Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006

"The Firefly's Song" by Alan Jackson

Songs about old men getting older and their love for their women getting stronger tend to be either transcendent or cheesy. This one's both. Jackson delivers his tale of wisdom-with-age in a Gordon Lightfoot baritone that suggests strength and sentiment in perfect harmony. ("I don't sing like I used to/ Sometimes less is more.") Meanwhile the production, like all country production, is just a little too eager. (Swelling lap steel, eh? He must be melancholy!) Luckily Jackson's knockout vocal — the best of his career — tilts the scale and carries the day.