After releasing two lightweight up-tempos in a row from his Defying Gravity album, it's high time that Keith Urban released another ballad to radio. I've always found Urban's ballads to be far superior to his faster songs, as the faster songs tend toward derivative melodies (to this day, I still have the hardest time telling "Somebody Like You" from "Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me"). While "Only You Can Love Me This Way" (listen here) is below the standards set by such songs as "You'll Think of Me" and "Making Memories of Us", it's still a solid enough testament to his way with a slower song.
Lyrically, it's nothing special. The chorus even begins with the far-overused "you're always on my heart, you're always on my mind" fluff, and overall, it fails to say something new or even provide anything that remotely resembles a hook. Yeah, he's in love, he's right where he wants to be, he's so happy about being in love. Luckily, the pedestrian lyrics are saved by Keith's vocal performance: instead of the near-giddiness of "Sweet Thing" and "Kiss a Girl", he sings the song in the same warm, passionate tone that has consistently made most of his ballads even better than almost any other vocalist in country music.
For something with the name Dann Huff on it, this song is surprisingly stripped-down, relying mostly on acoustic guitar and a few tasteful, soft string runs, instead of the guitar-heavy, wall-of-sound approach that Dann is known for, especially on his work with Rascal Flatts. It's still no more or less country than anything else in Keith's catalog (or Dann's for that matter), but it is certainly a welcome change after a double-dose of pure sugar. Let's just hope that, after this album is done, he discovers that even newlyweds can sing about something other than being in love.
You can check out lyrics and chords from Keith Urban by clicking here.
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