Critical Analysis of an Album
by Dalton Belcher
Old Boots, New Dirt – Jason Aldean
Just Gettin’ Started
With “Just Gettin’ Started” the singer (and, by extension, Aldean) is kicking off a relationship (the focus of the album),with lines such as “I knew the minute that I picked you up/It was gonna be a wild ride” and “The way you look at me baby I don't know/If we even gonna make it to the party” The relationship is one based on passion, the song doesn’t even jumps in mid-relationship on a night where the two just can’t wait to see each other.
Show You Off
“Show You Off” is the continued story of the couple from “Just Gettin’ Started”. The focus moves from passion and intimacy to a need to “show-off” the pretty girl the singer is with. The chorus goes to say, “I just want to show you off/Drive em all crazy, watch all the boys hate me/Is that so wrong? Come on/I just want the world to see how lucky I am”. The singer is so proud to have such a pretty girl he wants to take her out and make other guys jealous.
Burnin’ It Down
“Burnin’ It Down” is a return to the intimacy seen earlier in the relationship, but it really heats up this time around. “We about to get a little tangled up right about now/So girl let's keep burnin' it down”. It’s a tune that displays a strong sexual overtone and borders into R&B leanings.
Tryin’ To Love Me
This is where the first relationship of the album ends. The singer is sorry and regretful for the lost relationship. This is the first true display of emotional immaturity as the singer recounts his misteps in the relationship, “I pushed and you pulled/Should have just fell into you/But I did what I always do, I always do”. He even admits that he watched the girl cry and convinced himself it was all ruse and now realizes she truly cared about him, “Didn't think those tears were real/Thought you were just trying to play me/I just stood there and let em fall/You were just loving me after all”. One has to wonder if the focus on passion and romance led to him not being open to the girl’s attempts to fix the relationship. “Wanted to talk but I walked away/Didn'twant to hear what you had to say/Stupid me, can't believe I never knew/The whole time you were just trying to love me”. It is one of the few moments Aldean slows down and bares his heart on his sleeve. He realizes the mistakes he made, but he also knows it’s too late for them.
Sweet Little Somethin’
The song is fast and hard hitting. The sorrow that once filled the singer is now replaced with a desire to get back into another relationship. This is the beginning of the second relationship of the album. The singer plainly makes his intentions known, “I need a sweet little somethin' like you girl/Standing there red hot, tied up little tank top/Looking like you must be straight out of the country/Honey, what I wouldn't do for a sweet little somethin' like you” and the song shows a more brash Aldean like the opening track.
Laid Back
It picks up right where “Sweet Little Somethin’” leaves off. It could even take place in the same general vicinity of the previous song. The singer is comfortably laying back with his girl and some friends. It’s evident that this relationship is more relaxed than the first and the singer is able to slow things down with this girl, “Out here way back, working on our laid back/Tell everyone you know/Sip it, tip it, pass it around/Let's light up this two lane town”.
Tonight Looks Good On You
It’s a bit more sensual than the previous two tracks proving a formula with the first six songs (Meet girl, date girl, get intimate with girl). This relationship is vastly different from the first, whereas that girl was one the singer wanted to use to make other guys jealous (“Show You Off”), this is a more intimate appeal to the girl’s attractiveness. “You ain’t got a dress that I don’t like/You ain’t got a pair of jeans that don’t fit you just right/There’s not a minute in the day/That you don’t knock me out, you don’t blow me away”. Even if the singer notes that the “night” looks good on the girl, the focus is on a personal, not communal level.
Too Fast
“I want to be the man that you thought I was/I want to be theman that made you fall in love/I can't undo everything I've done/But let me tell you right now/Baby, you're the only one”. This is a singer that is self-aware. He knows he’s someone that “lives [his] life too fast” and he wants to change to be a better man for his significant other. “The way it's been ain't how it's gonna be/Baby, starting right now, gonna give you the best of me”, Aldean begins to slow the album down and we move away from the relationship (it is safe to say that while this is an earnest appeal to fix the relationship, it doesn’t work and Aldean becomes reflective with the next tune).
