Brandy Clark - "Your Life Is A Record" rankdown (finished)

[someguy]

It's been just over a year since Brandy Clark released her third album, Your Life Is A Record. It was probably the last country album released in the old, pre-pandemic world. It's been one of my favourite listens ever since, and now it is time to rank it.



Since the deluxe edition was released a few weeks ago, this seems like the perfect time. Three of the six songs on the deluxe edition are live/re-recorded versions of the originals so, rather than ranking the same songs twice, please go with whichever version you prefer when you make your rank.

1. I'll Be The Sad Song
2. Long Walk
3. Love Is A Fire
4. Pawn Shop
5. Who You Thought I Was
6. Apologies
7. Bigger Boat
8. Bad Car
9. Who Broke Whose Heart
10. Can We Be Strangers
11. The Past Is The Past
12. Remember Me Beautiful
13. Like Mine
14. Same Devil

Hopefully giving just over a month, to May 14th, is enough time for everyone to complete this.

Previous Brandy Clark participants:

Darkest Hour fearlessarrow Troublemaker zaclord 🌈 LBTrocks SHOOTER tim someguy .indulgecountry George Strait Junkie cerulean
Kanenrá:ke born castleoblivion26 bboat11 austin singingrulebritannia DistrictTwelve d3vin44


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan @greento hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

[Darkest Hour]

This is probably my fastest submission to a rankdown to date.

[someguy]

Reminder that this is due May 14th. Three lists received so far, including my own:

1. someguy
2. Darkest Hour
3. ccarter1023

Lots of time still to get this done.

Previous Brandy Clark participants:

Darkest Hour fearlessarrow Troublemaker zaclord 🌈 LBTrocks SHOOTER tim someguy .indulgecountry George Strait Junkie cerulean
Kanenrá:ke born castleoblivion26 bboat11 austin singingrulebritannia DistrictTwelve d3vin44


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan @greento hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

[SHOOTER]

Keep hounding me so I'll remember to do this!

[someguy]

Just under two week reminder for this. We're still sitting at three lists:

1. someguy
2. Darkest Hour
3. ccarter1023

Previous Brandy Clark participants:

Darkest Hour fearlessarrow Troublemaker zaclord 🌈 LBTrocks SHOOTER tim someguy .indulgecountry George Strait Junkie cerulean
Kanenrá:ke born castleoblivion26 bboat11 austin singingrulebritannia DistrictTwelve d3vin44


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan @greento hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

[someguy]

One week reminder! tim has joined in, but we are still only at four lists. My plan is still to present this next weekend, so please get your lists in this week if you would like to participate. Thanks!

1. someguy
2. Darkest Hour
3. ccarter1023
4. tim

Previous Brandy Clark participants:

Darkest Hour fearlessarrow Troublemaker zaclord 🌈 LBTrocks SHOOTER tim someguy .indulgecountry George Strait Junkie cerulean
Kanenrá:ke born castleoblivion26 bboat11 austin singingrulebritannia DistrictTwelve d3vin44


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan @greento hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

[someguy]

One day reminder for this, as it’s due tomorrow. We have lists from:

1. someguy
2. Darkest Hour
3. ccarter1023
4. tim
5. castleoblivion26
6. Kanenrá:ke
7. 🌺CountryLineDancer

Previous Brandy Clark participants:

Darkest Hour fearlessarrow Troublemaker zaclord 🌈 LBTrocks SHOOTER tim someguy .indulgecountry George Strait Junkie cerulean
Kanenrá:ke born castleoblivion26 bboat11 austin singingrulebritannia DistrictTwelve d3vin44


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan @greento hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

[taylor is terrified]

I'll be sure to get this in tonight!

[bboat11]

Yeah, I'll do it tonight too! I just finished Darius, so this one and Ashley's next two albums are next for me, and should be pretty quick and easy 

[d3vin44]

I will have this to you too!

[.indulgecountry]

Definitely doing this tomorrow!

[d3vin44]

Talk about a hard album to rank. There have been other albums where I've really struggled, but this truly felt nearly impossible. There are no real standouts or duds for me. Just a solid piece of work. An experience. Like it'd be rare for me to seek out a song on its own, its much better when listening to the full album. I guess that's why I recently got it on vinyl. haha

[someguy]

Last call for this! We got a few lists in today, so now we have submissions from:

1. someguy
2. Darkest Hour
3. ccarter1023
4. tim
5. castleoblivion26
6. Kanenrá:ke
7. 🌺CountryLineDancer
8. Troublemaker
9. d3vin44
10. taylor is terrified
11. .indulgecountry

Both SHOOTER and bboat11 have indicated interest, so I'm happy to wait if you are still interested in submitting a list. Otherwise, I will start revealing this tomorrow.

