Single Review: A Thousand Horses, “Smoke”

A Thousand Horses Smoke

“Smoke”
A Thousand Horses

Written by Ross Copperman, Michael Hobby, and Jon Nite

Your tolerance for this song will be completely dependent on your tolerance for a woman being compared to nicotine addiction.

If you’re on board with that, perhaps lines like “blowing smoke rings around my heart” and “once I pick her up, I can’t put her down” won’t nauseate you.

Personally, I think it’s a disgusting objectification and that the record is trashy and shameless.

Since the video is even worse than the song, I’m not embedding it. If you feel like slumming, you can look for it yourself.

Grade: F

11 Comments

  1. My wife would have zero tolerance for this song. We listen to music together every morning.
    A much better choice would be listening to “A Thousand Wild Horses” a Blue Sky Riders song with Gary Burr singing lead, written by Gary w Sam & Annie Tate.

  2. Hmm…I must have much greater tolerance for “a woman being compared to nicotine addiction,” because I kind of like this.

    It’s not great by any stretch, and the fact that it’s likely keeping Maddie and Tae from releasing their excellent song of the same name is very frustrating, but I do appreciate the gritty, deeper textures and sound, and I think that this band has a lot of promise.

    In terms of objectification, I think you can do a lot worse than this. This doesn’t strike me as nearly as malicious as a song like “Crazy Girl” or “Drink On It”. I can see where you’re coming from, but in mind it just isn’t that offensive. It’s a B for me.

  3. Interesting take on the song. It’s quite common in country to compare women to an addictive substance. Jerrod Niemann had a song with the line “they should’ve called you cocaine” if I’m not mistaken. Plus, “You and Tequila,” “Drunk On You,” and “Whiskey in My Water.”

    I actually don’t mind comparing a woman to a cigarette. I think the idea is that you just can’t get enough of her.

    That said, they really don’t have anything interesting to say in this song and comparing a girl to something addictive has been done plenty of times already. But I think the production is decent compared to other country hits.

    I give this song a C. I think it’s okay but I’ll forget it 10 minutes after hearing it.

    The video is terrible though and I’m a little surprised Big Machine thought it was a good way to introduce a new band.

  4. I would give this song a C. It’s a little generic Southern Rock, well below the likes of Whiskey Myers or Blackberry Smoke, but I find it much better in terms of production and writing than FGL, Gilbert, etc.

    The subject matter of the song does not bother me, the comparing of women to smoke, liquor, etc. is nothing new and has been in the genre for a long time. I’m not a big fan of it, but it doesn’t automatically make it a F for me.

    That video is pretty bad, it makes sense if they are trying to appeal to a mainstream rock audience, but if they are trying to sell that to a Country audience I’m not sure it will work.

  5. First of all, I’m a long-time reader but first-time poster… Love this website!

    I’m surprised there has been so much buzz around this song, because it’s very dull. I don’t hate it, but it doesn’t raise my pulse at all. I’m not offended by the lyric at all, though. Just underwhelmed. If you want a song that effectively compares a woman to cigarettes, I’d go with “Me and Your Cigarettes” by Miranda Lambert. The comparison is negative in that one, but it’s a lot more compelling.

    Also, the melody in the… I guess bridge? The pre-chorus? Not sure what you’d call it – at around the two minute mark sounds remarkably similar to “The Name of the Game” by ABBA. I hope I’m not the only one who hears that. Haha.

  6. I’m a bit surprised by this grade, especially considering your adoration for a song like “Drunk on You”.

    It certainly doesn’t bug me, but nonetheless, this song is fairly dull and brings nothing new to the table. ‘C’ for me.

  7. Kendra,

    The reason this song has had so much buzz is because A Thousand Horses is being backed by On The Verge (the same system that launched Sam Hunt and Chase Bryant) and the song is being played every hour or so on Clear Channel stations. Thus, most critics want to make sure and put in their two cents on it.

  8. I’m surprised this got an F. Like some of the other commenters, I don’t see the comparison as degrading. It’s not the greatest song, but I think there are bigger fish to fry. That said, once I watched the video I better understood where you’re coming from. I have to agree that the video is trashy and tasteless.

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