Bobby Pinson - Songs For
Somebody
Review By: Kevin Snyder, CSO Contributing Journalist
Bobby Pinson has been a force to be reckoned with in
Nashville for several years as a songwriter with the likes of
Toby Keith, Tracy Lawrence, Van Zant, Blake Shelton, LeAnn
rimes, and many more covering his songs. His first number
one hit came with the recent Sugarland smash “Want To”.
Songs for
Somebody is Pinson’s sophomore effort as a recording
artist and is every bit as good as his first tour of duty. Pinson
follows up his first album, Man Like Me, with a record
full of drinking, battling inner demons, war, love, and
finding God.
According to Pinson,
his style of country is like, “A John Deere Tractor with an
airplane engine.” His voice may not sound as crisp and
polished as most that come through Nashville these days, but
it works for him. Pinson sings about experiences that
nearly every other artist covers, but the grit in his voice
makes you believe that he has actually
survived these experiences.
The album starts off
with a man reflecting on his past in “Back In My Drinkin’
Days”. The song sets an excellent tone for the album as
Pinson shows a preview of an album full of emotion and great
lyric. Pinson’s vocals really sell the song about recovery from alcohol addiction and his saving grace.
Another highlight on
the album is “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It.” In
the song, Pinson reminisces about the
problems he had in his life and how he came to overcome them. The
song contains some pretty good lyrics, including a haunting
line about the battle within, “I’ve got a ghost / Who likes
to drink and smoke / And bring her home at night / He still
rattles his chains.”
“If I Don’t Make it
Back” is one of the best songs on the album and one of the
better songs about war that any country artist has produced. Tracy
Lawrence recently covered it and included it in one of his
Greatest Hits packages. The song focuses on a young man
who goes off to war and requests that his friends live their
lives and move on if he doesn’t make it back. “Have a
beer for me / Don’t waste no tears on me / On Friday night sit
on the visitor side and cheer for the home team…”
expresses the selflessness of a soldier gone off to war.
In “Just To Prove I
Could,” Pinson sings of a young man trying to prove to
himself and others that he can make it in the world. The
first verse is about quitting school and proving to his
parents that he can survive. In the second verse he
speaks of working on his old fixer-up truck and his ability to
show it off when he finishes fixing it up. The song has an
upbeat attitude that is sure to connect with anyone who has
ever been told that they aren’t good enough for something.
“If I Met God Tonight” speaks of Pinson of
giving a high five to the man upstairs for not answering his
prayers from his earlier days because he is much happier with
the way things turned out for him. Pinson paints a
portrait of mistakes he has made and how he would rectify them
if he met God.
Even though you may not yet
hear much of Bobby Pinson on country radio, his songwriting is
remarkable. On Songs For Somebody, every song has an emotional aspect
to it as Pinson wastes no time with fluff novelty songs that
many artists will include as album fillers. Overall, this
is a phenomenal album that is definitely worth a listen.
Click to order from Amazon.com
