ToC Critic’s Pick: Kristian Bush, ‘Sing Along’ [Listen]
During "Sing Along," Kristian Bush documents a relationship gone bad with the biggest bittersweet smile imaginable. The upbeat, nostalgic country song stings if you let it, and you should.
It's tempting to tie "Sing Along" to the end of Bush's marriage, but while he did co-write the song, he's yet to reveal what inspired it. Make the connection anyway. Even if untrue, the reflection is a riveting and vivid story of good love gone bad for even worse reasons. Bush aptly plays the man wishing for another chance — it's an Oscar-worthy performance if fictionalized and a revealing page from the back of his diary if true. Either way, the love he once shared with this woman feels very real.
The song's pluck is Kristian Bush's signature. Has anyone smiled through as much pain as he has in recent years? The ever-professional singer, songwriter and Sugarland member makes music to smile to, and at his best, his solo songs have become earworms. "Sing Along" is his best because of the added layer of emotion that while never stated, permeates through every note.
Did You Know?: Bush is producing newcomer Lindsay Ell's debut record.
Listen to Kristian Bush, "Sing Along"
Sugarland Has One of the Top Country Songs of the Century!
Kristian Bush, "Sing Along" Lyrics:
You would always laugh when you stole my shirt / Dancing around and you made it look like it was worth a million bucks / Spinning like records the two of us / Remember those nights that we couldn't sleep / Kids shooting fireworks off in the street / Baby you're still that girl to me.
Chorus:
I hope my love song's bouncing around your heart / And echoing in your head / Just like we're at the start / Remembering what we said / In the end it doesn't matter / Who was right and who was wrong / So when you think about me girl / I hope you sing along like / Oh, oh, oh.
We knew every song on the radio / And how in the world did we ever go all the way through that bottle of wine / Baby we can really lose track of time / The best part of me was always you / Like a sunset fading from red to blue / And when I see it I still think of you.
I hope my love song's bouncing around your heart / And echoing in your head / Just like we're at the start / Remembering what we said / And we both made our own mistakes / Now we know just how lovers break apart.