Recommend a Track: Pick the Next Single

Today, I’m bringing back an old Country Universe favorite: Recommend a Track.

We all like to play armchair record executive.  So I’m asking readers to share what they think should be the

next single from a current country album.

My Pick: Carrie Underwood, “Do You Think About Me”

The first two singles from Blown Away have been dramatic affairs, where the production is as much the star as the vocalist.   I’ve found both “Good Girl” and “Blown Away” to be very compelling singles, but I’m jonesing for a simpler showcase of Underwood’s incomparable vocals.

“Do You Think About Me” is thematically similar to “Strawberry Wine”, but it’s heavier on nostalgia for the actual relationship and is refreshingly indifferent to any innocence lost.  It’s a crisply produced record that allows the melody to remain front and center.  It’s one of those records that makes me smile every time I hear it.

What do you think should be the next single sent to radio from a current country album?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmL0VyL8nig

45 Comments

  1. “Jump Right In” by the Zac Brown Band from Uncaged.

    It’s a fun, summer-y song and, unlike “Island Song,” it’s quite good.

  2. “Nobody’s Fool” by Miranda Lambert from Four the Record

    One of my favorites on the record that actually sounds like it could get radio airplay. Many more that I like better on the record, but this sounds most radio friendly

  3. Yep, same Carrie Underwood track I would pick, too. Hearing Underwood sing it at the CMA Songwriters Series was a highlight of the night.

    I also second “Nobody’s Fool.” My favorite track on Four The Record. For once, its an actual song, with depth, and a fully developed second verse. It has a very similar vibe to “Heart Like Mine,” in that its very radio friendly.

    For ZBB, “Sweet Annie.” They need a ballad to usher in the fall. I can’t stand “Jump Right In.”

    I’d love to see Josh Turner release “Pallbearer,” but I don’t think country radio would play it. Especially after the cold shoulder they gave “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore” and “Neon.”

  4. Can’t believe how they’ve stalled “Neon.” I bet (/hope) it’ll struggle into the Top 20 and then suddenly pick up steam, when listeners get a fair chance to hear it and start requesting it.

    This question is a little tricky now, since a number of the big artists are between albums. But I’d be excited to see a good push for Edens Edge’s “Swingin’ Door.” It’s got the strongest melody on their album, and probably has the best shot of locking them in at radio.

  5. I second the Carrie and Miranda picks! Also I’d add “Somebody’s Heartbreak” by Hunter Hayes. “The Falling” or “War On Desperate Man” by Eli Young Band “Whiskey” by Jana Kramer “Songs For Sale” David Nail and “Too Damn Young” by Luke Bryan! Yeah I guess I have a lot lol

  6. The third verse of this song is my favorite moment on the entire album.

    I’m head over heels for ZBB / Amos Lee’s “Day That I Die” right now, but not sure if it would make a good single.

  7. You probably have it right for Carrie but I sure do love “Wine After Whiskey” and “There’s Good in Goodbye”. For Miranda I absolutely love “Same Old You” You can almost see Blake standing there pushing rock between his shoe while Miranda screams “Boy Look at me While I’m talkin to you!” : )
    I like Kellie Pickler’s “Stop Cheatin on Me’ too!

  8. This is fun!

    Carrie Underwood – “Wine After Whiskey”

    Miranda Lamber – “All Kinds of Kinds”

    Keith Urban – “The Luxury of Knowing” – I know he’s in the process of making the next album, but I’m really, really pining for this song to be a single.

    Blake Shelton – Hmmm…..I’ll wait for the next album lol.

  9. Thank you Jake. I just listened to that Eli Young Band song, “War on a Desperate Man”. I would pick it for a single but I won’t predict any success for it. I thought David Nail’s “Sound of a Million Dreams” would be a big hit and it peaked at #39. I also like your pick of “Songs for Sale” as Nail’s next single.

    One of my favorites on the ZBB album is “Overnight” but obviously it could never be released as a single.

