My family hates country music. In fact, they don't really consider it music.
Note that I said "my family," not me. My exposure to country music's pretty limited because of that, though I'll occasionally listen to the Christian/country station out of curiosity. "Before He Cheats" won Carrie Underwood three awards at the voter-determined CMT awards this past week.
Her boyfriend's cheating on her "with a bleach blonde tramp." The song's narrator therefore goes and trashes "his pretty little souped-up 4-wheel drive," scratching it up, slashing the tires, and smashing out the headlights with a Louisville Slugger. (A Louisville Slugger is famous type of baseball bat, for those who like me would have to look that up.) Oh, and all this is a preliminary to dumping him. The language of "Before He Cheats" does avoid cussing and such, but the topic alone is more directly adult; the song clearly states that the cheating is an intended sexual escapade.
The pro-vengeance element is likewise iffy, though Carrie Underwood (or, rather, the narrator of the song's story) at least does demonstrate some sense in getting rid of the guy. The car-destroying could have been intended as an expression of the emotions of the situation rather than a promotion vengeful behavior. And the intention to teach the guy a lesson to help his next girlfriend is less selfish than many songs about this situational cliché tend to be.
The music of "Before He Cheats" is nothing special. Even the most casual listener will automatically think "country" upon hearing the music, and there's nothing notable about it. I don't know if this is indicative of the rest of Some Hearts.
Carrie Underwood's voice, however, proves her previous placement in American Idol. It's strong and mature, and also makes me think "country." That may be due to my being used to "Jesus, Take the Wheel" on the country station, which was the first time I'd ever heard her. (I've not seen American Idol besides a few episodes of the first season; I've lacked a TV since then.) Her voice suites the genre without sounding whiny or nasal.
Overall, it's a neat song, but I don't think it particularly special besides being on the better end of average. But the music video was well-done.
Music: 3/5
Vocalist(s): 4/5
Overall: 6/10
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