Previous Brandy Clark participants:

Darkest Hour fearlessarrow Troublemaker zaclord 🌈 LBTrocks SHOOTER tim someguy .indulgecountry George Strait Junkie cerulean
Kanenrá:ke born castleoblivion26 bboat11 austin singingrulebritannia DistrictTwelve d3vin44


Country Rankdowns Tag List:
Adrian C. 🍓 austin BB🌕 bboat11 bigfan101 taylor is terrified castleoblivion26 ccarter1023 cedric Cody Wants Out... HeyHeyHey ClevelandRox g8erboi tim LBTrocks 🌺CountryLineDancer Crimsonio ethanhunt Fancy fearlessarrow gardyfan @greento hydraflare Sambalada CagedJuggalo The Third Tanker .indulgecountry jamesflame Leo ✔ born Kanenrá:ke The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 lady𝓐fan Mylo13 💜 netti RobbyFlorida schnetzka someguy zaclord 🌈 SwiftlySheeran Au$tin toomuchboy @xfer

[LBTrocks]

someguy I really want to do this! Not sure I'll get to it tonight, but tomorrow morning for sure!

[someguy]

May 14, 2021 23:33:49 GMT -5 LBTrocks said:

someguy I really want to do this! Not sure I'll get to it tonight, but tomorrow morning for sure!

No worries at all. I will wait for you for sure :)

[bboat11]

Okay wait this Bari sax in "Can We Be Strangers" is making me feel some kind of way!!!! I'm such a nerd.

[someguy]

I’ve gotten a list from everyone that I was expecting, so I will start this tonight. If you want to slip in a list before then, I will still accept it.

[someguy]

Sorry, some stuff came up and I wasn’t able to start this yesterday. I will get going on this ASAP.

[someguy]

Sorry for the delay! Here are some pre-reveal questions to get us going:

1. What will be #1?
2. What will be #14?
3. Which of the singles ("Who You Thought I Was" or "Bigger Boat") will place higher?
4. Which of the deluxe edition tracks ("Same Devil", "Like Mine", "Remember Me Beautiful") will place highest?
5. Any other thoughts before we start?

Also, on a 14 song album list, 8 of the songs received at least one #1 placement. Not sure if that's some kind of record or not, but it certainly seemed like a lot to me!

someguy Darkest Hour ccarter1023 tim castleoblivion26 Kanenrá:ke 🌺CountryLineDancer Troublemaker d3vin44 taylor is terrified .indulgecountry bboat11 LBTrocks SHOOTER

[tim]

1. What will be #1? "Who You Thought I Was"

2. What will be #14? "Bigger Boat"

3. Which of the singles will place higher? "Who You Thought I Was" at #1 and and "Bigger Boat" at #14 with all the album tracks falling somewhere in the middle lol

4. Which of the deluxe edition tracks will place highest? I'm inclined to say "Same Devil", but I'd personally love to see "Remember Me Beautiful" place higher

5. Any other thoughts before we start? For whatever reason, this is the first album of Brandy's that I just haven't revisited much since its initial release. I think d3vin44 nailed it on the head when he said that this is just a solid piece of work that is best to listen to as a whole. Much of the album reflects the breakup of her 15-year relationship and so given that I just think I have to be in a certain mood to hear some of these songs.

[Darkest Hour]

1. What will be #1?
Who You Thought I Was could get single bias, but there are quite a few songs that are better than it, such as my 2020 March Madness pick Pawn Shop. This is a perfect opportunity for a #1 for album tracks.

2. What will be #14?
Bigger Boat

3. Which of the singles ("Who You Thought I Was" or "Bigger Boat") will place higher?
Who You Thought I Was

4. Which of the deluxe edition tracks ("Same Devil", "Like Mine", "Remember Me Beautiful") will place highest?
Remember Me Beautiful

5. Any other thoughts before we start?
Well "8 of the songs received at least one #1 placement on a 14 song album list" certainly has passed my own Starting Over album rankdown in which 7 songs received at least one #1 placement on a 14-song album list. This really shows how consistent this album is.

[someguy]

#14 - Bigger Boat





Writers: Brandy Clark, Adam Wright

Total Points: 184

Kanenrá:ke - 9
someguy - 12
Troublemaker - 12
castleoblivion26 - 12
bboat11 - 13
Darkest Hour - 14
ccarter1023 - 14
🌺CountryLineDancer - 14
d3vin44 - 14
LBTrocks - 14
SHOOTER - 14
.indulgecountry - 14
taylor is terrified - 14
tim - 14

Both tim and Darkest Hour called it, as "Bigger Boat" kicks off the rankdown at #14. Based on a memorable quote from the movie Jaws, the song features Randy Newman on vocals. Randy is far from my favourite vocalist, which I don't think helps the song any. It was far and away the choice for last place, as 9 out of 14 people put it in last place. It only received one top 10 placement, Kanenrá:ke's #9.

