

True and good point - I was vague/overbroad with that statement.  She herself, and to a large extent her voice, is def critically acclaimed, but her songwriting skills have not been.  She has not won a major songwriting award yet.  And her albums have been paid dust since Some Hearts by critical organizations.

This song, though, got very good reviews, in large part because of the songwriting team + vocal delivery.  IDK, maybe I misperceived it, but the critical reaction to the song, and to the lyrics, composition, etc.... seemed much more positive than others by her.

I'm hoping this album can get some noms and recognition that have eluded her other bodies of work.  And if the album is as critically acclaimed as this song, I think it will.

Understood.

You ended your previous statement saying you’re prepared for her to flop if it means an amazing album, awards, etc. But after reading you jumping on people for sharing their not so great feelings about this song and how it’s performing, I don’t know if you are in fact prepared.

[musicfix18]

Jul 20, 2018 13:29:51 GMT -5 matty005 said:

Jul 20, 2018 13:14:06 GMT -5 musicfix18 said:

True and good point - I was vague/overbroad with that statement.  She herself, and to a large extent her voice, is def critically acclaimed, but her songwriting skills have not been.  She has not won a major songwriting award yet.  And her albums have been paid dust since Some Hearts by critical organizations.

This song, though, got very good reviews, in large part because of the songwriting team + vocal delivery.  IDK, maybe I misperceived it, but the critical reaction to the song, and to the lyrics, composition, etc.... seemed much more positive than others by her.

I'm hoping this album can get some noms and recognition that have eluded her other bodies of work.  And if the album is as critically acclaimed as this song, I think it will.

Understood.

You ended your previous statement saying you’re prepared for her to flop if it means an amazing album, awards, etc. But after reading you jumping on people for sharing their not so great feelings about this dog and how it’s performing, I don’t know if you are in fact prepared.

It's possible I am prepared for her to flop, but I am not prepared to witness other people's reactions to her flopping.  That is something I should work on.

But like I said at the beginning of my (hyperbolic) rant, I don't care if people don't like the song.  Is it my favorite Carrie song?  Not at all.  But I'm not going to resent the song in any way because of its underperformance.  In all honesty, I would consider Storyteller's commercial performance disappointing, at least mildly.  It didn't have the critical success to reinforce it's value (not including the tour).  Thus, I am itching for some solid material from Carrie I can dig my teeth into.  

I appreciate your feedback, matty005 .  I also had come from Carriefans and probably overreacted here as a result...

[.indulgecountry]

Every A-list star eventually has a blip like this: Blake Shelton had one with "She's Got a Way with Words," Aldean had one with "1994," Kenny Chesney has had several peak in the 10-14 range, Keith Urban just recently broke his nearly two decade-long Top 10 streak with "Female"... it happens to everyone, and just like all of those artists, she'll be fine. Her impressive Top 2 streak, that became a Top 3 streak with SITW, wasn't going to last forever... and now it's still a Top 10 streak. Sure "Cry Pretty" underperformed by her high standards of success, but it still made the Top 10 at country radio, sold decently well enough (it had strong sales out of the gate and following any of her live performances -- the sales just didn't hold up on their own), and I don't think this really means anything negative for her career going forward. I'm sure her team anticipated this given some of the comments I've read in this thread about how Carrie & co. knew it was a risky release and not a sure bet for success, but I'm confident her next single will be better received and that the era will be fine for her. All the hysterics over this song's performance aren't necessary.

[classiccountryfan]

The probable end of Carrie’s Top 3 streak reminds me of the end of Alabama’s record streak of #1 songs in 1987, when Tar Top “only” peaked at #7. I remember listening to American Country Countdown that week, and Bok Kingsley said that Alabama mentioned they knew the streak had to end sometime and they were glad that was the song to end the streak because it had personal meaning to them beyond the chart performance. It wouldn’t surprise me if Carrie looks at Cry Pretty the same way. Alabama still had substantial chart success following the end of their streak, and I’m sure Carrie can too if it’s important enough to her that she releases radio-friendly songs.

[NeRD]

I'm sad this looks like it's done. I'm confident they'll really think things through and get things back on track with a smash second single though.

[toomuchboy]

I guess I'll be in the minority and say I still love this song regardless of its disappointing performance. The song always felt like one of those tracks at the beginning of an album that likely shouldn't be a single, just because of how long the song goes on towards the end.

