Megan Moroney "Lucky" RD (Aug 21 Due!)

[LBTrocks]

Sept 9, 2024 20:11:49 GMT -5 🌺CountryLineDancer said:

#9 "Another on the Way"

CLD's Thought
This is another uptempo song, but ugh the melody was bad and the production was quite messy. I think this was the only song that I would really skip in this album, as once again, the melody is not my style (and maybe LBTrocks ' style). It was a clear outlier for me, especially because Track #1 - #7 are really strong to me, excluding this one, track #6.

This song is OK. I do enjoy this style generally speaking, and this would have likely been my #2 had I done the RD since I don't like this album in the slightest except for "Lucky" but Megan is a weak vocalist to me and I don't like how her voice sounds on this track.

ETA: I love these lyrics tho!

[Darkest Hour]

Found Kameron Marlowe delivering better guest performance than MacKenzie Carpenter, but the main reason why I ranked the latter lower is because it sounds familiar to me.

There are some (dry?) humors added to some songs in the album and imo Another on the Way has one of the better ones.

Eh but not surprised at the remaining songs being frontloaded (Sleep On My Side is the one in the back half).

[SHOOTER]

I thought Why Johnny was one of the more clever songs on the album. Otherwise, I'm not too disappointed with any of the losses so far.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#7 "Kansas Anymore"

Total: 105

Average: 8.42

Std Dev: 4.48 (3rd Highest)

kluen - 2
Darkest Hour - 2
🌺CountryLineDancer - 4
.indulgecountry - 6
zaclord 🌈  - 7
fearlessarrow - 8
tim - 8
zdm1998 - 10
castleoblivion26 - 12
jasper0102 - 13
SHOOTER - 14
bboat11 - 15

3rd most polarizing song is leaving. This song received three top 5 rankings and four bottom 5 rankings, as well as a perfect ranking from zaclord 🌈 . This song was the only song that involved Luke Laird and Lori McKenna in the writing process. 

CLD's Thought
I love this song just from the start, the guitar riff at the intro is fantastic and it really drew me to the song. Both verse and chorus melodies are perfect and production really suits as well. Easily my favorite ballad album track from the record. Why did she suddenly come to Kansas with this song tho, as the whole record was revolving around Georgia and Tennessee...? lol

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#6 "Sleep on My Side"

Total: 90

Average: 7.5

Std Dev: 3.58

Darkest Hour - 3
.indulgecountry - 5
SHOOTER - 5
castleoblivion26 - 6
tim - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 6
jasper0102 - 7
zdm1998 - 7
fearlessarrow - 7
bboat11 - 9
zaclord 🌈 - 14
kluen - 15

The last song to miss the top 5 is another up-tempo song, Sleep On My Side. This song received only two bottom 3 rankings, and 9 participants ranked this within the top half of the list. Three participants scored the perfect ranking. 

CLD's Thought
This song has a catchier vibe than other songs, and production is also pleasant. The theme of focusing on the difference between the the narrator and their ex-boyfriend is not uncommon, but Megan incorporated clever word play, and the up-tempo production added a sassy vibe to it (although her vocal style does not really convey sassiness of the narrator, if you ask me).

[zdm1998]

Sleep on my side is such an anthem.

[jasper0102]

10. The original is pretty good though not my favorite on the EP. And i do think making this a duet makes it a little better. Kameron does pretty well opposite Megan too.
9, 8, and 6. All of these are great and very catchy jams, though Another On The Way is in a tier above the other 2 and none of them go as hard as my favorite jam on the album (i'm gonna guess that goes out at #4)
7. Another one of her ballads that's really good but not quite great.

[Darkest Hour]

Now my top 3 are gone from the rankdown.

Kansas Anymore sounds slightly better produced than most mid-tempo ballads in this album.

Sleep On My Side is one of the few times her humor connects with me. I do agree there are artists better at delivering these sassy lyrics (early Kacey Musgraves, Sunny Sweeney for example).

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Here is your top 5!! I was writing 3 days CPA exam last week + now in Phoenix for work, but hoping to have time to finish this tomorrow! Thrown in your predictions or comments on the reveal so far!

Top 5

"I'm Not Pretty"
"Lucky"
"Tennessee Orange"
"Traitor Joe"
"Girl in the Mirror"

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#5 "Girl in the Mirror"

Total: 86

Average: 7.17

Std Dev: 3.86

castleoblivion26 - 3
fearlessarrow - 4
Darkest Hour - 4
zaclord 🌈 - 5
zdm1998 - 5
tim - 5
bboat11 - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 7
.indulgecountry - 9
jasper0102 - 11
kluen - 11
SHOOTER - 16

The first song to leave in the top 5 is Girl In The Mirror. This song received six top 5 rankings, including three perfect rankings. On the other hand, SHOOTER finally got rid of their #16 song with this reveal. 

