“Austin”
Blake Shelton
Written by David Kent and Kristi Manna
Radio & Records
#1 (5 weeks)
August 3 – August 31, 2001
Billboard
#1 (5 weeks)
August 11 – September 8, 2001
When “Austin” released, it sounded as dated on the radio as the lyric’s technology sounds now.
Back in the days of answering machines, this was the way to have a breakthrough country hit: a heartfelt story song based around a recurring lyric that the storyline can refer back to. This one is fairly high concept, with a woman returning after a long absence to find her ex is still sending her messages through his answering machine greeting.
It wasn’t plausible then, nor was it even the most interesting chorus involving an answering machine (see Tanya Tucker, “Soon.”) But Shelton sings it beautifully and he illustrates early on that he’ll find great success by keeping his sound a little bit behind the trends of the day, which is a neat trick because it makes his records sound comforting and familiar, even when brand new.
“Austin” gets a B+.
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…technically it may not be flawless, but still one of the greatest country songs of this century in my book delivered just perfectly. the guy in the song is the epitome of a bro, yet a charming one. makes you wonder for a moment where it all turned wrong and what caused it.
I’ve always wondered how much inspiration this song borrowed from “Is That A Tear?”. That’s probably the second most popular country hit about an answering machine
To this day, this remains my favorite Blake Shelton song. I would call this an “A”. At the time I was somewhat pleasantly surprised that this made it to #1
A good song. For me I would agree with the “B+”.