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Rating:
"The Ultimate Hits"... will this really be the definitive summary of the career of one of the greatest storytellers from across the ocean? The substantial absence from the scene, which has lasted since 2001, and the finality of the adjective ultimate leave no other conclusion, but perhaps it is just as well: listening to the 34 songs equally divided between the two CDs in this collection is like reaching the top of a mountain and admiring the landscape from above: "The sky is the limit", sings Garth himself in "Two Of A Kind Workin' On A Full House", and that limit has been reached: everything is perfect, everything is in its right place, and it's just not possible to go higher: all that remains is to leave the stage in grand style, with the awareness of having written important pages in the history of beautiful music: it is thanks to Garth Brooks and his songs that I realized country wouldn't be a passing infatuation, like the dozens I've experienced in the span of 3-4 years, and this review is my personal Grammy Award for the career of this great artist.
For those listening to this collection for the first time, there are no classics or unreleased tracks, covers or original compositions, no differences between the songs from this or that album, just 34 songs in succession, from the merry, alcohol-infused rhythms of "Longneck Bottle" and "Beer Run" to the deep and poetic allure of "To Make You Feel My Love", a wonderful song by Bob Dylan interpreted by our artist with goosebump-inducing pathos, through a myriad of other stories, other emotions, other scenarios: the carefree beach vibe of "Two Pina Coladas", the expressive grit of "Shameless", the typically American mid-western atmosphere of "Rodeo", "Midnight Sun" and "Honky-Tonk Bar Association", the vivacity brought almost to the limit in "Ain't Going Down" and "The Fever", the decidedly tipsy sweetness of "Wrapped Up In You", the bittersweet country of "Papa Loved Mama" or "Too Much Young" and the more lively and cheerful country of "Two Of A Kind, Workin' On A Full House", the R'n'B influences in "Workin' For A Livin" and gospel in "We Shall Be Free", a beautiful anthem to freedom and hope.
All of this would already be more than enough to justify a normal greatest hits and a career measurable in millions of copies sold, but the best part is that it's not all: there are also, above all, the masterpieces, the most beautiful songs: songs that tell stories like "The Beaches Of Cheyenne", and "That Summer", that should only be listened to with the heart, letting oneself be carried away by the perfect intertwining of music and lyrics, not forgetting two classics such as the genius and catchy anthem of social revenge "Friends In Low Places" and the restless and tormented "The Thunder Rolls", the overwhelming vaguely Irish-flavored melodies of "Callin' Baton Rouge" and "Standing Outside The Fire", reaching a song that perhaps isn't even among the most significant of the collection, but is certainly my favorite: "Good Ride Cowboy", an irresistible few minutes of pure country: nothing more, but it's enough to bring back a smile even after the worst day.
Like any respectable country singer, our artist has his share of unforgettable ballads: besides the already mentioned "To Make You Feel My Love", the most beautiful are "The River", with its gentle, dreamy but at the same time almost epic pace, where Garth delivers one of the best performances of his career and the classic "The Dance", with its unmistakable piano line and its sparse and slightly bitter melody, softened by orchestral arrangements. More emphatic but perhaps a little less charming (though certainly not bad, far from it...) are the power-ballads "More Than A Memory" and "When You Come Back To Me Again", while "If Tomorrow Never Comes", "Unanswered Prayers", "What She's Doing Now" and "Leave A Light On" prove to be pure and simple jewels of sentiment and melody.
Whether you like this genre of music or not, one cannot deny that Garth Brooks' songs change their appearance each time but always remain faithful to their simple and direct soul, and this is a precious gift, which many of the "sacred cows" of various musical genres, much more famous and considered than our artist on this side of the Atlantic, totally lack.
"He was up in Wyoming, and drew a bull no man could ride, he promised her he'd turn out, well it turned out that he lied, and all the dreams that they'd been livin'
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Friends in Low Places (04:19)
Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots
And ruined your black tie affair.
Last one to know, last one to show
I was the last one you thought you'd see there
And I saw the surprise, and the fear in his eyes
When I took his glass of champange
And I toasted you, said "Honey we may be through,
But you'll never hear me complain...
chorus:
'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases
My blues away, and I'll be OK.
And I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
So I've got friends... in low places!
Well, I guess I was wrong,
I just don't belong
But then, I've been there before
everything's alright, I'll just say goodnight
and I'll show myself to the door
Hey, I didn't mean to cause a big scene
Just give me an hour and then,
Well I'll be as high as that ivory tower
that you're living in
'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases
My blues away, and I'll be OK.
And I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
So I've got friends... in low places!
03 Shameless (04:19)
Well I'm shameless
When it comes to loving you,
I'll do anything you want me to,
I'll do anything at all.
And I'm standing
Here for all the world to see,
Oh, baby that's what's left of me,
I don't have very far to fall.
