George Strait's current Top 20 hit isn't quite a classic on the same level as some of his best eighties and nineties material. But after the long and slow chart climb of the depressingly unoriginal "The Breath You Take," "Here for a Good Time" is a welcome return to form for the country music legend.
The song title gives you a pretty good clue as to the song's theme, but fortunately it's not a rowdy anthem in the vein of Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" (which would be a sign of the apocalypse coming from George Strait). It's a song about the shortness of life, and the narrator's resolve to kick back and enjoy it while it lasts.
"Here for a Good Time" earns points for a cool-sounding arrangement that includes some organ chords and a catchy beat, while still including the fiddle and steel sounds that are among George Strait's hallmarks. George offers a laid-back, yet fully engaging performance, which pairs well with the singalong-friendly melody. Mercifully, it stops short of throwing in a cheesy singalong chorus at the end.
It doesn't exactly break new ground lyrically, though it does feature a few clever turns of phrase here and there, but "Here for a Good Time" finds George Strait as loose as he's ever been. It's a very good single, but I'm still hoping that the rest of the new album will be, not just "very good," but great.
GEORGE'S SCORE: 7
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)