The Turning Tides of Taylor

(Today's word will be in red and bold.)


I'll be the first to admit, when 16 year-old  Taylor Swift caught the attention of country music listeners in 2006, I steadfastly avoided her.  My first thought was, "oh no, here we go again, another LeAnn Rimes".  I felt like LeAnn, Taylor would soon be making headlines about outbursts, firing her parents; the things that seem to follow most child/teen stars.

Every time Taylor would win an award, or was given the opportunity to do things her way, (like performances on awards shows), I thought, "your time is limited, you're young, you're new, this isn't going to last".  I was sure Taylor would burn out too fast, because she was always doing something; that those around her were catering to her, until her time was up.

I have to say that I did like her music, no matter how much I tried not to, or denied it.  I was so wrapped up in not wanting to like her, I rejected everything about her; at least outwardly.  As the years went by though, Taylor's star still shined brightly.  Even then, however, I was still waiting for the gloom and doom; my theory was, the media left her alone for the most part, because she was under 18 years-old.

It's been six years now and Taylor will turn 23 years-old in December.  In that time she's had her ups and downs; and I've noticed that since she's past 21 years-old, the media does try to find the seedier stories about her.  Funny thing though, now that some are trying to tear Taylor Swift down, I've finally come around to the fact that Taylor is just who she is.

Yes, she has her ups and downs; she's had some bad relationships; she expresses her feelings about these things in her music. When she was 16, the world saw it as cute, and would go on and on about how mature Taylor was.

Now that Taylor is almost 23, more and more people seem to snipe about her and her music.  They attack her for writing about her relationships, and even go so far as to call her immature for doing so.  My question is, why?

Just because Taylor Swift has been around for six years, it doesn't mean she's experienced everything there is to experience in this world.  It also doesn't mean that she knows how to deal with certain situations.  To put it simply, even at her current age, she's still young enough to not truly know how to react in certain situations.

Yes, I've come full circle; while others are starting to turn one way about Taylor Swift, I now fully admit, I think she's pretty cool.  Where I once thought she'd burn out, I now feel she's very level headed and good at pacing herself.

As far as her writing goes, let her still write about her relationships.  By now, those who date her know that happens; if they choose to date her anyway, well then, it comes with the territory.

In regards to her maturity, Taylor is 22 years-old, I think she's very mature for her age.  Give her writing time; the more she experiences in this world, the more her music will grow with her.

Six years ago I was waiting for a burn out; now however, I'm interested in seeing if this young woman becomes a true legend over time.

Ole' Boys, Directions & Living

 (Today's word will be in red, and bold.)


I've heard Craig Morgan's current single, "This Ole' Boy", a lot over the past couple of months or so; it's a great song and I like it a lot.


It got me to thinking about another version I like also; by Joe Nichols. While Morgan has the single on radio in 2012, Nichols' CD, "It's All Good" was released in November, 2011, with "Good Ole' Boy" as one of the tracks.

Of course, this isn't the first time more than one artist has had a song out at the same time.  Billy Currington had a hit with the song "Good Directions".

The song was written by then newcomer, Luke Bryan, who also included the song on his debut CD.

 A while back, LeAnn Rimes was supposed to sing, "How Do I Live", from the movie, "Con Air".  However, after it was recorded, Disney decided they wanted Trisha Yearwood to do the song instead. The result was, LeAnn's version of the song was released to pop stations, while Trisha's went to country radio.

Throughout history songs have been recorded, and rerecorded by countless artists.  These are just a few samples of this, narrowing it down to songs that were also recorded around the same time.  I'm sure there will be more in the future.

Songs That Should Never Be Redone

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

On yesterday's "Simon in the Morning" show they had a bit about songs that should never be redone. The discussion came about because LeAnn Rimes has done a cover of George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Scott felt this song is a true country classic, and should never be done by anyone else.


Scott, Jolynn and Jake also took calls from listeners about what songs they thought shouldn't be remade. In the process they also had people calling in with songs they thought should be. All of it got me to thinking what songs I thought shouldn't be redone, and ones that I thought were as good, or better than the original.

The only song I could think of that I thought should never have been redone isn't a country song; it's "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby. I know others have done the song, however, I have yet to hear one better than Bing.


The song "Drift Away" was originally written and sung by Dobie Gray. The first time I'd ever heard of Uncle Kracker, it was this song that he was doing. I've always loved this song, and I honestly like Uncle Kracker's version as much as the original.



As for songs I thought were better than the original, two stood out in my mind, "Walkin' In Memphis", and "Life Is A Highway". These songs were originally done by Marc Cohn, and Tom Cochrane, respectively. These are two of my favorite songs, but not by the original artists.

"Walkin' In Memphis" has been recorded by a lot of people, in all genres of music. For country, my favorite version is by Lonestar.


"Life Is A Highway" has been covered by both Chris LeDoux and Rascal Flatts. The Flatts' version is the most well known, having been in the movie "Cars". For me though, Chris LeDoux has always had the best version of this song.


Everyone has their opinion of things, this is just a sample of mine when it comes to song COVERS.