Ramble On- February 8

Kiss Me When I'm Down- Gary Allan -- It's amazing how listening to some songs can take you back to an exact time in your life. Just by hearing the first few notes, your mind and heart are completely transported back a month, a year, ten years, to the time when your ears first heard it, and your soul first felt every word the artist was saying. 

I have that kind of reaction to this song. When I hear it, I go back to last year, spring break. I was in my roommate's jeep, and we were on our way back to her aunt's house we were staying at in Panama City. It was late at night, and I was in a sad, single, and just dark place emotionally. This song just seemed perfect for me for that exact moment, and every time I hear it, I go right back there, and still feel every word he says the same way I did that night.  

This song is perfect if you're in a "we just broke up, but I miss you, and I just want to feel sorry for myself" kind of mood. I love, love, love this song. 

   

Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) - Vertical Horizon -- As I was listening to the previously mentioned Gary Allan song, I also listented to his cover of Vertical Horizon's "Best I Ever Had." Though I really like Allan's version, the original is a classic that you just can't beat.

Also falling along the lines of sad/lonely/breakup songs (maybe this weather is making me depressed?) this song is great when you just want to feel sorry for yourself, or just hear a really good song. Quite beautiful, and a nice kick back to 1999.

 

Country Boy- Aaron Lewis -- A friend (and the biggest lover of Aaron Lewis I know) recommended this song to me a few months back, and I instantly assumed that Aaron Lewis was born in my hometown and that the video was filmed in Center Point. Turns out, he's no Kentuckian, but actually a Vermont/Massachusetts-ian. Listening to him sing about growing up "on an old dirt road in a town you wouldn't know" is more than relatable, though.

If you are used to the Staind side of Lewis, this song is not gonna be it. It's the first single from his new country-flavored EP set to come out in early March, and though it has familiar vocal soundings, the lyrics are different than any Staind song I've ever heard. Adjust to the style and you're in for a ride through the story of his life, from his roots to the selling his soul to "the devil in L.A."

If you have any country in you at all, you might have just found your new anthem.  (And as a side note, if you want to buy me a gift in thanks of increasing your musical brain, the guitar he plays in the video would be just perfect. Please and thank you.)