I’m sorry I hung out with those sinners on The Voice, Lord!
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[5.20]
Anthony Easton: The most explicitly religious song that Shelton has ever done doesn’t discuss the divine as an unknowable or interventionist god that is horribly generalized. The small details, and the explicit brokenness that begins the song, suggests a narrative of close relational power. When was the last time that chart country seriously addressed martyrdom? When was the last time — outside of certain corners of Mennonite/Amish/Anabaptists actually constructs eroticism as a martyrdom? The earnestness is a little much, and the bombast overwhelms, and his voice has been smoothed over — all of these things need to be noted. But the theology is much more sound than you see in other places.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: I can’t begrudge anyone their expression of heartfelt faith slash love. I can begrudge them not expressing it in any but the most simplistic, unimaginative terms possible.
[2]
Katherine St Asaph: It’s so overtly Christian because Christian rock musician Dave Barnes did it first. Blake’s contribution was to pump up the guitars, ratchet down the key and clobber the original in sales. Someone more in touch with the church community will have to tell me whether there’s been a backlash to that; the answer will probably be more interesting than the song.
[5]
Alfred Soto: A squish like Shelton marrying the decidedly earthbound Miranda Lambert suggests divine intervention, and so does this hymn’s ringing 12-string hook. But Shelton, much better at midtempo yearning than uptempo bellowing, must contend with a pedestrian chorus.
[6]
Brad Shoup: Blake sails the high C’s of adult contemporary/contemporary Christian with a fidgety, keening song of devotion. It bursts and babbles with a winning sense of momentum — by contrast, Dave Barnes’ original feels like running through a snowstorm — but the phrases “love’s great martyr” and “flattered fool” are, respectively, troubling and kinda weeny. How will our Christian boys become men if they constantly jabber about how inadequate their women make them feel?
[6]