It's A Long Story

One of my favorite new songs right now is Travis Denning's “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs.”

I love that it sounds like traditional Country music, and if you read this space on a regular basis, you know how I feel about traditional music. I've listened to, played, and written about a ton of it in my time, so there's really no Country music you can put in front of me that I'll consider “too Country.” In fact, I don’t even know what that term means or how to respond when people use it.

I love that “David Ashley Parker from Powder Springs” is a story song – and a really good one, at that. Strong storytelling is what always set Country music apart from other genres, in my opinion. It's what made me a believer. I never listened to Country music at all before working at my first Country station, but it didn't take long for me to get hooked; it was the people – they were characters, really – and the stories in Country songs that made the music sticky to me. I've sat through hundreds of focus groups with Country fans, and they've always mentioned “great stories” when describing why they loved this music so much.

I love new music in general, and I've been all-in on the wild west environment currently taking place at Country radio as we continue to see boundaries – and hardcore genre definitions – for music start to evaporate these days. I'm totally okay with Pop-sounding Country. The “too-Pop” conversation is cyclical, because so is the music. For any newbies out there thinking you started that conversation, I have news: this debate has been raging for years. It will never end, and that's fine. To me, it means our artists are pushing themselves – and the envelope. That's what I want from an artist; to be surprised, and even somewhat uncomfortable (at first) with their new music. Keep giving me the same ole, same ole, and I'm like, "meh."

That said, at times, I think we're sacrificing great stories in our music and leaning too heavily on catchy choruses, drum machines, the use of repeated chants and other studio tricks. Some of that just can't be played live very well – or at all – and I think that's a problem for fans expecting to hear what was on the recording.

But, back to the Travis Denning single. There's something else I love – LOVE – about “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs.”

It has a long-ass title.

In addition to bringing back more traditional-sounding music, can we please return to the occasional, double-digit-syllable song titles? THAT is Country music, damnit! “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs” has 10 tantalizing syllables that roll right off your tongue. The title has a rhythm to it. It totally works for me.

Historically, interesting and long titles have given extra personality to an already-compelling story contained in the song. I have a couple I'll never get out of my head, and – warning – they date back, because they were already gold titles when I started in the format, which was shortly after the tectonic shift of our continent.

I'm referring, of course, to Dickey Lee's 1976 hit, “9,999,999 Tears,” which hit #3 and was his last-ever top 10 effort. That title doesn't look long, but try saying it. Additionally, it's one helluva tongue-twister. Go ahead, try it yourself right now. (::cue “Jeopardy” theme::)

Aaand, we're back!

We have a couple of tongue twisters on the charts right now. Ashley McBryde's debut single, “A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega,” not only has 10 syllables but should never be attempted after imbibing too long at an actual dive bar. It has also educated all of us on how to pronounce the actual town in the mountains of Georgia – “Duh-lon-uh-guh.”

Similarly, when it comes to tongue twisters – or getting the right words in the right order – consider Brandon Lay's “Speakers, Bleachers, And Preachers.” Or, was it “Preachers, Bleachers, And Speakers?” Oh hell, I don’t know – but, I love the song!

Some long-song titles have parentheses, but I'm counting those. In 1974, Mo Bandy reached #7 with “It Was Always So Easy (To Find An Unhappy Woman).” That was long enough, but if you really wanted to demonstrate the pain and agony described in this tune, you needed to complete the full line, which ended with, “Til I Started Looking For Mine.”

Yes, that was a mouthful, but not the only one from Bandy's long and successful career. Among his other long-winded song titles were “Don't Anyone Make Love At Home Anymore,” “She Just Loved The Cheatin' Out Of Me,” “She's Not Really Cheatin', She's Just Getting' Even,” and “It Took A Lot Of Drinkin' To Get That Woman Over Me.” Even when collaborating with frequent duet partner Joe Stampley, Bandy went long, like on 1980's “Tell Ole I Ain't Here, He Better Get On Home.”

Bandy got an early start with long song names, starting with his first charted single, “I Just Started Hatin' Cheatin' Songs Today,” which is similar, but not identical to John Anderson's debut single in 1980, “She Just Started Likin' Cheatin' Songs.” Anderson wasn't a one-and-done on lengthy song names, though, later bringing us “I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Some Day)” and “I Just came Home To Count The Memories,” both released in 1981.

But, don’t just take my word for it when it comes to descriptive and verbose song titles. I didn't. I reached out to Entercom Country KILT/Houston APD/MD Chris Huff, a.k.a. “The Rain Man” when it comes to useful and useless trivia about our format. Chris quickly got back with a treasure chest of titles. “I scrolled through the ol’ database and measured titles by number of syllables, since that is really the key measure of how much work is involved in saying a title on the air,” explained Huff.

What he found was that most songs contain between five to seven syllables. A look at the most recent published Mediabase Country singles chart concurs with Huff's conclusion. The average number of syllables among the top 20 song titles is 3.75, with Kenny Chesney and David Lee Murphy's “Everything's Gonna Be Alright” leading the way at eight.

Matching Denning's debut release, “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs,” at 10 syllables are these more familiar (to some, anyway) hits that span several decades:

“Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For” – Crystal Gayle

“A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action” – Toby Keith

“Daddy Never Was The Cadillac Kind” – Confederate Railroad

“National Working Woman’s Holiday” – Sammy Kershaw

“It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You” – George Strait

“There Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With The Radio” – Aaron Tippin

“Where The Stars And The Stripes And The Eagle Fly” – Aaron Tippin

“Don’t Make Me Come Over There And Love You” – George Strait

“Two Of A Kind, Workin’ On A Full House” – Garth Brooks

“You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma” – David Frizzell and Shelly West

Ten syllables not impressive enough? Huff dug deeper for 11:

“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” – Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson

“Mississippi Cotton Picking Delta Town” – Charley Pride

“Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone” – Charley Pride

“Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” – Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

“Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight” – The Oak Ridge Boys

“You’re The Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had” – Ed Bruce

“I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas” – John Rox

“Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her” – George Strait

“May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” – Little Jimmy Dickens

“You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation” – Ronnie McDowell

“You’re The First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving” – Reba McEntire

More than 11, you ask? Okay, I'll share a couple.

“American Honkytonk Bar Association” – Garth Brooks (14)

“(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” – BJ Thomas (16)

After a brief respite, Huff emailed me back: “I think I found the longest title to ever reach the Country charts. Trent Willmon hit #36 in 2004 with, 'Dixie Rose Deluxe’s Honky Tonk, Feed Store, Gun Shop, Used Car, Beer, Bait, BBQ, Barber Shop, Laundromat.’” For those of you counting at home, that one clocks in at 26 syllables. Mercifully, said Huff, “It was abbreviated to ‘Dixie Rose Deluxe's’ for chart purposes.”

I have no idea where Travis Denning's “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs” will peak, but I'm sure rooting for it. It's an interesting story, and one anybody who ever had a fake ID – which, is to say, all of us – can relate to.

I'm sure we’ve left out some of your favorite songs with marathon titles; if so, please respond in the comments section below or email me direct here.