Fans of country music can always count on Luke Bryan to produce radio-friendly music with a universal message. His latest album ‘Born Here, Live Here, Die Here’, released Friday, doesn’t give many new messages, but it’s a solid effort from a reliable source. Listeners have already heard a good portion of this album, as it contains three #1 singles, ‘Knockin’ Boots’, ‘What She Wants Tonight’, and latest chart-topper ‘One Margarita’. What does the rest of the album have in store?
Far and away the standout track of this album is the heart-wrenching ballad ‘Build Me a Daddy’. A boy misses his father who is overseas, so he asks the owner of a toy store to build him his father. As I listened, I imagined a mall Santa and how they’ve probably heard that request before but answering it doesn’t get easier. What makes the song even more powerful is the ambiguity of whether the father he misses is actually still overseas or whether he died in combat. The song has the potential to be this decade’s ‘I’m Already There’ by Lonestar or ‘Just A Dream’ by Carrie Underwood. I don’t know if Luke’s label will allow that because it doesn’t fit with his brand, but they should.
What is so interesting about Luke Bryan in general, but in particular with this album, is how clearly he can set the imagery to the words he’s singing. Most times when you listen to an album without a music video, you just hear the song. With almost all of these songs though, I can place myself at the scene he’s describing. Though these songs might not be the most inventive, what he lacks in originality he makes up for in storytelling and imagery.
To listen to ‘Born Here, Live Here, Die Here’ click here.
