Another young career ruined…
[Video]
[2.56]
Anthony Easton: I thought that redneck crazy was more of a mad-noise guitar squall, and this is much quieter and sweet, though it might not actually be. I may be too generous for its tiny narratives of difference.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: Holy shit this guy is the worst.
[0]
Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: When Farr recounts being cheated on, he drawls that his girlfriend had someone “on the side”. On those three words, a chasm opens up and you can hear a world of hurt and damaged pride. It’s nearly enough to leave understanding his douchebaggery elsewhere in the song. Nearly. But that line passes, and so does patience and sympathy for Farr as he smugly accounts a domestic disturbance over plodding organ vamps. “Redneck Crazy” is the music of restraining orders being launched, a million miles away from the good ol’ boy revenge saga Farr intends.
[3]
Alfred Soto: He sounds like Patterson Hood: chalky tones that husken at the first sign of anger. The bile-drenched middle eight goes unexpected places melodically. In short, a terrific performance with a hole at its center. Farr’s smarter than Jason Aldean, but conflating the loss of common sense with “redneck” is a hack Nashville trope. He’s young though.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Theoretically, Farr’s batshit quest for vengeance works, if only because it’s a common enough response that’s underrepresented in pop. But hey, so is palpable grittiness, and Tyler’s grainy pipes only go partway in selling his impotent rage. A couple years back, the Boomswagglers released “Run You Down”, which treats an identical scenario with offhand cruelty and infectious twang. But this is some weak tea indeed, a slow-motion pityfest for a guy who’s about to hit lockup.
[2]
Alex Ostroff: Pathetic insecurity & misogyny the likes of which I haven’t heard since The-Dream put out 1977. The way the bridge and final chorus attempt to frame ‘Redneck Crazy’ as a rousing victory, moral or otherwise, pushes the entire affair into the realm of vile.
[0]
Jonathan Bradley: I didn’t expect something called “Redneck Crazy” to be this tepid. It’s a gender-flipped take on Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats,” only Underwood actually wilded out in her song. Advice for the subject of Farr’s tune: when he drives that Silverado on to your front lawn, take a Louisville Slugger to both headlights.
[3]
Zach Lyon: It’s a very real and common habit for folks to wrongly assume the experiences and activities and miscellaneous shit they experience are confined to their immediate cultural surroundings or societies or cliques. Those little specificities are a lot easier to spot when you’re right in the middle and it’s easy for brains to make the connection between personal IDs and personal quirks. Anyone who’s ever read a “You know you’re from [_______] when…” list can recognize this. But I don’t think that’s happening here with Farr. I think he’s a guy with easy access to the word “redneck” and he knows how to use it: as a defense mechanism. Really, there’s nothing special about this brand of stalking and abuse; it’s just stalking and abuse, same as it is all around the world. “Redneck” is an easy word to hide behind, I guess. But Tyler, you aren’t Miranda and you aren’t Carrie. The dynamic is different and you’re creepy.
[0]
Mallory O’Donnell: Actual things about “the” actual “South”: 1) We never “shit on the hood and drank.” That would be gauche. Also, shitting in the trunk is way funnier. 2) When we “crank up the Hank” we ALWAYS SPECIFY WHICH HANK. 3) We never use or have need to “get” a “pissed-on phone.” 4) When we do truck as dick metaphors, we don’t half-ass ’em. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: 5) WE NEVER LET OUR REDNECK CHIX GET REDNECK STOLED BY REDNECK DUDE FROM REDNECK INTERPOL.
[3]