In the future I will respond with my own impressions of songs that Carsie posts for us both to geek out upon. "Nothing But a Man" however, is a song whose merits I am thoroughly unprepared and unqualified to discuss.
...So if we're going to talk about great sober songs that break apart myths of youthful innocence, let's take a look at Carsie Blanton's great title track from her first CD. This song has just so much going for it. It has a very catchy melody with very smooth, eloquent phrasing and the narrative voice that flows with as much sobriety as youthful romance. I love the classic three verse structure with all three verses playing off one another and returning to the original thought. 1.I aint' so green... 2. You ain't so bad...3.I ain't so green. The use of "ain't" gives the lyric the perfect, personal, streetwise, sticking up for oneself kind of atmosphere. The use of an A melody and a B melody ("Baby give me everything you've got..." being the B) is a classic touch that allows for the co-existence of two tracks on a complex emotional road. Both melodies are beautifully fresh yet they both seem as familiar as old friends.
There are many lyrical gems in this baby. "You ain't so bad that I ain't had a thought or two about you in the dark..." being one of my very favorites. What I love most of all about this song is that it takes no cheap shots. It dances proudly with its own honest ambiguity and though the narrator is smart, tough and wise, she is not willing to sacrifice hope and she derives strength from her ability to admit vulnerability. With each verse a layer of defense is broken until we get to the third most hopeful verse.
"...so many sorry stories written in my soul but I ain't so green that I ain't seen the way love makes the broken hearted whole."
The whole idea of being "green" is re-examined. We may be green if we have no doubt or skepticism through our experience, but we are also sadly naive if we see only the risk in letting ourselves go.