If My Truck Could Talk
It’s all about what was. There’s the first relationship, “Twelve gauge, old Ford, buckshot floorboard, don't ask/Fence post, door dent, let's just leave it at that”. While not explicitly referred to, it’s about the damage that was done. The truck, the one constant for the singer, was damaged by the recklessness of that couple. Then there’s the second relationship, “Those two headlights, looked in her eyes, how she danced/Moonlit truck bed, two kids, enough said, yeah man/All that went on, goes on my own/It can go on and on and on”, it’s even sung in a slower tone than the first verse. The singer remembers more of the times with the girl from the second relationship, because he focused more on her emotionally than the intimacy. And, finally, there’s the beginning of a new look on life, “If my truck could talk I couldn't deny a word it said/I'd just smile and shake my head, yeah”. The singer is able to come to terms with what lies in his past.
Old Boots, New Dirt
The singer is moving on in the title track, “Yeah, nothing helps you start again like/Old boots, new dirt, no reminders/I've got a feeling this town will get me over her/You've been through what I've been through man/Nothing feels better than old boots, new dirt”. Whereas he’s moving on from the second relationship, the singer realizes that hanging around will lead him into the same routines. The phrasing, “Old boots, new dirt”, implies that it’s a new start but not a new man. The growth is there and the intentions are right, but the singer hasn’t truly found his way “over” the past girl, believing a change of location is all he needs to move on.
I Took It With Me
The singer has stopped in his new town to realize what he’s done, “When I passed that city limit sign/I knew that I was finally on my own/So I put my foot down on the gas/To see how fast those wheels could get me going/Everything about that place made me who I am/But they say once you leave you can't go back again”. He knows he can’t go back to his hometown, but he brought some of it with him, the charactersitics he believes are good and will help him.
Don’t Change Gone
This is where he finally admits he is just moving away to avoid the girl, “Don't think about a thing just drive/Far enough til I find a change of scene/A new routine, I'd try anything/But it don't change gone, won't bring her back/She's moved on, and I'm stuck with that/I could change whatever I want/But it don't change gone” This is where he finally realizes that no matter what he changes, he’s going to have to come to terms with the break-up and he gives a small insight into what happened, “Headlights fading, nothing was breaking/She's gone”. Implying she left him and this is explored further in the next song.
Miss That Girl
The whole opening verse finds the singer holding onto memories of the second girls and regretting letting her leave him, “I found your silver bracelet in my backseat/That you left, it seems like yesterday/It's like I found a treasure when I held it/How could I have ever let her get away/I still got a faded picture on my rearview/It's almost like she's looking right at me/Somehow just like that, it all comes rushing back/She's right here the way it used to be”. There’s the final realization that the second girl might have been the one he should’ve held onto, “Knowing they'll never be another one like her, not like her/Kicking myself for ever letting her slip out of my world”. The second verse sees the singer acknowledge that he’s not really helping himself running from his heartbreak and sees him lament the fact that he is letting his world fall apart, “Way back then it felt like I had things together/Whenever she'd coming smiling through that door/But I've had one or two tonight/And it just makes me realize/That I ain't so together anymore”.
Gonna Know We Were Here
This is the problem with the singer, he cannot control himself. He’s still not over the second girl and he turns to a wild night with another girl, where he keeps saying to her (or to himself) that they’re going to leave their mark on the town, “And we may not be around in 20 years but the show gonna we were here/Yeah, the show gonna we were here”. There’s nothing more than a wild time wanted here, “I got the wild/You got the crazy/You know that's why I love you baby/Cause your motor runs just as fast as mine/Pedal to the metal, keep your throttle down all night/And we only get one life”, it’s a plea to live recklessly (like the first relationship) because the singer thinks this is how he will move on from the second girl. The singer knows people are going to talk about their wild antics and he wants to make it something worth saying (possibly hoping it will make it’s way around to the second girl) “People talk girl/You know that well/When they got a good tale to tell/Let's give them something they ain't never seen/A little rated R red-neck dream/Let's play the trail through the dirty south/Or give them something they can talk about”
Two Night Town
The previous song leaves the singer worse off than he was before. He realizes, he overstayed his welcome in his old boots, new dirt town and now he is remorseful. “Am I ever gonna turn my life around/I just spend three nights in a two-night town”. The singer admits that he’s been doing things he shouldn’t, “It was women, it was sinnin’, it was alcohol/It was everything the bible says will make a man fall/And I didn’t wanna little lord I wanted it all” in his attempt to get over the second girl. He begins to realize that he is the problem he’s been running from, “When am I, ever gonna learn to walk away/When the chips are down and the cards aint fallin’ my way/Why do I always gottastay to long till it’s too late?”. The second verse shows that he’s not been able to handle the end of the relationship, “With a bunch of lost souls just tryna get found/Girl I’ve been a little crazy since you walked out” and the third shows that he’s not ready to move on, “Sun’s comin’ up and I’m just goin’ down/But baby this pain is still hangin’ around/I think I’ll spend four nights in a two-night town” , falling back into the bad habits that he realizes he should quit.
