Song #90: Blake Shelton - "Some Beach"

Song #90: Blake Shelton - "Some Beach" (2004)

Blake Shelton's Bar & Grill

"Well, he stuck that needle down deep in my gum. And he started drillin' before I was numb, some beach!"

Blake Shelton's "Some Beach," from the first time I heard it, was a unique and totally original song in my mind. Not only was Shelton coming so close to swearing but cleverly avoiding any bad words by creating a phrase one can say without being met with dirty looks, and it was an intensely relatable ballad dedicated to putting up with "one of those days."

The song involves Shelton's character having the day from hell, with his only goal to make it to the dentist's - which he is already thirty minutes late for - and run in and out. Instead, on his way there, he is cut off by an angry motorist, his parking spot intercepted by a schmuck in a Mercedes Benz, and, when he finally is seen by his dentist after an obnoxiously long wait, they drill in his mouth before the novacane is activated, resulting in extreme pain.

Rather than swearing up a storm, or shouting off violently, Shelton resorts to the phrase "some beach," obviously a play on the American insult or interjection "son of a bitch." Shelton proceeds to picture a beautiful beach where he'd rather spend his time instead of enduring the common annoyances he is currently facing.

This is one of the many music videos I anticipated on the Country Music Television (CMT) unconditionally as a child; I would sit in front of the TV, with monk-like devotion, awaiting this music video to be randomly selected in the lineup of the network's videos. I loved following its progress on CMT's Top Twenty Countdown, where host Lance Smith would countdown the top twenty music videos each week. This song perfectly replicates my bizarre obsession for a radio hit and perfectly articulates how devoted I was to watching a music video on Television.

This was before I knew how to work the internet (which didn't happen until about 2006 or so, despite some basic interaction with it in elementary school). Now, if I saw a video I liked, I'd download it off of AmazonMP3 to have on my Droid, or I'd put the music video on repeat on Youtube. Back then, I had no idea how to use the internet for leisure and resorted to simply sitting in front of the TV, hoping that three second fade-to-black from one music video to the next would lead to one of my current favorite songs. It was primitive and that's what made it special; the fact we can download and replay any song we want now using multiple devices is what, I believe, deteriorates their charm quickly and makes them get "older" quicker.

"Some Beach" is still a hilarious song with an inanely relatable line or circumstances, boasting an upbeat tempo, from an artist who was better when he wasn't anywhere and everywhere.

Give "Some Beach" a listen,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTT2LEyjdC4