CLD's Thought
The lyrics is definitely the highlight of the song. The melody was not memorable as much, but the lyrical development of the narrator talking about the girl in a mirror in the third person perspective, despite herself being the narrator, was certainly an interesting approach.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#4 "I'm Not Pretty"

Total: 67

Average: 5.58

Std Dev: 3.73
Peak: #14 (US), #35 (CAN)

tim - 2
SHOOTER - 2
🌺CountryLineDancer - 3
.indulgecountry - 4
zaclord 🌈 - 4
castleoblivion26 - 4
kluen - 5
fearlessarrow - 5
jasper0102 - 6
zdm1998 - 6
bboat11 - 12
Darkest Hour - 14

The first radio single to leave is I'm Not Pretty. This song received almost all the rankings within the top 6, excluding two submissions. Three participants scored the perfect ranking. This is the opening track of the album that involves writing of Carpenters. 

CLD's Thought
This song is fun, lyrically and melodically. The lyrics do not flow well in the chorus, but I still really enjoy the story telling around the narrator thinking about her ex's new girlfriend's stoking. The melody is really catchy and production has some neo-traditional sound that I enjoy. Only complaint is that this song should have been dropped a bit earlier so that we got to see another single from this album, instead of the 50-week chart run.

[zdm1998]

“I’m not pretty” grew a lot on me as I didn’t really care for it when it came out.

Unfortunately I think my fave “Traitor Joe” is the next to leave; as I don’t know if I see it beating out “Lucky” which feels more like a pulse favorite, as well as her debut single (which is almost for certain #1)

[.indulgecountry]

Definitely the top 3 that I expected to see from this record.

[jasper0102]

Girl in The Mirror grew on me a little relistening to it now, it's pretty good. But like a lot of Megan's ballads on this album i still don't think it's great.

I'm Not Pretty is a great concept with a almost equally great execution. It's the best of this style of song she's made so far and i do wish it did better as a single.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#3 "Traitor Joe"

Total: 54

Average: 4.5

Std Dev: 4.4

bboat11 - 1
zdm1998 - 1
SHOOTER - 1
zaclord 🌈 - 2
🌺CountryLineDancer - 2
.indulgecountry - 3
fearlessarrow - 3
tim - 4
jasper0102 - 5
castleoblivion26 - 7
kluen - 9

Traitor Traitor...
Darkest Hour - 16

The next up is Traitor Joe. This song received seven top 3 rankings, including two perfect rankings and three #1 rankings. On the other hand, Darkest Hour became the last participant to get rid of their #16 ranking with this reveal. 

CLD's Thought
This is a fantastic song, lyrically and melodically, and I was hoping that she would have time to release this as the third single from the album. As a Canadian resident, Trader Joe's is something that I always visit whenever I drive down to Bellingham WA for the cheap liquor and nuts, and aside from this personal attachment to the grocery chain, this just has a killer melody and fun lyrics. I recall Darkest Hour was pointing out that the title is not creative as it is the same as Phoebe Bridge?'s X's handle name or something, but hopefully he can provide more explanations on the tanking than the title... lol.

[.indulgecountry]

Looks like you forgot to swap out the "Pretty" video for the "Joe" reveal, lol.

Love this song and the hook, but "Lucky" is such an infectious bop and "Orange" is THAT song for me, so if this goes how I expect it to, then I'll have a perfect ranking for the entire top 3. 😍

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#2 "Lucky"

Total: 52

Average: 4.33

Std Dev: 3.37

jasper0102 - 1
.indulgecountry - 2
zdm1998 - 2
fearlessarrow - 2
bboat11 - 3
zaclord 🌈 - 3
tim - 3
SHOOTER - 4
castleoblivion26 - 5
kluen - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 8
Darkest Hour - 13

#1 "Tennessee Orange"

Total: 39

Average: 3.25

Std Dev: 3.22
Peak: #3 (US) #4 (CAN)

.indulgecountry - 1
kluen - 1
zaclord 🌈 - 1
castleoblivion26 - 1
fearlessarrow - 1
tim - 1
🌺CountryLineDancer - 1
jasper0102 - 2
SHOOTER - 6
bboat11 - 7
zdm1998 - 8
Darkest Hour - 9

This is it! Tennessee Orange unsurprisingly took the crown! More than half of the participants; 7 people placed this as their #1. The debut single from Megan was originally seeing the streaming success, resulting in it being service to the radio single and became the foundation of Megan's career. One of the co-writers of the song is David Fanning, who had some radio single attempts around 2015. The runner-up is the popular album track; Lucky. I recall this board was split between I'm Not Pretty or Lucky when it comes to the second single choice, so not surprised to see its success here. Three participants scored perfect rankings here; .indulgecountry and fearlessarrow scored the perfect top 4 and top 3, respectively. 