[someguy]

#13 - Like Mine



Writers: Brandy Clark, Hailey Whitters, Marla Cannon-Goodman

Total Points: 149

🌺CountryLineDancer - 3
bboat11 - 5
taylor is terrified - 7
castleoblivion26 - 9
someguy - 11
ccarter1023 - 12
d3vin44 - 12
Kanenrá:ke - 12
Darkest Hour - 13
LBTrocks - 13
SHOOTER - 13
.indulgecountry - 13
tim - 13
Troublemaker - 13

Next to leave is "Like Mine", one of three songs on here that did not appear in any form on the original version of the album. It never competed for last place ("Bigger Boat" had that all wrapped up on its own from the beginning), but was always a contender for the bottom two. While it did not receive any last place ranks, it received 9 bottom 3s. 🌺CountryLineDancer and bboat11 each lose a top 5 here.

[someguy]

#12 - Bad Car





Writers: Brandy Clark, Jason Saenz

Total Points: 121

bboat11 - 1
tim - 4
SHOOTER - 6
someguy - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 7
.indulgecountry - 7
🌺CountryLineDancer - 9
taylor is terrified - 10
Darkest Hour - 10
castleoblivion26 - 11
Troublemaker - 11
LBTrocks - 12
ccarter1023 - 13
d3vin44 - 13

We lose our first #1, as bboat11 sees his depart at #12. Unfortunately, with 8 songs receiving #1 placements, it was bound to happen to someone before the top 10. "Bad Car" was also recorded by Terri Clark for her Some Songs album a few years ago. It wasn't as obvious of a bottom contender as the first two songs that we lost, but with 8 placements in the bottom half, including two bottom 2s, it slid to the bottom of the pack over the course of the submission period.

[d3vin44]

Like Mine has been a real grower for me. I think Brandi Carlile sounds great with Brandy on this one.

[someguy]

#11 - Who Broke Whose Heart





Writers: Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally

Total Points: 114

someguy - 1
d3vin44 - 2
castleoblivion26 - 3
Kanenrá:ke - 6
bboat11 - 8
ccarter1023 - 8
Darkest Hour - 9
Troublemaker - 9
LBTrocks - 10
.indulgecountry - 10
SHOOTER - 11
🌺CountryLineDancer - 12
tim - 12
taylor is terrified - 13

Right on the heels of bboat11's #1 loss, I become the next person to lose theirs, as "Who Broke Whose Heart" bows out at #11. This is another one that was never really an obvious bottom contender, but ended up being in 10 people's bottom half, which caused it to slide down to the bottom portion of the list. This really stood out to me when I first got the album, and is probably the song I've listened to the most from the record. It was co-written by Brandy and her good friend and frequent collaborator, Shane McAnally.

[someguy]

We'll stop here for now. Here's our top 10:

Apologies
Can We Be Strangers
I'll Be The Sad Song
Long Walk
Love Is A Fire
Pawn Shop
Remember Me Beautiful
Same Devil
The Past Is The Past
Who You Thought I Was

someguy Darkest Hour ccarter1023 tim castleoblivion26 Kanenrá:ke 🌺CountryLineDancer Troublemaker d3vin44 taylor is terrified .indulgecountry bboat11 LBTrocks SHOOTER

[d3vin44]

OMG what!?!? Honestly I didn't know "Who Broke Whose Heart" was a favorite of mine until listening to the album for the purpose of ranking it. Its sooooo good though! The instrumentation is a highlight, its a jam, and she drops an F-bomb multiple times. I also think if you give this a different production, it fits right in on Big Day in a Small Town.

[tim]

Well, no surprises for myself in the bottom 2 as both of my songs exited in the same order. “Bigger Boat” has always kind of stuck out like a sore thumb to me on what is an otherwise solid album and frankly I still don’t quite understand why it was released as a single. “Like Me” is just kind of there for me, therefore it just gets lost in the mix amongst both the original album tracks and the the other two added with the deluxe addition.

I am a bit surprised to see “Bad Car” leave this soon especially given that it made its way into the top 5 in Terri’s album rankdown for [iSome Songs[/I]. Given that, usually familiarity alone would lend a song such as this one a bump. To everyone’s defense that ranked this one low, I will add that I much prefer Brandy’s version to Terri’s as I actually ranked it last in hers.

My own bottom 3 ranking for “Who Broke Whose Heart” was a hard one because while I enjoy this it was just hard to rank amongst the rest of the songs on the album. On its own, I quite enjoy it especially the line So f—k the rest .

[castleoblivion26]

"Who Broke Whose Heart" has no business being this low. I don't understand some of you!