Bonus Tracks
Fast Lanes
The singer is finding himself a little more this time around. He’s left a trail of damage in his wake and is getting closer to self-realization, “I need free and I need spacious”. It’s not exactly becoming a better person, but it’s becoming aware and honest about who he is, “I’m the reason they make fast lanes/My soul don’t roll like no slow train/I hang my old hat in a new place/But it won’t hang too long/Call me right or call me wrong/That’s just my thing/I’m the reason they make fast lanes”, he knows he’s not someone that can stick around for a relationship and (like the second girl) has become a person that drives away when things start to get serious, never staying in one place too long. “Yeah, I could feel her fallin’/But somewhere down the road was callin’/And my wheels started to turn/It won’t be the last time/And she ain’t the first” at this point the singer realizes what damage he does, but he just cannot help himself and knows he won’t be able to stop.
Too Much You For Me
While the singer’s been running from the second girl for the majority of the album, on this track he goes back home. It’s been a long journey back and when he returns, he finds that this is still not a place for him, “Hey this town is too much you for me/I can’t live around/All these memories/Seeing you everywhere I look/Is something I don’t wanna see/Girl, this town is too much you for me”. But coming home isn’t all bad, because seeing all the memories of what used to be with the second girl forces the singer to realize it’s time to let go or he’ll die this way, “I thought those days would never end/Looking back they sure did/I’m still living in ‘em and I’m dying every minute/Girl I got to move on”
Ain’t No Easy Way
This is where the growth finally comes to the singer. This could easily be seen as a meeting between the singer and the second girl, getting the closure he never got when she left him. “There ain't no easy way/For me to hear the things you need to say/But go on and say 'em anyway/Baby I can take it.” After she beings to tell him her reasons for leaving, she starts to get hesitant but he has grown to the point that he can say, “There ain't no easy out/We both know where this is goin' now/Once its rollin' you can't turn around/There ain't no way to fake it”. He’s become a wiser person, with all the trials he’s endured he’s gained perspective, “Life is hard but love is harder/And when love won’t go any farther/Tears won’t put it back together/Sorry don't make it no better”. It’s a man who realizes running from things is the “easy way out”, but it never really works. “There ain't no easy way./To look somebody in the face/And tell them your feelings have changed/And you can't do it anymore”, he knows what she’s going through is hard, but it’s a necessary thing to do. The singer shows that he understands he reasoning and can sympathize with he rsituation, “There ain't no easy way/You can try to keep on tryin'/Act like love ain't really dyin'/You can just hang on for so long/You can only be just so strong”. The ending of the song is the opening verse again, as the singer has found the resolution he needs and knows leaves us with the notion that “[he] can take it”.
“Old Boots, New Dirt” is an album about two relationships that are integral to the singer’s emotional development and how he grows as a man. It’s a road plagued with missteps and misfortune but one that eventually leads to maturity and wisdom. It’s the chronicling of a childish man-boy that develops into an understanding adult that can see his past faults with clarity and hope that he will be able to use the closure he receives from the girl in his second relationship to move forward in his life. The themes that persist the album are of “lingering in the past vs moving on” and “passion vs emotional maturity”. It’s a balance that the singer struggles to find a middle ground with, constantly falling into immaturity and a sense that running from his problems will work. It’s not until he hits rock bottom, and even then he is not completely grown-up, that he starts to mature and learn from his mistakes, culminating in aemotionally difficult conversation that he is able to sympathize with the girl who left him and sent him on the reckless path he travels.