With his island-inspired rhythms and lyrics that tell of good times in Mexico, cold beer, sunshine, and most everything else that evokes thoughts of warm-weather fun, Kenny Chesney has positioned himself as the go-to guy for this kind of song over the past decade. After a full minute of residual, chunky guitar explosions, Chesney launches into yet another of his ‘time for a good time’ anthems in his latest single.
‘Live A Little’ isn’t groundbreaking, original, or even all that clever. Actually, everything about this track is generic, and Chesney is just repeating past hits here – several of them are compressed to make the gist of ‘Live A Little’. There aren’t even any memorable lines that dot Chesney’s own like-songs, and the story arc must have come from a focus group. Here’s the basic breakdown: Act one: frustrated man on the interstate, Act two: man resolved to have a good time at a club finds the girl of his dreams, Act Three: reiterate bumper-sticker jargon sprinkled throughout. Set to a groovy and catchy melody, and you’ve got a modern country hit. But what ups this track from being a total snooze is the believability of Chesney’s performance, and how he make it all seem effortless, which it probably is at this point.
This concept continues to work for Chesney because he knows his way around a good-time song. He swaggers through the lines as if they’re something great, and I almost believed him the first time through. That takes talent with a song like this.
Grade: B-
Songwriters: Shane Minor & David Lee Murphy
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