Well, it's my first post of the year, and it's already fall. I'm sitting outside in what basically amounts to perfect weather; cool enough for a light jacket, but not cold, and a little breeze every once in a while.
I don't have a favorite season (no season is consistent in North Carolina anyway), but I love when summer turns to fall. I love being able to ride with the windows down without sweating through everything I'm wearing, having more options as far as comfortable clothing goes, seeing the leaves turn warm colors, and being able to spend time outside going on walks, or sitting or talking with friends, or just watching the birds wheeling around against giant blue skies.
I also love being able to break into my fall playlists. It's not that I can't or don't listen to them at any other time of year, but they never hit as right in July as they do in October. I listen to individual songs that seem to suit the weather and the mood of fall, but what I really treasure is when I can find a whole album that fits the season. I have a couple, but for me the dark horse that I've been able to come back to over and over again is KING by Tucker Beathard.
I say dark horse because I have never heard anyone in my circles talk about Tucker Beathard. I typically listen to the independent guys, the Texans, the Appalachians, the ones who don't have a label and don't need one, because their fans are absolutely crazy about them. Cody Jinks, Charles Wesley Godwin, Sturgill Simpson, etc. I read Saving Country Music, and I watch Grady Smith videos on YouTube. I haven't intentionally listened to the radio in probably a year and a half.
Tucker Beathard is a Nashville boy, born to industry songwriter Casey Beathard. He was signed to a label when he was 20 years old, and those who would call it nepotism are probably partially right. Tucker's never really seemed to take off. He has 74.7k monthly listeners on Spotify. If you compare that to Kody West, who unlike Tucker doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, it shows how bleak that number is. Kody has over 388k monthly listeners, and only tours inside Texas.
On the surface, it looks like Tucker Beathard was set up to succeed, and wasn't good enough to.
"20/10 TN" came up on one of my Spotify daily mixes before I had premium, and I don't think I gave it too much thought initially. This is pretty normal for me, sometimes it takes me a couple listens to really let a song sink in. It turned up a couple more times, because Spotify didn't really know what to do with my tastes. And at one point, it caught my attention in a big way. It was not a normal song.
Music-wise, it was pretty standard. Mainly guitar and drum, a good melody but nothing crazy. The lyrics, though, start with "Hey, it's me, I'm just wondering where you are? I woke up late, I think the game's about to start." And then we get a second phone call, and he talks about what's happening in the game.
I mean, that's weird enough. It could be a song just about football, something like "Boys of Fall" but focusing even more on the actual game itself, and I would respect that somebody cut a country song taking football seriously, instead of just using it as an item on a list of things a country boy loves. But then the chorus comes in with a new intensity. "And by the way I meant to say that I'm sorry 'bout last night. I didn't mean to make you cry. But did you really mean goodbye?"
I mean, where did that come from? I thought we were just talking about the game! The chorus ends by him saying that the miracle he's watching (Tennessee beating Alabama) is evidence that he can change.
More football. More apologies. The game ends with a Tennessee win, but the girl is still gone.
It's a song of dichotomies. The game on one side, the relationship on the other. The courage and intensity of Tennessee beating one of the best college football teams in the country, and the passivity of the man sitting on the couch watching them do it while he pleads with a woman who is driving away from him. His competing desperation and excitement.
Because Spotify realized that I liked that one, it sent a few more my way, and I listened with varying degrees of interest. At one point, I realized I just needed to listen to the album.
I can understand why KING isn't pulling in the streams on the same level as Dangerous or American Heartbreak. It doesn't have any clear big hits. It has variety and a lot of charm on certain songs, but nothing seems to punch through that minimum level of infectiousness required to win over the populace. I kind of think that makes it a better fall album though. Fall is not as loud as summer, or as dreary as winter. It exists in the in between, and that's where KING tends to settle in.
What else makes it a fall album? Well, there are a couple clear references. We've already talked about "20/10 TN"s football theme, but "You Would Think" says "You would think this time of year, when the leaves begin to fall, that you would think of fires and flannel shirts, and I'd be worth a call." As far as I recall, the album doesn't contain any references to any other seasons.
But there's also a general atmosphere. It's not an entirely slow or sad album by any means, but the there's a strong tinge of melancholy on many of the songs. The last song, "I Ain't Without You," clinches it. It is actually a joyful song, but it's about the effect his brother has had on him, written in the wake of his death. Fall is all about beauty from death.
I don't need to justify this being a fall album, but I just did. So that's out of the way, in case it was in anyone's way before.
Another very interesting theme on KING is God. I've wondered, given the fact that no song on the album seems to supply the title, if King itself is actually referring not to Tucker, but to God.
"Only," by far the darkest sounding song on the album, describes in self-loathing fashion the brokenness of his condition, the ups and downs he goes through without any self-control, the vices and coping mechanisms that he uselessly seeks comfort in. He says, "I just need to run to the open arms of the only one who knows me," and if you're not listening carefully you'll think he's talking about a woman, but he's not. He's talking about God.
"Find Me Here" gets in on the self-loathing, and paints a picture of a man lying in a hotel bed after a one night stand, watching a preacher on the TV and hoping that Jesus doesn't come back at that moment. It uses details like his cross tattoo and the Bible he's using as a coaster for his beer to show the hypocrisy, so we can understand the shame and the fear he's feeling in this moment. It's interesting to note that this is by far his most listened to song.
On the other side of the spectrum, "Can't Stay Here" is the most fun song. It's cathartic after so many immature and difficult situations to finally hear him firmly shutting the door on an unhealthy relationship, and it comes with a chorus that's easy to sing along to. I was very excited to hear this song come over the speakers at a mini golf place earlier this year.
The last song that I want to specifically point out is "Faithful." There's a modern mindset that we see everywhere that people should follow their hearts. Indeed, that to not do so is in some way morally objectionable. It's a cliche at this point, the couple that files for divorce because, "We fell out of love." People use it as an excuse for adultery all the time, and the effects are devastating. "Faithful" says, "Let's do what everybody swears is just too hard to. [...] Let's be faithful."
Again. What a weird concept. Not, "I'll always love you," or "Marry me," or "You're the only girl I see."
"Let's be faithful." Let's make a commitment, and stick to it. How incredibly cool.
Tucker Beathard is a weird dude. KING is a weird album. Go give it a listen.
Happy fall, y'all.
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