[desertfloods]

Initially I was a little surprised to see that UMG isn't pushing this debut single as much as we expected. But after that surprise has set in, I am actually pretty relieved that Carrie's Top 3 streak might finally end.... with a worthy song, and not something like Mama's Song.

I feel that part of the issue with Sony is that because they started having Carrie on Some Hearts - big sales, big commercial success, they have been so determined era after era, to try to emulate or keep up with SH success. They kept trying to recreate "Before He Cheats", picking similar themed singles over and over again. So many times they have ignored real gems on the album just to release another safe single. Thus, I think that it has been difficult for casual fans and critics to really change their perception of Carrie as a songwriter or allow them to hear Carrie from a fresh perspective.

Without the weight of chasing for No.1s (that are pretty meaningless on country radio these days anyway), perhaps this will give the label and Carrie the real freedom they need to freshen up her career in terms of creativity and direction. For all we know, having bigger reign on creativity might have been one of the reasons Carrie jumped ship to UMG. (totally my own speculation)

[Naos]

Hot 100: #81 (+10)

Odd given it probably peaked in radio.

[thewp]

I mean, Blake’s last single slowed down tremendously once it hit Top 10, but they still managed a #3 finish. I’m still hopeful for her. 🤞

[jhomes87]

This has slowed down a lot but she's not co-hosting Lon Helton's countdown until August 18-19, so I'm sure that "Cry Pretty" will be able to hang around for another 3-4 weeks at least. I don't think it'll go to #1 but I don't think it's done yet either.

[Carriefan1190]

I almost feel like Capitol and UMG planned on slowing this down so that it peaks as close to the album release as possible. This way, they can send a second single to radio around the same time as the album release. I don’t think this is done yet, as it’s still maintaining a bullet.

[raylatch98]

What's interesting is the label has been pushing back the CCUSA co-host schedule date for this one and I saw at one point it was Mid July they were thinking of co hosting. I do think the date jhomes87 sais is probably locked in. All that being said, even if this song stays around another month I don't see it really getting much more positioning and growth on the charts, just because it's spent quite a while doing nothing in the Top 10 to Top 15 area and this is probably the pessimistic side of me coming out, but I don't see much changing gain wise in the next few weeks.

[justlurkingaround]

As a Carrie fan, I have not listened to this song since... June? Strong vocals, nice lyrics, but it just doesn't grab me as a listener, and I have a higher affinity for Mrs. Underwood than a casual listener. I hope they push it for an at least top 3 finish to keep the streak alive, but at this point I don't think she cares.

[austin]

I also think the label is planning to keep this one around until August, and it will probably get into the Top 5, but it still is a low impact single for her and if they really are trying to make her a "global superstar", an album with no buzz around it (aside from her diehards who were buying it anyway) probably wasn't the way they envisioned this launch going. That is why I support dropping this instead and getting a more upbeat, radio-friendly song out there.

[14887fan]

It's funny, because this song really hasn't burned on me. It's grown over time. Definitely not what I expected to happen after its release, as I wasn't super huge on it at the time.

Very curious to see what their promo plan is like for this album's rollout. We're about a month and a half away from its release, and they've definitely got her traveling the globe throughout all of September. Confirmed festival headliner at shows in London; in Deniliquin, AUS; iHeartRadio Fest in Las Vegas. I'm sure TV spots will be announced, too. So far, they're absolutely delivering on pushing her to international markets. I think this is the first time she'll be doing any sort of performance over in Europe that isn't directly linked to C2C.

[.indulgecountry]

Jul 25, 2018 12:33:33 GMT -5 14887fan said:

It's funny, because this song really hasn't burned on me. It's grown over time. Definitely not what I expected to happen after its release, as I wasn't super huge on it at the time.

Same here. It wasn't instant for me at all, but I've found myself gradually like it more and more and now I really enjoy it completely.

[NeRD]

Jul 25, 2018 12:50:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Jul 25, 2018 12:33:33 GMT -5 14887fan said:

It's funny, because this song really hasn't burned on me. It's grown over time. Definitely not what I expected to happen after its release, as I wasn't super huge on it at the time.

Same here. It wasn't instant for me at all, but I've found myself gradually like it more and more and now I really enjoy it completely.

This is how I felt with Smoke Break. Not so much with this one though. I don't hate it but I don't love it.

[CoJoFan]

Any news if or when the album will be available for preorder on iTunes?

[jenglisbe]

Well it’s back to having a decent bullet so...

