Comments on: Review: Chuck Wicks, “Man of the House”

By: Dan Milliken

Dan Milliken — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:16:10 +0000

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts and experience, Janet, and for doing it so respectfully. Even if I dislike the song myself, I’m certainly glad to hear that it has served such a positive purpose in your life and your son’s – that’s what’s really important, as far as I’m concerned.

By: janet

janet — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:02:01 +0000

Apparently the bloggers in here have not lived this life. This song is a refresher to families in this situation that they are not alone. It does not come across as the lazy or depressed mom. It is a mom that has a lot on her plate. There have been many times I have fallen asleep on the couch from staying up watching the news. As a wife of military, and a teacher that has many former students stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, you pay more attention to the news and when there is a bombing you wonder if you are getting that phone call. This song became a comfort to my 8 year old son. He listens to this song alot. Another friend and parent told me about this song and when we listened to it it was a blessing. Other daddy’s, just like his, have told their oldest son’s to take care of mom. These kids can relate. There’s not much an 8 year old can do, but he already has the chores of doing the dishes, and taking care of sister is important to him along with his little brother. It’s a shame that it has received such a negative view. Maybe if you were living the song in real life you would have a different attitude. But, each person has a right to their own opinions. I only want to make sure that somebody that is living it voices theirs on behalf of the mother and son.

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:00:40 +0000

Great, we have Dan fans.:)

By: J.R. Journey

J.R. Journey — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:44:58 +0000

Excellent pieces like this are why I love country music blog so much. Dan’s the man!

By: Dan Milliken

Dan Milliken — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:15:17 +0000

Thanks very much much for that, Lynn – and also Brady, who I forgot to thank earlier. You’re right that this rant is a little more broad than just this single. But this single really distills a lot of what I dislike about certain mainstream country (much of which you summarized quite well in your comment), so I thought the review would be an appropriate place to make note of those things.

By: Dan Milliken

Dan Milliken — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:07:21 +0000

I really appreciate that, CM. Cheers.

Cowboy Bleau, my point with the first person/third person thing wasn’t that I think third-person songs are always impersonal and carelessly drawn like I think this one is. That was just the mental process of how I came to that conclusion about this song, which may be confusing. I guess what I was saying is that I think mainstream country has fallen into a habit of writing third-person songs like this one (another good example: Heidi Newfield’s new single) where the “distant” perspective of the narrator allows the characters to be poorly sketched or predictable or one-dimensional without it hurting the narrator’s conscience the way a first-person song with the same problems might. I think there are jillions of third-person songs which don’t suffer from that problem at all, though.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:55:15 +0000

I still think he sounds like Richie Macdonald and I’ve yet to hear one of his songs that didn’t remind me of something Lonestar would’ve recorded

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:49:21 +0000

I LOVE the passion Dan! While many might feel it’s negative (and it is to a certain extent), it’s also very constructive criticism. You didn’t just tear down, you explained how it could be improved. You explained what the listener wants to hear. I have a feeling, however, that your rant encompassed more than just this one single…si?

If so, you definitely put into words my general unease with the material on country radio these days. It feels like Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. However, I’ve long outgrown the Chicken Soup books. I want something with hard-earned, honest emotion, not just a song comprised of a string of banal commonalities designed to pull heart strings and recorded with the sole intention of selling records. Music lovers understand the difference and they hate being manipulated. This feels like manipulation.

Keep it up!

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:48:47 +0000

Yeah, it makes sense that she was depressed. I wish the writers had developed it better or had left it out somehow though, because people may easily assume otherwise. As Dan said, sloppy writing.
As far as the first over third person observation, I’m with Dan there. There are exceptions, of course, but when you’re trying to tug at people’s heart strings it seems more genuine to do it in the first person and more contrived to do it from the third…for the reasons that Dan has already stated so well. I had never really thought of it that way before, but a light went on when I read it here. Gary Allan would have lost all of his street cred if that “Tough Little Boys” song had been sung in the third person. However, since he sang it in the first, it would be kind of like laughing at the tough guy when something made him tear up. You just don’t do that. By the way, I never really liked “Tough Little Boys”, but I see why it still worked out for Allan anyway.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:38:53 +0000

The mother in this song was probably both exhausted and depressed. someone who is constantly tired, sleeps in, goes to bed early and naps all the time (and isn’t below 5 and over 70) would be considered clinically depressed. When you add in that the mother is probably fearful of losing her husband to war into the equasion along with all the stuff that used to fall on two sets of shoulders now firmly down on hers, we get the idea of where this song was probably coming from w/r/t the mom. At least that’s my take on it (my own mother was depressed while growing up, despite not being like the mom in this song). My image of my mom growing up is sleeping on the couch, no matter what time of day it was.