You know now I'm not a man who's ever been
Insecure about the world I've been living in.
I don't break easy, I have my pride,
But if you need to be satisfied
I'm shameless.
Honey, I don't have a prayer.
Every time I see you standing there
I go down upon my knees.
And I'm changing,
Swore I'd never compromise,
Oh, but you convinced me otherwise.
I'll do anything you please
You see in all my life I've never found
What I couldn't resist, what I couldn't turn down.
I could walk away from anyone I ever knew,
But I can't walk away from you.
I have never let anything have this much control on me.
I've worked too hard to call my life my own.
And I've made myself a world, and it's worked so perfectly,
But it's your world now, I can't refuse,
I've never had so much to lose.
Oh I'm shameless...
You know it should be easy for a man who's strong
To say he's sorry or admit when he's wrong.
I've never lost anything I ever missed,
But I've never been in love like this.
It's out of my hands.
I'm shameless.
I don't have the power now,
And I don't want it anyhow,
So I gotta let it go.
Why I'm shameless.
Shameless as a man can be.
You could make a total fool of me.
I just wanted you to know
Why I'm shameless.
05 The Beaches of Cheyenne (04:14)
They packed up all his buckles
And shipped his saddle to his dad
And by the way the house looked
She must have took it bad
The workers come on Monday
To fix the door and patch the wall
They say she just went crazy
The night she got the call
He was up in Wyoming
And drew a bull no man could ride
He promised her he'd turn out
Well it turned out that he lied
And all the dreams that they'd been livin'
In the California sand
Died right there beside him in Cheyenne
They say she just went crazy
Screamin' out his name
She ran out into the ocean
And to this day they claim
That if you go down by the water
You'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
They never found her body
Just her diary by her bed
It told about the fight they had
And the words that she had said
When he told her he was ridin'
She said then I don't give a damn
If you never come back from Cheyenne
They say she just went crazy
Screamin' out his name
She ran out into the ocean
And to this day they claim
That you can go down by the water
And see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
Nobody can explain it
Some say she's still alive
They even claim they've seen her
On the shoreline late at night
So if you go down by the water
You'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
Every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne
06 If Tomorrow Never Comes (03:40)
Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heart
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes
So tell that someone that you love
Just what you're thinking of
If tomorrow never comes
07 Papa Loved Mama (02:52)
Papa drove a truck nearly all his life
You know it drove mama crazy bein a trucker's wife
The part she couldn't handle was the bein' alone
I guess she needed more to hold than just the telephone
Papa called mama each and every night
Just to ask her how she was and if us kids were all right
Mama would wait for that call to come in
But when Daddy'd hang up she was gone again
Chorus
Momma was a looker
Lord how she shined
Papa was a good'n
But the jealous kind
Papa Loved Mama
Mama loved men
Mama's in the graveyard
Papa's in the pen
Well, it was bound to happen
One night it did
Papa came home and it was just us kids
He had a dozen roses and a bottle of wine
If he was lookin to surprise her he was doin' fine
I heard him cry for mama up and down the hall
Then I heard the bottle break against the bedroom wall
That ol' Diesel engine made an eerie sound
When Papa fired it up and headed into town.
Well, the picture in the paper showed the scene real well
Papa's rig was buried in the local motel
The desk clerk said he saw it all real clear
He never hit the brakes, and he was shifting gears.
Chorus
08 More Than a Memory (03:23)
People say she's only in my head
It's gonna take time, but I'll forget
They say I need to get on with my life
But they don't realize
It's when you're dialing 6 numbers just to hang up the phone
Driving cross town just to see if she's home
Waking a friend in the dead of night just to hear 'em say it's gonna be alright
When you're finding things to do not to fall asleep cause you know she'll be there in your dreams
That's when she's more than a Memory
Took a match to everything she ever wrote
Watched her words go up in smoke
Tore all the pictures off the wall
But that ain't helping me at all
Cause when you're talking out loud and nobody's there
You look like hell and you just don't care
Drinking more than you've ever drank
Sinking down lower than you've ever sank
When you find yourself falling down upon your knees, praying to God, begging Him PLEASE
That's when she's more than a memory
She's more
She's more
Cause when you're dialing her number just to hang up the phone
Driving cross town just to see if she's home
Waking a friend in the dead of night, just to hear 'em say it's gonna be alright
When you're finding things to do not to fall asleep cause you know she's waiting in your dreams
That's when she's more than a memory
People say she's only in my head
It's gonna take time, but I'll forget
10 In Another's Eyes (feat. Trisha Yearwood) (03:34)
(Garth)
In another's eyes
I'm someone who
Loves her enough
To walk away from you
I'd never cheat
I'd never lie
In another's eyes
yeah, yeah
(Trisha)
