Shelton delivers power & beauty in God’s Country

When country music songwriters tell a story, they tell it with such emotion that they hold the listener in suspense until they reach the ending.  Think The Gambler by Kenny Rogers or I Just Wanna Make Love to You by Heart. It is no different when they sing of love. Their ballads are all heart, bursting with passion. Remember Cold Cold Heart by Hank Williams or I’ll Always Love You by Dolly Parton.

Now, there are instances when both of those qualities come together and result in a song of such power and beauty. I recently came across a very good example. This is God’s Country, a composition by Devin Dawson, Hardy and Jordan Schmidt. It is a single out of Fully Loaded: God’s Country, the latest album by the big country music star Blake Shelton.

The 43-year-old Shelton is a consistent big concert draw with several Gold and Platinum records to his name. Even non-fans of country music doubtless recall his take on Michael Buble’s song Home. That was a great one. His God’s Country is another one. Shelton did not write the song but he is such an incredible vocalist that he makes the listener see the images he evokes and feel the love he has for his one-church town in his own country.

Country music is not as big as pop or hip-hop in the Philippines, but thanks to the reality singing competition The Voice on cable, a lot of people are familiar with Shelton. He has, after all, been with the show since the beginning and was the coach to most of the winners. He is also very quick-witted and has this sexy, charming presence. It will be no surprise to find him hosting Saturday Night Live one of these days.

I believe that Shelton’s banter with ex-coach Adam Levine of Maroon 5 helped keep the ratings up for many years. Now he has the cute pop idol Nick Jonas, another fast-thinker with a way with words, to play with. High ratings again. Come to think of it, one probable reason why The Voice has produced no big stars up to now is because none of those contestants can be better or bigger than the coaches. Also coaching this season are Kelly Clarkson and John Legend.

Fully Loaded: God’s Country is also a greatest hits collection. Aside from new tracks like the title song and Hell Right featuring Trace Adkins, there is also Nobody But You, a duet with Shelton’s lady love Gwen Stefani, a former member of the group No Doubt and a former coach of The Voice.

There are also Came Here to Forget, She’s Got A Way with Words, A Guy with a Girl, Every Time I Hear That Song, I’ll Name The Dogs, I Lived It, Turnin’ Me On, Jesus Got a Tight Grip and a cover of a classic Mac Davis tune, Tequila Sheila. The album has already sold over a million units and it is clear that God’s Country is the reason why.

In it, the country boy Shelton sings: “…I don’t care what my headstone reads/ or what kind of pine wood box I end up in/when it’s my time landing six-feet deep in God’s country/I saw the light in a sunrise/sittin’ back in a 40 on the muddy river side/getting baptized in holy water and shine with the dogs runnin’/saved by the sound of the being found/Dixie whistle in the wind, that’ll get you Heaven bound/The devil went down to Georgia but he didn’t stick around/This is God’s country.”

I am particularly taken by the last lines of the song. “The devil went down to Georgia but he didn’t stick around.” This world of ours is God’s country. Let us keep that in our heads. The devil may have pulled some tricks on us by spreading this hateful virus around but we can beat it if we band together and do what we should. Out, out, virus you. Out, out devil you. There is no reason for you to stick around. Not here in God’s country.