“I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”
Brad Paisley
Written by Brad Paisley and Frank Rogers
Radio & Records
#1 (1 week)
July 5, 2002
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
July 6 – July 13, 2002
I don’t find Brad Paisley funny, and that’s going to be an issue moving forward.
Humor is so specific to the person. My sister, for example, finds Adam Sandler to be one of the funniest actors on the planet. I walked out of The Waterboy after twenty minutes because that was already too many minutes of my life I’d never get back for enduring such tomfoolery.
But even if I did find his turns of phrase and deadpan delivery funny, it couldn’t save this song from being exactly what it is: a novelty number reverse engineered from a popular bumper sticker of the day.
Because the entire joke fits on a bumper sticker, and it was on every third SUV within ten miles of a Big Bass Pro Shop in 2002, the song needed to be fleshed out to sustain my interest. Paisley’s songwriting would get better with time, but because his visual sensibility was strong out of the gate, the music video remains the best way to experience this song. It’s a lot funnier than the song itself, which fittingly fades into the background a good chunk of the time.
“I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” gets a C.
Every No. 1 Single of the 2000s
Previous: George Strait, “Living and Living Well” |
Next: Toby Keith, “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)”
I’ll have to disagree with the grade. I like Brad Paisley and especially this performance. Very country and I’ve always had a soft spot for the crowd sing along feel of the song. I would give it an A but I could see why you would give it a C. It’s been a while since I heard the song so I was surprised with how country it sounded. Novelties can wear with time but this hasn’t for me.
Put me down on the list of country music fans who think the genre was better for having Brad Paisley, particularly given that his career took off at a time when the genre was experiencing a creative downturn overall. That doesn’t mean his batting average was 1.000 though. My issue with “I’m Gonna Miss Her” was the same that I had with a lot of the comedy-country of Tom T. Hall, who clearly inspired Paisley’s songwriting style. Many of the songs just don’t hold up to repeated listening. After the joke has been conveyed and fully processed by the listener, there’s not enough of a sonic reward to avoid rapidly diminishing returns of satisfaction with each subsequent listen.
That’s why I was very surprised “I’m Gonna Miss Her” made it all the way to #1 in a year like 2002 where reaching the top of the pyramid had gotten vastly harder than the 80s and 90s. If the song had a 15-week chart run and peaked at #17, I’d have understood, but clearly I underestimated the sheer expanse of male fishing enthusiasts burning up the phone line to the radio station to request a song about choosing angling over marital vows. So while I may have gotten a subdued chuckle from this song the first couple of times I heard it, it’s clearly not my flavor of pudding and the most baffling chart-topper in quite some time.
Grade: C-
At some point, I got tired of Paisley’s habit of putting out a cutesy song followed by a heartfelt song.
But I LOVED this song. It hit all marks with lyrics, vocals, and guitar playing. A great country song IMO.
Also, the video was hilarious. That look on his face when he shrugs at future wife Kimberly along with the antics of Little Jimmy Dickens made for plenty of laughs.
A definite A for me.
…us soccer guys, we have “we are the champions” and “sweet caroline” to celebrate great victories and the moment. this one must be the equivalent for the bass guys – priceless.
Obviously you know this Kevin, but taste is subjective for a reason! Nothing wrong with Paisley’s humor not landing for you.
However, I’m a big Paisley fan because most of the time his humor does land for me. This is no exception. This is one of my favorite of his humorous songs, though I do think his best work is his most serious.
Humor is a very individual thing – I never found shows like SEINFELD or FRIENDS funny at all. This song works better when accompanied by the video, but it rings true to life as a song as I know several people, including some in-laws, to whom fishing is the end-all and be-all of recreation
I always found the “oh, the ol’ ball and chain, am I right, fellas?” type “humor” extremely dated even in 2002. When I reviewed this song, I said it sounded like the husband from The Lockhorns was singing it. To be fair, this isn’t nearly as back-handed as “Little Moments” and it’s certainly better than Bobby Braddock’s “Nag, Nag, Nag”, but it’s pretty played-out.
I also agree that Brad’s humor songs usually miss the mark. Sometimes he gets the balance just right, such as “Alcohol”, but a lot of the time he either tries way too hard (“Ticks”) or gets lazy (this song).
Album version – A.
Single version with all the unnecessary hoots and hollers – D.
Like Mark, it’s the lack of sonic reward that keeps me from really liking this song. It’s sonically boring to me. He’s certainly had some big misses, but I’m generally a Paisley fan. One of my favorite humorous songs of his is “One Beer Can.”