  10. I’m on board with several songs that have already been mentioned, including “Do You Think About Me,” “Day That I Die,” and “Swingin’ Door.”

    From Miranda’s current set, I would really love to see “Fine Tune” get a shot at radio. It has such a cool off-beat sound to it, and it’s so awesome to think that at this point Miranda probably has enough commercial clout to make it a hit. I would also love to see her release “Dear Diamond,” which is another favorite of mine (any record with Patty Loveless on harmony is okay by me).

    Beyond that, I’m still pining for RCA to send Sara Evans’ “What That Drink Cost Me” to radio before Stronger completes its album cycle, though it’s hard to have high hopes at this point. Even if they did release it, it’s pretty iffy on whether or not it would get much airplay, especially considering the luck that Alan Jackson, Chris Young, and David Nail have had with their recent singles. But at least I could write a glowing review, and cite it in my Best of 2012 list.

  11. I LOVE Do You Think About Me. I would also love to hear Wine After Whiskey or Good In Goodbye. There are a couple more I would like as singles from Blown Away but I think the next one should be more stripped down. I would love to see Half Mile Hill from David Nail released as a single. Hunter Hayes’s Somebody’s Heartbreak would be a great single after Wanted and Storm Warning. I wish Brad would have released I Do Now or One of those Lives or New Favorite Memory.

  12. Mike – I love both of those songs but after what has happened in CO and WI I don’t see Cupid being released this year and I think Cadillacs might be sacrificed this run for a couple of other songs – unless they go 5 or 6 deep which would be great but I doubt they will do. Remember – they left 2 of the best songs on Play On as NOT singles (Someday When I Stop Loving You and What Can I Say).

  13. I don’t mind any of the songs from Blown Away as singles, with the exception of Nobody Ever Told You and One Way Ticket. No, please no.

  14. I’m not sure if this is recommending a track, but I would love for The Band Perry to premiere something from a new album. They’ve been running their self-titled album for a few years now (Not to mention releasing Postcard From Paris way too late) and I just want to hear something new from them.

  15. ‘Good in Goodbye’ and/or ‘Wine after Whiskey’ from Ms. Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away album. :)

    But still, I really like the atmosphere that ‘Do You Think About Me’ makes you feel situated in. The well-kept playfulness of this track suggests subtlety that it makes you wanna breathe the air of contentment amidst one’s busy day. It’s also the song that you wanna hear when you feel like not going to work when it’s raining outside and you just wanna grab a cup of hot coffee or chocolate. :)

  16. I agree with Lynn that “Nobody Ever Told You”…leave it as album filler. It is fluff. But there is something about “One Way Ticket” that might be a good release next summer for all those fluffy summer songs that come out each time that season rolls around.

  17. By the way, I don’t think any more singles are being released from Kellie Pickler’s 100 Proof since she’s split with Sony.

    I love “Stop Cheatin’ On Me,” but I doubt radio would have played it. Personally, I would have loved to see “Rockin’ Chair Song” get a go at radio.

  18. I would be thrilled if “Do You Think About Me” was the next single from Carrie. It’s playful and cute, and I think country fans would really connect with it.

    She hasn’t had a light, fun song since “All-American Girl” and I think DYTAM is better in every way. I really don’t want to see “Cupid’s Got A Shotgun” released next, because they should take a bit of a breather between CMA hosting and the fact that “Remind Me” isn’t that old.
    Also, please no for “Nobody Ever Told You.” Cute song, but NOT single material.

    I want “Wine After Whiskey” and “One Way Ticket” to be released eventually. “Good In Goodbye” is one of my favorite Carrie ballads ever, but I don’t see it as single material.

