10 Great Kenny Chesney Album Cuts
When people think about Kenny Chesney, they probably think about his mainstream singles that have stood the test of time. He’s no stranger to having a hit, with over 30 #1 hits and plenty more top 10 hits as well. Most times, the singles he releases are about three things, the beach/summer (“Summertime”, “Beer In Mexico”), your youth (“Young”, “Keg in the Closet”), or a ballad about love or lost love (“Anything But Mine”, “The Good Stuff”).
Not saying any of that is bad, but after over 25 years of success, sometimes he gets pigeonholed into just being the guy that sells out stadiums and packs a punch in those shows. Truth is, he has tons of great album cuts that most people never hear because they just listen to the radio. I’m here to rectify that, and maybe give you a little bit more of a deep dive into Chesney’s career as a whole.
Trip Around The Sun - Cosmic Hallelujah
The first track off Chesney’s 17th studio album, Cosmic Hallelujah, “Trip Around The Sun” playfully tackles the end of the world and in a typically Kenny way, he makes light of it and says “some day could be any day this world is gonna end/But that's alright, that's okay/There ain't nothin we can do about the whole thing anyway”, essentially throwing his hands in the air while waiting for the world to come crashing down. Some would call it silly, but to me it’s a carefree reminder that there’s only so much that’s actually in our control and we should learn to appreciate what we got while we have it.
Coach - Cosmic Hallelujah
What is the final track off that Cosmic Hallelujah record, “Coach” is one that’ll tear at your heart strings if you’ve ever had a close mentor. It’s a song Chesney wrote with Casey Beathard, who is one of the top songwriters in Nashville, as well as being a son of NFL Hall of Fame GM, Bobby Beathard. It’s clear football is a huge priority for both Chesney and Beathard, but paint this as one of my favorite Chesney football-centric songs. While the lyrics aren’t specific at all, it works here in my opinion. For anybody who’s had a person wear a ton of hats in their profession (“You were a teacher, a preacher, a mother, a father, a lot less taker than giver, a keeper of secrets”), this is a nod to them to say “Thanks for not giving up on me”.
Seven Days - Hemingway’s Whiskey
“Seven Days'“ is a track that gets lost in Hemingway’s Whiskey. It’s stuck between 5 MASSIVE radio hits, a George Jones duet, and couple other solid album cuts (another one of which will make this list)…so it might have got passed over through a first listen of that record. It’s a spiritual successor to Chesney’s mega-hit (and my all time favorite Kenny song) “Anything But Mine” and what would happen if that one night turned into a week long romance. The feeling of nostalgia, the little details (“jetty rock”, “salt water taffy on her lips”), and the crushing, slow build up to the bridge (that feels like a wave crashing into those jetty rocks) make this one of the ones I re-visit often on this album.
Don’t It - The Big Revival
I love a good acoustic track, with tons of little details and solid overall life lessons. Chesney is no stranger to these types of songs, but this seems to be one of the most honest. The song takes you through getting out of a small town, starting a band, infidelity, and eventually just waking up one day and realizing that life keeps going on and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. It’s really neat when artists have self reflective moments and can find peace with their faults and mistakes and even though Chesney didn’t write this one, “Don’t It” sounds like he might have.
The Road and the Radio - The Road and the Radio
Another mostly acoustic song, but this time from one of Chesney’s older (and most successful) albums. The title track from The Road and the Radio, is a different take on a road trip song. Instead of being in a car listening to the radio with a bunch of your buddies on a trip to somewhere else, this is a much more melancholy and thoughtful version. The narrator is leaving home, using the “road and the radio” to free up his mind and help find strength to move on from what happened previously in his life. This sounds like a song that only 2000s Kenny Chesney could have taken to the top of the radio charts.
Wife and Kids - Just Who I Am : Poets & Pirates
The opening line of this song goes “Everybody thinks I got it all/Nobody really does, do they?” and that’s a side of Chesney that we hadn’t seen up until this point. For an artist who sell out stadiums and is a multi-millionaire, he’s a guy that tends to keep his private life private. This track pulls back the curtain a little bit and has Chesney pining for one day being able to more of a personal life with a wife and kids. As “normal” people, we tend to think all these fancy musicians and artists really DO have it all, but most of them are still looking for something more.
Where I Grew Up - Hemingway’s Whiskey
This is the other album cut I’m selecting off Hemingway’s Whiskey, and it’s a damn good one. This is a classic Chesney song with life lessons galore, although it’s done in a non-typical way. The narrator gives you little details from his home and the river bank he grew up, but states that while it might be WHERE he grew up, it’s not exactly when he grew up. He grew up from the big moments in his life, like when his grandfather died or when he rolled his truck drunk driving, and learned from those moments. As Chesney sings, “You learn as you/that’s how you grow”.
Heartbreakers - Here & Now
A song that could have 100% been a single from this record (and I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t over the eventual fifth single “Everyone She Knows”). Very few do nostalgia as well as Kenny Chesney, and this is an upbeat track that longs for the days of your youth and wanting to know what has happened to all your former flames. It’s a little too similar to Chesney’s “All the Pretty Girls” but I still thoroughly enjoy it. I love the little details about each girl he’s referring to, although the phrasing in the chorus is a little bit too forced.
Somebody Take Me Home - The Road and the Radio
Originally recorded by the Randy Rogers Band on their album Rollercoaster in 2004, Chesney made it his own by slicking it up a little bit and keeping the tempo up. Losing love is a topic usually reserved for slower ballads, but the upbeat nature of the instrumentation keeps the sparse lyrics from feeling a bit too empty. Chesney has never been known for being “the best” vocalist in country music, but the final verse is one of my more favorable moments.
If This Bus Could Talk - The Big Revival
The final track from The Big Revival, this is a song that hits the sweet spot of Chesney reminiscing on his career from the prospective of his tour bus. It’s a co-written track with songwriting legend Tom Douglas, and it tells Chesney’s musical journey, from opening up for Patty Lovelass to the rest of his over two decades of traveling from show to show. It ends with a subtle thank you to his fans. “If This Bus Could Talk” is nice closing song on The Big Revival as it’s a good reflection of Chesney and I think with that, it’s a good way to round out this list.
Well, this is the first of my “Best Album Cuts” and I think it’s a pretty solid list! I got ideas for a couple more artists’, but if you have any suggestions, hit me up on Twitter. Besides that, I linked a Spotify playlist to check out all of these really good songs you might have missed
