Brooks & Dunn’s third studio album was WAITIN’ ON
SUNDOWN (1994, Arista). It was produced
by Don Cook and Scott Hendricks and peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top
Country Albums chart and at #15 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album produced 5 Top Ten songs. Brooks & Dunn won ‘Top Vocal Duo’ from
the Academy of Country Music and ‘Vocal Duo of the Year’ from the Country Music
Association the year this album was released.
The first two songs were penned by Ronnie Dunn. ‘Little Miss Honky Tonk’ is a fun, upbeat
country song: “Well, she’s a looker/Heads turn when she comes through the
door/A show stopper when she gets to goin’ out on the floor/Oh, we leave all
our troubles and cares way behind us/I feel like I’m a king when I’m out with
her highness/I’m her big cat daddy, she’s my little Miss Honky Tonk/Oh, oh, I
love her so/Stand back, give her room boys and watch her go”. ‘She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind’ is one of three
#1 singles from the album. It speaks to
the character of a woman and is adult contemporary in nature: “She’s not the
cheatin’ kind/She’s been cheated one too many times/Oh, she’s never fooled
around/He’s still lyin’, she’s through cryin’/She’s not foolin’ now”.
‘Silver and Gold’ is a sad, all too familiar tale: “She
knows what’s been keepin’ him out too late/She never was the kind to sit around
and wait/She loosened the locket he gave her/Took off her wedding band/And when
he gets home he’ll find/All she’s left behind is silver and gold/Haven’t they
lost their shine?/Tonight she let go for the last time/Just silver and
gold/Ties that no longer bind her/Now he’s left alone with silver and
gold”. ‘I’ll Never Forgive my Heart’ is
a country and western ballad that many men will be able to relate to: “I fell
in and I fell hard/Now she’s sayin’ she’s found someone new/How could I have
been such a fool/Oh close the door, turn out the lights, draw the curtain/I’ll
get over her in time/It’s gonna take some hurtin’”.
‘You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone’ is about the
disintegration of a romantic relationship: “There’s not much chance we’re gonna
make it/If I’m the only one who’s trying/You know I’m running out of
reasons/We’re running out of time/Someday, girl, you’re gonna wake up/And
wonder what went wrong/You better kiss me/You’re gonna miss me when I’m
gone/You’re good at going through the motions/And all I hear are alibis/Now I
get this empty feeling/When I look into your eyes”. Kix Brooks, Don Cook, and Bill LaBounty wrote
‘My Kind of Crazy’. It is an adventurous
country-pop song: “I saw you at the drive-in dancing on a car/Rocking to the
radio underneath the stars/Living every moment like it was your last/Don’t know
where you’re going/You’re just going fast/You’re my kind of crazy/Full moon
saying you know what I like/How about it baby?/Let’s you and I go out and get
crazy tonight”.
‘Whiskey Under the Bridge’ is a cheery country and western
song that is good to dance to: “All those nights of drinking/Finally got me
thinking/Heartache is just a waste of time/I’ve been burned, I’ve been
cheated/But this old heart’s still beating/Ain’t no big deal/It’s just whiskey
under the bridge”. ‘If that’s the Way
you Want It’ has an old school country and western feel to it and finds a guy
wanting to get closer to a gal: “I’m laid back, easy-going/I’m not the jealous
kind/I won’t get in your business/If you won’t mess with mine/Just say the word
‘Forever’/I’ll gladly sing that tune/I’ll lay the world down at your feet and
fly you to the moon”.
‘She’s the Kind of Trouble’ is the only song here penned
solely by Kix Brooks and it’s a good one!
It’s a happy, harmless country song: “There’s one kind of trouble that I
don’t mind/She meets me after work when the sun goes down/She’s the kind of
trouble makes the world go ‘round/Total strangers, even my best friends/Bird-dog
my baby when she walks in/She’s a little slice of heaven and hell on heels/And
never gonna walk the line/Oh, but she’s the kind of trouble that I don’t
mind”. Kix Brooks and Chick Rains wrote
the tender closing song, ‘A Few Good Rides Away’, which is about a waitress
with big dreams who is in a committed relationship.
WAITIN’ ON SUNDOWN is a splendid third album from Brooks
& Dunn. Kix and Ronnie each sing
lead on five tracks. Six of the songs
are slow-paced, while four are fast.
Topic-wise five of the songs are happy ones about love and infatuation,
three are about relationships ending, and two directly deal with
infidelity. This country and western
album has an overall warm and pleasant tone to it. You will want to give it more than one
listen. I’m rating WAITIN’ ON SUNDOWN
90%. For more info visit: www.brooksanddunn.wordpress.com.