[Troublemaker]

Jul 26, 2018 16:56:37 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Well it’s back to having a decent bullet so...

Just when I gave up hope... maybe it's caught a second wind!

[carrieidol1]

Carrie’s team must have intervened here, I imagine? Hopefully they have a push planned through the month of August... I would have preferred a new single by this point, but if they still have big plans for CP (single), then run with it, I guess!

[Carriefan1190]

The bullet is encouraging, but while she is still increasing on spins, her AI is still hovering around 31 million. The chart run for this song is bizarre, even for Carrie. I still hold out hope that a top 5 peak is possible. This is the first single from Carrie on Capitol/UMG, I would imagine that once Keith Urban’s song peaks that they will put everything they got into CP.

[Darkest Hour]

Funny that Keith Urban is brought in discussion, it seems people forgot the chart run of The Fighter. It didn't have great callouts and rose slowly once it went to top 10. But it finished at #1 in mediabase (tie in points with Do I Make You Wanna) and #2 in Billboard when the label pushed the song hard. I imagine this song will be similar case.

[raylatch98]

I remember the push for "The Fighter" was one of the most inauthentic pushes for the top I have ever seen and that tie on Mediabase was so annoying. It just left me annoyed and disgusted that they couldn't let even a somewhat natutal peak for the song happen. My contempt for the song and everything Keith Urban post Fuse is probably skewing my perception.

May that song burn in hell.

[stanches2318]

I still cant believe that its almost August and still no Other information on the "Cry Pretty" Album. Hopefully we'll hear more soon like the track listing and the pre-order on iTunes.

[Naos]

Jul 26, 2018 23:14:53 GMT -5 raylatch98 said:

I remember the push for "The Fighter" was one of the most inauthentic pushes for the top I have ever seen and that tie on Mediabase was so annoying. It just left me annoyed and disgusted that they couldn't let even a somewhat natutal peak for the song happen. My contempt for the song and everything Keith Urban post Fuse is probably skewing my perception.

May that song burn in hell.

Did you forget "A Girl Like You" by Easton Corbin?

[travelrocks24]

Jul 26, 2018 21:35:34 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Funny that Keith Urban is brought in discussion, it seems people forgot the chart run of The Fighter. It didn't have great callouts and rose slowly once it went to top 10. But it finished at #1 in mediabase (tie in points with Do I Make You Wanna) and #2 in Billboard when the label pushed the song hard. I imagine this song will be similar case.

is it possible that callouts are not an accurate way to determine whether a song will do well or not?  What is the sample size of callouts?  

[.indulgecountry]

Jul 27, 2018 5:23:14 GMT -5 travelrocks24 said:

Jul 26, 2018 21:35:34 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

Funny that Keith Urban is brought in discussion, it seems people forgot the chart run of The Fighter. It didn't have great callouts and rose slowly once it went to top 10. But it finished at #1 in mediabase (tie in points with Do I Make You Wanna) and #2 in Billboard when the label pushed the song hard. I imagine this song will be similar case.

is it possible that callouts are not an accurate way to determine whether a song will do well or not?  What is the sample size of callouts?  

Callout is seriously flawed and typically skews in favor of the safer, simply radio fodder, and heavily in favor of anything with male lead vocals. Women tend to test pretty poorly, even the successful ones, because the handful of people feeding into that research are now conditioned against hearing female voices on the radio. Unfortunately, radio does seem to allow the callout research to dictate what they play more than they probably should, over other factors like how a song is connecting in streams/sales.

[raylatch98]

I don't find the callout scores very flawed or dishonest. I at least don't think the callout is rigged against female voices. I will say a lot of people I've talked too don't like female voices at all in country music. Which while I don't per se agree with, I do think there is at least a good amount of country music fans who can't stand female voices and are anti female voices/don't care for women to succeed.

[jhomes87]

Jul 27, 2018 11:57:01 GMT -5 raylatch98 said:

I don't find the callout scores very flawed or dishonest. I at least don't think the callout is rigged against female voices. I will say a lot of people I've talked too don't like female voices at all in country music. Which while I don't per se agree with, I do think there is at least a good amount of country music fans who can't stand female voices and are anti female voices/don't care for women to succeed.

That's because when radio listeners are being fed music that 95% of the time is sung by men, the female voices stand out, usually not in a good way. That's what .indulgecountry was talking about -- the listening audience has been conditioned to like men more than women, because that's basically all they hear.