In another's eyes
I can do no wrong
And he believes in me
And his faith is strong
I'd never fall
Or even compromise
In another's eyes
(Together)
In another's eyes
I'm afraid that I can't see
(Garth)
This picture perfect portrait
That they paint of me
(Together)
They don't realize
And I pray they never do
'Cause every time I look
I'm seeing you
In another's eyes
(Garth)
In another's eyes
Starin' Back at me
I see a sinkin' soul
Tryin' desperately
(Trisha)
To turn the tide
Before it dies
In another's eyes
(Together)
And what they don't see
Is killing me
It's a blessing and a curse
That love is blind
'Cause in another's eyes
I'm afraid that I can't see
This picture perfect portrait
That they paint of me
And they don't realize
And I pray to God they
never do
'Cause every time I look
I'm seein' you
(Garth)
In another's eyes
(Trisha)
In another's eyes
(Together)
In another's eyes
11 The Fever (02:41)
He's got a split finger wrap
And his rope's pulled way to tight
He's got a lunatic smile
'Cause he's really drawn deep tonight
He's got a fever, fever, fever, fever
Grab a hold of anything and hold on tight
It hits you like the venom from a rattle snake bite
We're all here 'cause he's not all there tonight
He takes one last breath
And time turns inside out
Then the gate busts open to the world he dreams about
He's got a fever, fever, fever, fever
Stick a rope on anything 'cause he don't care
He'd even take a ride on the electric chair
We're all here cause he's not all there tonight
He says it's really kind of simple
Keep your mind in the middle
While your butt spins 'round and 'round
Take heed to Sankey's preachin'
Keep liftin' and reachin'
And ridin' like there ain't no clowns
What he loves might kill him
But he's got no choice
He's a different breed
With a voice down deep inside
That's screamin' he was born to ride
He's got a fever, fever, fever, fever
Fever makes you crazy 'cause it makes no sense
Like runnin' from your shadow out of self-defense
He won't run and baby he can't hide
He thinks the odds are even leavin' one hand tied
He gets so tired of hangin' on so tight
I know you think he's crazy well I think you're right
We're all here 'cause he's not all there that's right
13 Learning to Live Again (04:06)
I burned my hand, and I cut my face
Heaven knows how long it's been
Since I've felt so out of place
Wonderin if I'll fit in
Debbie and Charlie said they'd be here by nine
And Deb said she might bring a friend
Just my luck, they're right on time
So here I go again
(Chorus)
I'm gonna smile my best smile
And I'm gonna laugh like it's goin out of style
Look into her eyes and pray that she don't see
That learning to live again is killin me
Little cafe, table for four
But there's just conversation for three
I like the way she let me get the door
I wonder what she thinks of me
Debbie just whispered you're doin fine
I wish that I felt the same
She's asked me to dance, now her hand's in mine
Oh my God, I've forgotten her name
Repeat chorus
Now here we are, beneath her porch light
And I say what a great time it's been
A kiss on the cheek, a whispered good night
And I say can I see you again
And she just smiles her best smile
And she laughs like it's goin out of style
Looks into my eyes and says we'll see
Oh this learnin to live again is killin me
God this learnin to live again is killin me
16 We Shall Be Free (03:48)
This ain't coming from no prophet
Just an ordinary man
When I close my eyes, I see
The way this world shall be
When we all walk hand in hand
When the last child cries for the crust of bread
When the last man dies for just words that he said
When there's shelter over the poorest head.....
Then we shall be free
When the last thing we notice is the color of skin
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within
When the skys and the oceans are clean again
Then we shall be free
We shall be free, we shall be free
Stand straight and walk proud
'Cause we shall be free
When we're free to love anyone we choose
And this worlds big enough for all different views
When we all can worship from our own kind of pew
Then we shall be free
We shall be free, we shall be free
Have a little faith, hold out
'Cause we shall be free
And when money talks for the very last time
And no body walks a step behind
When there's only one race, and that's mankind
Then we shall be free
We shall be free, We shall be free.
Stand straight, walk proud
'Cause we shall be free
We shall be free, We shall be free
Stand straight, have a little faith, walk proud
Cause we shall be free
We shall be free, we shall be free
stand straight, walk proud
Cause we shall be free
17 The Dance (03:39)
Lookin' back,
On the memory of
The dance we shared,
Bebeath the stars above
And for a moment,
All the world was right
But how could I have known,
That you'd ever say goodbye?
And now,
I'm glad I didn't know
The way It all would end
The way It all would go
Our lives,
Are better left to chance
I could've missed the pain,
But I'd of had to miss the dance.
Holding you,
I held everything
And for a moment,
Wasn't I a king?
But If I'd only known,
How the king would fall
Hey who's to say,
You know I might have changed it all
And now,
I'm glad I didn't know
The way It all would end
The way It all would go
Our lives,
Are better left to chance
I could've missed the pain,
But I'd of had to miss the dance
Yes my life,
It's better left to chance
I could've missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss
The dance
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