Justin Moore - "If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away"
By: Matt Bjorke
Outside of “Small Town USA,” Justin Moore’s singles could’ve been called “Loud,” “Louder,” and “Loudest” With this in mind, he’s stated publically how he was going to have his sophomore album be more traditionally oriented than ‘southern rock’ influenced. Given how “Small Town USA” was his true breakthrough as a country music singer, this makes a sense. It also helps to not be known – more or less – as a one trick pony. Because of this, his fourth single, “How I Got To Be This Way,” didn’t hit as high on the charts as “Backwoods” did and tied with first single “Back That Thing Up,” only one out of three ‘loud’ singles hit the Top 10. It also didn’t help that “How I Got To Be This Way” and “Backwoods” had similar themes explored in “Small Town USA.”
So, with all of this in mind, we get to Justin Moore’s lead single from his as yet untitled sophomore project. “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” is a song that feels way more like “Small Town USA” and actually recalls part of the non-single “Grandpa” from Justin’s self-titled debut album. Written by Dallas Davidson, Rob Hatch and Brett Jones, this song may be familiar to Rhett Akins fans as he released it as a single five years ago (but it didn’t chart). As somebody who lost my Grandpa recently, this song really hits home. It’s not only the kind of song that tugs on the heart strings just right (a calling card of sorts for good country songs) but it also shows off a different side to Justin Moore, one that was much needed after the loud odes to small town life. This one still can be visualized as a song about small town folks, but it’s about a much, much personal thing – the loss of loved ones.
There are sure to be some people who loved Justin More in that loud, louder and loudest mindset but for my money, he’s a much more effective and emotive vocalist when he doesn’t have to compete with the noise to get his songs across, which should be a given when one has to virtually yell to spit out lyrics. It’s a critique that has been levied against other ‘yellers’ like Randy Houser and now the JaneDear girls. If you can sing the melody without yelling, shouldn’t you want to do it? Thankfully Justin, his production team and label have realized this and allowed us to hear an artist who has the ability to be a big star with more singles like “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.”
READER'S COMMENTS
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Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2011
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Marco says:
Posted: Monday, February 7, 2011
Benny,
You're certainly not alone in that assessment with liking this more than two of his 3 singles (since "Small Town USA" was nostalgic in the right spots for me).
Benny says:
Posted: Monday, February 7, 2011
certainly positively surprised by this song and how wordy this guy can get - didn't like any of his his loud and dumb previous singles, but this is quite listenable and touching
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