CLD's Thought

Tennessee Orange was the easiest choice for the #1 spot, and it was within my top 10 for Last FM most played songs in 2023 period. That said, when I first heard this song when it entered the Hot Country chart, I did not really care for it, as I did not really get the reference to the college football. Ngl, I still don't get the popularity of college football, but at least it was I learned something from the song, and I came to enjoy the lyrics at the end. The melody grew on me quickly as I encountered this song frequently as well. Lucky was not necessarily my fav album track; I did not find the melody and instrumental to be as interesting as other songs, so I was happy that I'm Not Pretty got chosen as the single. 

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Closing Thought:
Thanks for the participation! It was great to revisit the beautiful debut album from Megan, and hope you all enjoyed the game as well. I wish she dropped "Pretty" sooner and got to release another track from the album, whether it would have been Traitor Joe or Lucky, but with the slow pace of the current airplay chart, unless you are within A tier male (aka Morgan, Jelly, Luke), 2 songs from the album is the normal number that we get from the album as singles. She is already moving on to he next period, which is off to a great start, so I would be excited to host Am I Okay RD sometimes next year, probably after its deluxe version comes out. In the mean time, I am going to do another male artist, and probably Ashley Cooke as well, for the artist RD, so hope to see you back again with your submission!

Final Result:
1 "Tennessee Orange" (39)
2 "Lucky" (52)
3 "Traitor Joe" (54)
4 "I'm Not Pretty" (67)
5 "Girl in the Mirror" (86)
6 "Sleep on My Side" (90)
7 "Kansas Anymore" (101)
8 "Nothin' Crazy" (with Mackenzie Carpenter) (105)
9 "Another on the Way" (107)
10 "Fix You Too" (with Kameron Marlowe) (110)
11 "Mustang or Me" (110)
12 "Georgia Girl" (128)
13 "Reasons to Stay" (133)
14 "Why Johnny" (138)
15 "Sad Songs for Sad People" (149)
16 "God Plays a Gibson" (163)

Perfect Rankings:
zdm1998 - 6
zaclord 🌈 - 5
castleoblivion26 - 5
.indulgecountry - 5
fearlessarrow - 5
tim - 4
🌺CountryLineDancer - 3
bboat11 - 2
kluen - 1
SHOOTER - 1
Darkest Hour - 1
jasper0102 - 1

zdm1998 took the crown in perfect ranking race, and every participant scored at least one perfect ranking in this game.

[jasper0102]

I think i'd chalk up my dive into Megan's catalog to Traitor Joe, as it was the 2nd song i heard from her after Tennessee Orange. And while it's not as great it's still a really good song.

Honestly Lucky is my favorite song she's released so far overall. Mostly because it's a jam that goes off to a insane degree. Like this is the hardest song she's released thus far and that incldes Indifferent.

Tennessee Orange was the song that broke her out for a reason. And while between the title track and several songs from Am I Okay? i don't think it's her best song, it's stil an amazing love ballad.

I'm glad i was able to send for a RD for one of my favorite country acts rn. Thanks for hosting CLD and i'll be there when we do Am I Okay next year.

[Darkest Hour]

5. A familiar story from this album but at least the songwriting angle is slightly fresher here.

4. Never find the forced social media insert in chorus worked (that never worked before from TR and FGL anyway).

3. Well the host's retelling of my original comment is only half of the story. It's really because this song title as a pun of that store is quite cringy. Also really dislike the repeating of last words during the chorus that tries too hard to give sing-along vibe.

2. Would be better if it doesn't use the shuffling rhythm that sounds too close to be a spiritual successor of Man I Feel Like A Woman and alike which I am tired of.

1. Never particularly liked the sports theme or muddy production but it deserves to win.

Well at least that's another rankdown that I have completed.

[fearlessarrow]

Um .indulgecountry our taste for having perfect top threes?

I'm really happy to see "Lucky" edge out "Traitor Joe", I love both but I love the sassy energy of the former and the pretty obvious Shania Twain-esque sound.

[tim]

Thanks for hosting this album series, 🌺CountryLineDancer! I’ll admit, I had some reservations about joining at first, but one thing I’ve really missed about rankdowns is stepping outside of my comfort zone and just doing them!

I don’t have a whole lot to add, other than the fact that I’ve definitely warmed up to both her as an artist and to her songs, which I wasn’t too fond of in the new releases rankdown. Specifically, 'I’m Not Pretty,' which I ranked all the way down in my bottom 2 back in February of last year. All that to say, I’m really glad I participated. Thanks again!