Dawn comes to all…
[Video][Website]
[5.00]
Anthony Easton: Is there a generational or slight genre difference in hat acts who wear a ball cap versus a Stetson? Because I got close to developing a thesis about that, and this came along. (It also has too many words packed into too little a space, and most of those words are completely extraneous.)
[4]
Brad Shoup: Maybe I’m alone, but the descending piano figure gives me crazy memories of Lisa Miskovsky’s “Sweet Misery”. So odd that for all the words Bryan and his co-writers expend, they don’t really form a scene. There’s one great internal rhyme (“trusted me/dusty seat”) and some sort of aimless drive with two horny adults. The woman’s having a manic episode in the passenger seat, and Luke’s busy fretting about proper time allocation for kissings. Why’s she gotta leave in the morning? And if it’s just a physical thing, why would it matter if she does? And is there anything worse than a passenger who sings along with everything on the radio?
[4]
John Seroff: There’s a lot of cognitive dissonance in “I Don’t Want.” The flat pop country production doesn’t do any favors to what is essentially a Heart ballad. Luke Bryan’s Foghorn Leghorn delivery adds a neatly absurd wrinkle to his enraptured, eyes-skyward lovesick blues. Ultimately, though it’s never outright declared, the passive, helpless narrative codes feminine. While I suppose it’s not that strange to find female C/W artists riding songs that could be sung by men, the inverse feels notably rarer. Subtle and curious genderflips aside, “I Don’t Want” never quite makes the leap to catchy. It’s a pint of interesting in a ten gallon hat.
[6]
Pete Baran: Is it wrong for me to be worried about the driving in this song? Luke has got the truck on cruise control and is staring at his companion and losing all control (lazy rhyme there Luke). He may not want this night to end but with a full tank of gas, and being completely lost there are all sorts of ways this could end in disaster. Indeed the video does end with a disastrous bit of “acting” and …To Be Continued.
[6]
Alfred Soto: The video shows Bryan and the girlfriend playing night basketball in a barn, a scene which fits Bryan’s deep-voiced sincerity and unbuttoned grace. Wistfulness and lust have always animated even the most pedantic of road songs; I’m glad Bryan understands both.
[6]
Michaela Drapes: There’s so many things about this that make my skin crawl, I’m not sure where to begin. Mostly, I just want to pull Luke Bryan aside and let him know that all the things he finds so charming about his mysterious dream girl at 3am are gonna seem really, really annoying if he ever tries to have a real relationship with her. (Seriously, she sings along with every song? Even the really bad ones?) Because the last thing a hardworking journeyman country musician needs is to get tangled up with a flaky free spirit. Especially when she’s not even compelling enough to inspire a good song.
[3]
Matt Cibula: I like the Appalachian dronestuff sandwiched into the overpacked mix, and I like the guitar work, and Luke Bryan’s voice ain’t bad as voices go, before voices go. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that this song was clearly written, arranged, and sung by people who have never had the kind of night that they didn’t want to end. Just pretty sounds with no heartbeat, damn it all.
[5]
Josh Langhoff: The tune sounds a little overly-composed, but the song is saved by two cheeseball elements: a vwaa-vwaa-vwaa-vwaa “Hysteria” guitar figure and an escalating post-solo chorus, where you can hear the entrance of every instrument, from drums to bass to screaming lead lines. They bespeak the tightly controlled libido of a man “slowly losing hold” (unless it’s the more interesting “slowly losing hope”), content to marvel at the uninhibited woman rockin’ in his truck, realizing he probably won’t get laid.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: He’s tipsy enough to pretend he’s a bass and shrug off phrases like “you’re rocking in my truck” and “looking so damn hot.” She’s got the radio too loud on a station too raucous for anyone to feel wistful. Their courtship’s already doomed.
[3]
Alex Ostroff: ‘I Don’t Want This Night to End’ feels too measured for Bryan to really be losing hold of his inhibitions and not care what road he’s on, especially given that he’s apparently square enough to say something like “you’re rockin’ in my truck.” I keep waiting for a moment where a sense of reckless abandon enters the picture, but it never comes. He’s prematurely wistful, already filming the ‘wild’ night of ‘excitement’ in muted tones of nostalgia. I suppose it’s good to know that Manic Pixie Dream Girls exist in country music?
[4]
Jonathan Bogart: The chiming ring-down of the guitars on the chorus sound something like fate, and it doesn’t take the lugubrious video to be sure that the night will end, and poorly. But there’s not enough of a smile in Bryan’s buttery voice to keep us warm in the meantime.
[7]