"Backwards" by Rascal Flatts from the album Me and My Gang. 2006.
As previously outlined, the start of each Thirdlist (as I shall call it from here-on out) for 2011 shall be a song containing "Backwards" in the title. And so fittingly, we now have this selection where the ONLY word in the title is indeed "Backwards". Yup. And unlike the great build-up that makes "My Backwards Walk" an ideal lead, this Rascal Flatts tune instead falls upon a clever twist- one that you'll never hear if you only peruse the first 30 seconds.
And, for most people who enjoy reading music blogs at least, I bet listening longer than 30 seconds, well... wouldn't be the first instinct. I mean, country tends to get a bad rep, especially the soppy, wistful numbers. "Backwards" appears very much that way at its start, complete with some man in a bar drearily droning with "tear-stains on his old shirt." Yet when he speaks, he asks not some "oh, why me?" question but rather the oddball "You wanna know what you get when you play a country song backwards?" Shortly after, the song's pace quickens like a a racehorse lubed with crack-laced coffee. It begins mocking its own genre, telling the lyrics of a generic-brand country song in rewind: all the things you've lost return. Spited friends and bitter lovers come back in a new-found raging tempo, along with some less desirable memories- your first heart attack included.
You can't argue that this song oozes country from every tin-roofed coop, and perhaps that sound just turns off your interest, no question. I enjoy it especially for its self-fulfilling satire. A country song poking fun at country songs. This kind of humorous self-depreciation should be enjoyable regardless of what genres give you night terrors. Be those genres old school rap, pop rock labeled as punk rock, or Nickelback. The groups admit to cliches found standard in their field and have a little fun with the fact. In a way, it's admirable that they tread on complaints critics have of their material. They rework the potential harshness into a snarky ditty meant to entertain both ends of the listening gap. If you can appreciate even just the jokey lyrics in "Backwards" with no prior country-soluble experience, that listening gap may very well turn into a welcome mat. It may not be your last country song!
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