  19. Thompson Square – “Getaway Car”
    Chris Cagle – “Something That Wild”
    Dierks Bentley & Karen Fairchild – “When You Gonna Come Around”
    Luke Bryan – “Too Damn Young”
    Lee Brice – “I Drive Your Truck” or “That Way Again” or “Life Off My Years”
    Steve Holy – “If It Gets You Where You Wanna Go”
    Edens Edge – “Swingin’ Door”
    The Band Perry – “Walk Me Down The Middle”
    Eli Young Band – “Skeletons”
    Martina McBride – “Summer Of Love”
    Carrie Underwood – “See You Again”
    Casey James – “Drive”
    Chris Young – “Lost”
    Jake Owen – “Heaven”
    Joanna Smith – “Be What It Wants To Be”
    Miranda Lambert – “All Kinds Of Kinds”
    Sara Evans – “What That Drink Cost Me”
    David Nail – “Catch You While I Can”
    George Strait – “Shame On Me”
    Josh Turner – “Pallbearer”
    Lauren Alaina – “The Locket”
    Hunter Hayes – “If You Told Me To”

  20. I’d like to see “Two Black Cadillacs” from Carrie Underwood released as a single. And I share a love with DiAnn for “What Can I Say” from Play On, and I would have loved to hear it released when it had a chance.

  21. I’d have to go with Eric Church using “Like Jesus Does” as the final single from Chief. Also, I wouldn’t mind “Goodbye In Her Eyes” from ZBB’s new album.

  22. “Do You Think About Me”, “Good in Goodbye”, “Wine After Whiskey” and “Two Black Cadillacs” would all be acceptable next singles from Carrie for me. I would love to see all of them as releases, actually, but I don’t expect Carrie to have 6 singles from 1 album. It’s a shame, really, because all of those would be excellent releases in addition to the singles she already put out.

  23. I would love for Miranda to release “Dear Diamond”. Party singing backup is icing on the cake of an ready great single!

    I love Jana kramers “Over you by now”

    Alan Jackson ” Look her in the eyes and lie”.

  24. I fully realize a lot of these singles (let alone any song on the album which the below songs find themselves on) will ever see the light of day. But, since this is an entirely make believe situation (and a great one at that!) in the first place, here are my ideal picks:

    Martina McBride – Whatcha Gonna Do

    Sara Evans – Alone or What That Drink Cost Me

    Josh Turner – Pallbearer

    Edens Edge – Swingin’ Door or Last Supper

    Eric Church – Over When It’s Over (or Hungover and Hard-up)

    Miranda Lambert – Dear Diamond or Nobody’s Fool

    George Strait – Poison (which should have been released instead of “Drinkin’ Man,” but at this point, George doesn’t have to care about radio – rightfully so)

    Eli Young Band – My Old Man’s Son (though I realize that “Say Goodnight” has been chosen – which I will go on record to say is a terrible song)

    Dierks Bentley (feat. Karen Fairchild) – When You Gonna Come Around

    Kellie Pickler – Long As I Never See You Again (I can’t even talk about the fact that no more singles will be released from this criminally overlooked album)

  25. I’ll also throw out “When You Love a Sinner” from the current Martina McBride set. I think it’s one of the best lyrics she’s tackled in recent memory, and she does so with a great deal more subtlety than we’ve come to expect from her.

  26. I would like to second or third, “Swingin’ Door” by Edens Edge. A song that has a great 90’s country style to it and would fit nicely alongside the “You’s”, “Neon’s” and “Lovin You is Fun’s” of the FM radio world.

  27. I’m not a fan of Carrie Underwood’s Do You Think About Me. I do however like “Cupid’s Got a Shotgun”, Two Black Cadillacs, or “Leave Love Alone.

    Also a huge Mistake was Martina McBride releasing “Marry Me” instead of “Broken Umbrella” for this summer. “Broken Umbrella” was the type of song you could roll your windows down and sing to with a great vibe sort of like the new Jerrod Niemann song “Shinning On Me”.

    I’m not real crazy about any of the songs on Miranda Lamberts CD.

