LUKE BRYAN

                                                             "But I Got A Beer In My Hand" 

                                                              Capitol Records Nashville

Country megastar Luke Bryan is at the point in his career where he can choose what songs he wants to record and when it’s the perfect time to release them to radio.

Though he’s widely known for his country boy charm and up-tempo, field party anthems such as “What Makes You Country,” “Kick The Dust Up,” “That’s My Kinda Night,” and “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” he’s also shown a more poignant, thought-provoking side on “Fast,” “Most People Are Good,” and his most recent smash hit, “Country On.”

As the spring now begins to give way to summer, Bryan swerves back into that up-tempo, anthem style on his latest release, “But I Got A Beer In My Hand.”

The song, co-written by Matt Dragstrem, Chase McGill and Geoff Warburton, sees Bryan sitting squarely in that insatiable comfort zone that we’ve come to know and love from this side of his catalog, lyrically balancing how a broken heart should be making him feel against the smiley fact that he’s been there done that and there’s no time like the present for moving on and living it up.

Running through what he’s “supposed” to be doing to cope with the breakup, Bryan sings of how he should be in his recliner soaking in whiskey while crying and trying to get her back, only to then flip the script when he punches the memorable lines just before the chorus, “I know how that country song goes, I’m supposed to be heart broke.”

When the chorus strikes, Bryan enters an all-out banger territory that’s perfectly designed to ignite his lively crowds during his shows as they pump their fist and raise up a cold one as he sings:

“But I got a beer in my hand

And I got it raised up high

I ain’t got a give in my damn right

I can do this all night

Country done came to town

This town don’t stand a chance

I’ll holler at the ladies dancing like crazy, new Luccheses

Fresh up out the deer stand

Feeling this high wasn’t part of my plan

Wasn’t even gonna try

But I got a beer in my hand”

Continuing to paint the moving on and getting over her atmosphere while energizing the broken-hearted listener, he namechecks David Lee Murphy’s song “Party Crowd” as he exuberantly sings of feeling oh so good. 

Though Luke’s catalog is chalk full of songs like this, he still manages to find new ways to test the limits of his comfortable borders and dip just enough outside those lines to keep things fresh while retaining his core signature sound; something he’s shown once again on “But I Got A Beer In My Hand.”

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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