“My attitude is celibate: it just don’t give a fuck.” If I wasn’t driving through a snowstorm this morning I would have been laughing my ass off. Part of how he did that was with his lyrical prowess. Fabolous touched on each of these topics but made them his own. But, if you do it well, who cares? Sure, rappers will always go to the well of rapping about how tough they are, how fame is a burden, how friends aren’t as loyal as they seem, and how women seem to disappear when the money and fame run out. Sure, one may contend that the themes and topics Fabolous chose to rap about have been done a million times by a million other rappers. Though white and without much experience with rap music, I found the album to be exactly that: pleasant. Since I enjoyed “My Time” so much I figured the rest of the album would have the same vibe. To get the one track I acquired the entire album. If you cannot hear it in the video, it’s the song “ My Time” and, since I found out the name of the song, it’s been one of my best workout songs on my iPod. Track of Distinction: “ Love Ain’t Like That.” Though the lyrics lack any sort of subtlety (which makes me very, very angry) this track holds its own with great production values and Hill’s ability to add a layer of emotion with those magnificent pipes of hers.įull confession: I got this album because the second track was used by my favorite baseball team, the Colorado Rockies, as their pre-game video song during the 2010 season. On the track, “ The Secret of Life,” she confesses that “The secret of life is Monday Night Football, Rolling Stones records, and Mom’s apple pie.” I guess that was enough of a resume to get her the gig. All I do know is I finally figured out why Faith Hill sings the NBC Sunday Night Football theme song. Hill has a great voice even 14 years later and, if I were a woman, I would probably love this album, too. This music is not my cup of tea but, and I try to do this even with music I dislike, I see the value and talent in it. A second sexual revolution was happening in the late 90s, and it all revolved around powerful female country singers and bare midriffs. Most of the album (none of which was penned by Hill, FYI) sounds like a counter-argument to all of those male country songs of the past. So, if the guy is sad that his girl is gone, Faith is here to tell you she left because he was a dick (or needed her freedom or needed to find herself, etc.). The songs (at least Faith’s songs) are more about the other side of the male-oriented stories that dominated country music for the past 70 years. Something about hearing songs about how a woman made a guy so sad and how everyone’s going to lose everything someday didn’t put any spring in my giddy-up.įaith Hill was part of that female country-rock revolution that started with Shania Twain and continues today with Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum. But country music has always been that genre that just never sat right with me, even when I was in my cowboy phase as a kid. I felt that, since I held onto it there may be the chance I would like it. For these people, the Bellagio was kind enough to set two fountain shows to Lee Greenwood‘s “ God Bless the USA” and Faith Hill’s “ This Kiss.” As something to make my wife happy, I made her a mix of the songs they play during the fountain shows and, to make it complete, I included the two aforementioned songs.ĭuring this project, I knew I would be listening to music that I acquired specifically for other people. Most of the selections are pretty good and make for a good show, but others are blatant pandering to the hillbillies that come to Vegas to feel like a civilized person over a 3-day weekend. My wife loves this hotel and its water fountains that spray in-time with music. It all started with the Bellagio in Las Vegas. So, why do I have this album? It’s simple. Sure, there are times when country music is appropriate (drunken nights after being left by your wife, long pickup truck rides on gravel roads, being held at gun point in a log cabin by a guy in a John Deere hat, etc.) but I can live most of my life without needing such music as the background. Have I mentioned lately that I don’t like country music? To say I’m not its biggest fan is an understatement.