"I love that song. To me, that's the best way to [showcase] my personality and the kind of people I hang around with back home. For once I got to pull from my Jerry Reed influences and do some talking on [a song]." - Blake Shelton
It's easy to see how a song like "Boys 'Round Here" (The second single from #1 album Based on a True Story...") is destined to be a divisive sort of song for Blake Shelton. From the 'talking song' verses to the drum machine beats to the 'edgy' (for Country Music at least) usage of a cuss word to the spoken refrain that ends the chorus, "Boys 'Round Here" is not something just any Country Music artist could release to Country Radio.
To fix the issue country radio would have with the word "shit" being in the chorus, the radio version many people will hear will say "Lip" instead. It's a fix that's simple and doesn't detract from the overall integrity of the song for radio. With those changes in hand lets takl about the Melody. This is a meldoy that's an interesting mixture of acoustic blues, a few hip hop vibes, talkin' song verses with a vocalized chorus which is definitely about the 'good ole boys' and features the soothing harmonies of Pistol Annies, RaeLynn and 'friends'.
The songwriters (Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins & Craig Wiseman) were able to make clever use of words and phrases to create a unique song that's unlike anything else on Country Radio. It reminds me of the Blake Shelton of old, the one who took chances relasing "non-PC" singles like "Playboys of the Southwestern World" and "Ol' Red." This single is also, for all of the familiarity of the lyrics and theme, a song that's not the same-ol-same-ol 'walk through the country' kind of song. It's different.
Is "Boys 'Round Here" [lyrics] to become an essential part of Blake's setlist like "Ol' Red" has become? That remains to be seen but it's certainly destined to be one of Mainstream Country Music's most-plated and most-discussed singles of 2013.
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