Blake Shelton – God Gave Me You (CD Single Review)
Label – 2011 Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Release Date – July 11, 2011
Time – 3:55
Writer – Dave Barnes
Rating (Out of 10): 8/10
This is the second single to be released from the album RED RIVER BLUE following on from the #1 smash “Honey Bee” which has garnered a CMA nomination. ‘God Gave Me You’ is a power ballad which will most probably be a track that future married couples will consider for a wedding song.
With its Coldplay-like opening the listener is immediately drawn into the affecting words of the opening lines:
“I’ve been a walking heartache, I’ve made a mess of me, The person that I’ve been lately, Ain’t who I wanna be, But you stay here right beside me, Watch as the storm goes through, And I need you”
The song was composed by Dave Barnes who is an American rock-R&B-contemporary Christian Nashville singer-songwriter. He released it back in January 2010 as the lead single from his album, WHAT WE WANT, WHAT WE GET reaching #21 on US Adult Contemporary Chart (See Youtube video). One wonders if the song might have been pitched to someone like a lurved-up Keith Urban but in interview Shelton said “I was flipping through stations and landed on a contemporary Christian station, and that song came on and I almost had to pull the truck over. I felt like I was hearing that song at that moment for a reason.”
One can understand Blake gravitating towards it with a wedding pending to his new bride Miranda Lambert. She has reined in his ‘wayward’ ways and the female CMA vocalist is able to temper his somewhat flamboyant nature.
Both artists have spilled publicly about their ups and downs of their relationship but have happily come through it to cement the liaison. It was the reason that Shelton was anxious to cut it reflecting on the times the couple have had over the years, summed up in the words of the chorus:
“God gave me you for the ups and downs, God gave me you for the days of doubt, For when I think I’ve lost my way, There are no words here left to say, it’s true, God gave me you”
In the bridge Blake declares his affection and gives thanks to his partner for the love and companionship that entered his life as he sings:
“On my own I’m only, half of what I could be, I can’t do without you, We are stitched together, And what love has tethered, I pray we never undo”
Although there are religious overtones the track it’s not obviously preachy just a song that sparkles and I love those cool tight bass runs in the chorus outro.
The music video to accompany it was recently debuted and it includes a few clips from Blake and Miranda’s wedding. By all accounts she was reluctant to let her husband use the private footage from a video that apparently leaked onto the web. In the clips Lambert opening talks to him on personal level.
“It was important to me to have that wedding video on there” relates Shelton.
Luckily for him Miranda once again said “Yes”!
Although the production is a little cluttered with over-layering this is a song I don’t tire of listening. It has strong crossover possibilities and I would advise Blake’s label to use the up-and-coming romantic number as an introduction to the masses on UK National radio to share on their journeys.
Livewire (Sept 20, 2011)