“I Believe”
Diamond Rio
Written by Skip Ewing and Donny Kees
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
May 31 – June 7, 2003
Most days I can’t be bothered with the “Is this country?” debate.
It seems to be fought on grounds of identity more than musicality these days, so it’s never interested me less. Because more than anything else, it’s been the combination of fiddle, steel guitar, a great voice, and compelling songwriting that made me a country fan for life. The more elements of the four that are present, the better.
Now Diamond Rio shows up with at least two of those things most of the time. They’ve got a great deer for material and they always sound great singing. In fact, Marty Roe has rarely sounded as effective as a lead singer as he does on this record. It’s clear he means every word he says, and he’s working with a heartbreaking lyric that is well timed for the post-9/11 landscape.
Unfortunately, they go with a sleek, contemporary Christian production here that feels too antiseptic for the vulnerable vocal performance, and Bluegrass-tinged harmonies that it supports. This comes off as music made by and made for the already saved.
If this had a bit more twang to really lean into the undercurrent of grief, it would be a more powerful record.
“I Believe” gets a B.
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It’s not a bad song and it’s a pretty good performance but like so much from this time frame it’s just ok. A good listen but nothing I would purchase or put on a playlist. I give it a “B-“.
I liked this song better when it was called “You’re Gone”. That said, I still like this one a lot. I found the line about believing in ghosts a bit weird relative to the other lyrics, but neither its gloss nor one slightly off line threw me out of the song. Even second-tier Diamond Rio is still a cut above most other of their contemporaries, and the harmonies still get me good on this one.
I’m still a bit bummed that some of their more creative tracks in this timespan — “Stuff”, “That’s Just That”, and “Can’t You Tell” — all bombed. The latter, a shockingly well-done attempt to be the Mavericks for one song, didn’t even end up on an album!
I still cut Diamond Rio a ton of slack on their more CCM-y tracks because I remember what a fucking disaster “God Only Cries” was. I still can’t even figure out what they were trying to say with that song. Hands down their worst, and my least-favorite single of 2006.
My purist tendencies notwithstanding, I like this song a whole lot and always have. As I have noted before, I am just incurably sentimental, especially now, with a wife and children of my own.
I would also not put it on a playlist — but only because it leaves me a blubbering mess every time I hear it (and when I see the video), and that’s just embarrassing. ;)