Luke Bryan is one of my absolute favorite country artists. A lot of girls are caught fangirl-ing over his constant booty shaking, and while I must admit that I cannot disagree, I am the first to admit that there is a lot more to Luke Bryan than his gyrating hips that make all of the girls swoon: like his lyrics.
Being a huge fan, I can honestly say that I know every single song from every album, but a lot of people only know the hits like Kill the Lights, Drunk on You, and Country Girl (Shake It For Me).
I am not about to go into great detail about every single under-appreciated song Luke Bryan has sung, he has sung a lot of songs. But here are five songs that have come straight from Luke's albums that people don't know are absolutely phenomenal.
1. What Country Is
"It ain't a rebel flag you bought at the mall
It's a hide away bed in an old horse stall
Two kids gettin' caught stealin' a Boone's farm kiss
It ain't a John Deere cap that's never fell in the cotton
It's a Jimmy Rodgers song that was long forgotten
It's homemade peach ice cream on sunburnt lips
That's what country is"
This song is one of those ones where, when you finally hear it, you're like "YES! HE GETS IT!" Seeing all of these people, especially at summer concerts, wearing their cowboy boots for what seems like the first time, really reminds me of this song. Watching those people who's boots have never even been out of the box makes me want to carry around speakers and blast this song so every single one of them can hear it.
2. Faded Away
"I don't remember much about that time,
Just the smell of the air and your hand in mine.
Riding the strip, sittin' on my lap
In the back of the truck with the only friends I had.
It was spring break, we were out late,
And I though goodness for heavens sake.
When I saw you...
And then I kissed you..."
This song is a story about Spring Break love and how it only lasts a week, maybe, but this one sticks out because it tells the story of the whole week that these two people were together, and fell in love. I absolutely love this song, Luke tells such a great story here, and you get feeling so many different types of ways after listening to it.
3. The Sand I Brought To The Beach
"I pulled her into my right
And we rode down here
Maybe some sun, maybe some quality time
We've had a rocky year
She wasn't ready for me jumping on the bar
And buying everybody them shots
While I was burning off my credit card
She was burning tires out in the parking lot"
This song is one that really gets into Luke's personality. Simply put: he is a total goof and loves to have fun. This song is about him originally coming to Panama City with a girl, but she could not really handle "Spring Break Luke" and his crazy ways, so she leaves him there, but that is completely fine, according to Luke, because he is still going to be living it up. He doesn't need her, he only needs a ride home from his boys.
4. Too Damn Young
"Every time my feet are danglin' in the water
I can't help but think about her
Lyin' there with her wet hair
Didn't know what we were doin' but we didn't care
That old wooden dock was warm on our backs
T-shirt for a pillow and just like that
She kissed me like she meant forever
We were too damn young to know any better"
This is a song about reminiscing on a young love. They had no idea what they were doing, but they also were not worried about a thing because they were in love and had each other. I believe young Luke was probably a very adventurous and spontaneous lad. When it comes to love he was probably the same way. He met his wife, Caroline, in college, so he had plenty of time to make crazy decisions about life and love before he realized it was time to settle down. Great song with a really cute story.
5. You Don't Know Jack
"But you don't know Jack,
Double shot, eighty proof, on the rocks,
Until you've lost it all.
And you can't go back
To your life, and your kids, and your ex-wife
With just a telephone call.
If you think it's just a bottle,
In an old brown paper sack
You don't know Jack."
An emotional song about not judging a book by it's cover, told beautifully by a man who has lost it all. At the beginning of the song we know that the person who's point of view we are in is asked for some money by a homeless man, and makes the negative assumption that he is going to use it for negative uses and tells the homeless man to "get a job". The homeless man lost everything after his job. His ex-wife told him he needed to leave and she kept the kids from him. This song is a slower song that really tells the story about the homeless man and makes you rethink casting judgement. Also, it makes you realize that people have it worse than you, and you should appreciate what you have. Because unless it is happening to you, "you don't know Jack".