  28. I was loving the loose side Martina showed on Eleven. I agree with Dave that “Broken Umbrella” would make a great single, or “You Can Get Your Lovin’ Right Here.” I even like “Always Be This Way,” but don’t judge ;)

    I just might be playing that album again soon.

  29. I LOVE your Carrie pick and some reviewer praised it for its loveliness, especially as its accoustic orchestration allows the beauty and magical vocal quality of her voice to shine through. I love basically everything she does. Miranda is of a whole different style, and, I think, is far less gifted as an actual singer. I’ve been searching for a song I heard last week either Zac Brown or Rascal Flatts, that I hadn’t heard before, and it had these great jazz-like progressions (vocally harmonized) after some lines but it wasn’t The Wind. Anybody have suggestions? It was a fairly uptempo song.

  30. Toby Keith’s “clancy’s Tavern” had a lot of great songs that got overlooked. Namely the title track, south of you, and I need to hear a country song. Any of those songs could’ve gone to no. 1. I also think that Eli young band should rerecord some of their older stuff. The production was a little rudimentary, but a lot of those songs are superior to their later stuff.

  31. “Talk”- Jason Aldean

    “Jump Right In”- ZBB

    “Like Jesus Does”- Eric Church

    “Only Got So Much Time”- Bucky Covington

    “Can’t Be Satisfied”- Big & Rich

    “All Over The Road”- Easton Corbin

  32. I’m adding to previous comment. I could go on indefinitely about Carrie, she is so good and there are so many good songs from her albums, and the whole reason I’m at my computer at this ungodly hour is that I now NEED to hear Do You Think About Me many many times a day and right before I go to bed, there’s such a lilt and happy sound to the music and her vocal is so charming and so very sweet that it makes ME “can’t stop smilin'” throughout the song. I’m also writing again because I read DiAnn’s comment and agree with her about the sad fact that What Can I Say and Someday When I Stop Loving You weren’t released as singles, they’re both so lovely. Additionally, it would have been nice to have Carrie’s version of “Remember When” (sung at Grand Ole Opry) on Blown Away. I wouldn’t mind Good in Goodbye or Wine After Whiskey or Thank God For Hometowns as singles either. In general, most of the ballads on Blown Away have a pleasing gentleness to them that allows Carrie’s best vocal qualities, range, and texture to shine through and over the instrumentation (another pleasure on this album, not overproduced, a lot of accoustic). So long till next time.

  33. I’m kind of disappointed about the new Carrie Underwood single choice. “See You Again” is okay, but a bit too movie soundtrack-y for my taste, if that makes sense – not that that’s surprising, considering the song was meant for the Naria soundtrack. I was hoping to see “Do You Think About Me” get a single release at some point (which could still happen if they pull a fifth single from the album), but I guess I still have to give her team credit for releasing “Blown Away” and “Two Black Cadillacs” back to back.

  34. Yes, I agree that it would be nice to get a more country-sounding release from Carrie. But mostly I’m just hoping that they don’t blow a single slot on “One Way Ticket” – there are far too many better tracks on the album.

  35. The chance to release “One Way Ticket” as a single has gone and passed now that “See You Again” isn’t going to radio, and I couldn’t be any happier on both counts.

    I think “See You Again” is flawless. I love Carrie’s vocals on the song and I love the instrumental on the song. The backing “oh-oh-oh”‘s detract a bit from the song, but I can live with it. Great choice for a release. I don’t really mind the fact that she’s not releasing all Country tunes with this album because, to be honest, the first four tracks — “Good Girl”, “Blown Away”, “Two Black Cadillacs”, and “See You Again” — are all the best four on the album, with maybe “Do You Think About Me” and “Wine After Whiskey” venturing somewhere in between a couple of those. At least they’re releasing quality material this time around, unlike the “Play On” era with releasing “Undo It” and “Mama’s Song”.

    Look on the bright side: after “See You Again”, they won’t have anymore pop-leaning songs to release! So I say “Do You Think About Me” will be released 5th.

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