Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Toby Keith, "Trailerhood"

Toby Keith has never been one to take himself too seriously.  His current single "Trailerhood," from his upcoming album of the same title, doesn't pretend to be anything more than what it is:  dumb fun.  The problem is that the song is a little too much dumb, and not enough fun.

As its title suggests, "Trailerhood" is a description of life in a trailer park (something that a successful country music artist would no doubt be familiar with). It has a pleasant and bouncy rhythm, but the lyrics just don't go anywhere.  The first verse describes a neighbor sitting out in the sun by his pool and drinking beer - Been there, seen that.  The second verse is about gambling - okayyy...  The chorus merely declares that "There's something going on out in the Trailerhood."  Nothing that the verses describe is particularly noteworthy, funny, or in any way out of the ordinary.  The song is not so much "bad" as it is pointless.  There's just nothing here to make one want to raise the volume, let alone hit "REPEAT."

I'm not against novelty songs.  Brad Paisley has given us a few good ones (and a few not-so-good ones).  But in the case of "Trailerhood," it just isn't witty or clever enough to be worth anything.

TOBY'S SCORE:  5
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)

HEAR IT:  (Live acoustic version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFbb9EcQJ5U
To hear the studio version, click the "Cool New Music" link.