Brooks & Dunn- “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”

Brooks & Dunn’s latest single, their fourth off of their Cowboy Town CD, definitely does not cover any new ground.  “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” gives three different instances where a cowgirl doesn’t cry–falling off of their first pony, marital struggles, and lastly the death of her father.  While it does have a “been there, done that” feel at times, the arrangement and Ronnie Dunn’s vocals make it a pleasant listen.  You can sing about the same old thing, but if you do it right, you add a new “flavor” to the “theme.”

The third verse compares to the third verse of Crystal Shawanda’s “You Can Let Go,” so you could see a natural comparison between the two songs.  What happened of the charts with these two songs this week I think it is not a coincidence.  With the two songs basically being the same thing, just with different “flavors,” the old got discarded for the new.  “You Can Let Go” was barely making a dent on the charts and just couldn’t get over the hump.  It never lost airplay, but it slowly drifted away from the Top 20.  After hitting #21, it eventually slid back to #25.  Then, “Brooks & Dunn’s” song comes out and “You Can Let Go” disappears from the chart.  What happened is the following: “Descending Country titles move to recurrent after 20 weeks if they rank below No. 10 in either audience and plays.” (from http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/Country_Chart.asp).  Since the song had been out for so long, it hit the requirements for becoming a recurrent.  It had a drastic drop in audience, which I think was related to the fact that more people liked the “flavor” B&D were offering on this song, so the stations started playing it instead.  That, and B&D have the “superstar” thing working for them.

To be honest, I am not too crazy about this song because it’s got the “btdt” feel.  However, I also wasn’t too fond of “Put A Girl In It” at first, but it grew on me.  I think this song will grow on me and a lot of the early skeptics and make a significant impact on the charts.

Prediction- Top 5

To listen to the entire song, visit Brooks & Dunn’s MySpace page.