MENTAL HEALTH
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one place , one chapter , he is ready to move on and grow , even rely a little on luck . As Stapleton tells NPR ’ s Noel King , the song wasn ’ t written for 2020 . “ As you do with songs sometimes , you write ‘ em and , pull it back out and you listen to it , and maybe it means something else in a different time , which is beautiful .” It is hard not to be reminded of the chapters opened and closed , hills climbed , and rivers crossed to complete a medical education and build a practice . Stapleton evidently didn ’ t intend to write this song or this album to physicians , but listening with a reflective ear reveals a shared sentiment built on years of hard work and practice .
Transcendence of genre and range of musical influence on “ Starting Over ” deserves mention not just for the remarkable depth but also the triggered memories of time and place . Even a country music novice will recognize a chord or two on the album , chords that will take you back to your own musical experiences . Stapleton provides opportunity for musical recollection early on in the album with “ When I ’ m with You ,” a tender , almost sultry , song to his wife and singing partner Morgane , that conjures the more traditional country ethos of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson . Stapleton quickly turns up the heat with “ Arkansas ,” a song co-written with his self-described guitar hero , Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers . Recounting a real-life road trip Stapleton and his bass player took through the Ozarks in a newly gifted Porsche 911 , this unusually hard-rocking song for Stapleton conjures memories of Garth Brooks ’ song “ Ain ’ t Goin ’ Down (‘ Til the Sun Comes Up )” of mid-1990s fame and the rabble-rousing good times of your best nights . The rabble-rousing isn ’ t left to one track , with charging electric guitar chords and honky-tonk edge , the Guy Clark cover “ Worry B Gone ” keeps the party alive , in what ends up feeling like a remarkable country riff on the Chuck Berry classic “ Johnny B Goode .” Late in the album , Stapleton throws a curve , leaning hard into an 80s soulful vibe reminiscent of Gregory Abbott ’ s 80s classic “ Shake you Down ,” with “ You Should Probably Leave ,” a song about passion and lust and the bad decisions that take you where you know you shouldn ’ t go . Stapleton even knocks out a recitation ballad , a quirky corner of country music , with “ Old Friends ,” recalling the inexplicable peak at # 3 on the Billboard charts of Alan Jackson ’ s recitation attempt in 1998 with “ I ’ ll Go On Loving You .” Stapleton makes no apologies for his approach to variety on the album , and why should he ? As he told Vulture . com , “ I ’ m fine if I fall into one category more than another , and I ’ m not unaware that I jump around a little more than some people think I should , but music is music . There ’ s two kinds of music : good music and bad music . I try to lean into the good as much as I can .”
As a genre , country music , famously built on the simple expression of experiences of everyday life , invariably has the ability to smooth the bumps in our decidedly more complex psyches . Music is an indelible ingredient of our psychological health . Stapleton , for his part , reaches well beyond just a tour of style in “ Starting Over ” and provides impressive substance as he bears the torch of our collective experiences and individual emotionality with an adept hand . Even the most casual listener will recognize many of the same , sometimes raw , emotions experienced in modern American life and medical practice .
Recognizing the therapeutic effects of music in an interview with The Tennessean , Stapleton notes “ It ’ s a self-therapy session sometimes . Sometimes that ’ s all ( a song ’ s ) for . They ’ re not for anything else , other than that . If you ’ re a songwriter that ’ s gonna happen on occasion .” He humbly leaves out that music , and none more than his , can be a therapy session for us all , allowing us to process some of the feelings we push down and hold back in our day to day lives and practice . A poignant example is the searing and angry cut , “ Watch You Burn .” By Stapleton ’ s own admission , the song , about the 2017 massacre at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas , was purely reactionary . Amid deep , thundering drum beats Stapleton , his voice grinding , sings “ Only a coward would pick up a gun and shoot up a crowd trying to have fun .” As the song builds feverishly , he exclaims “ to the evil ones ,” “ let it give you pause . Before you mail out your bombs or pull a trigger in a synagogue , you ’ re gonna get your turn .” Physicians may vividly remember this event in late 2017 and the subsequent fatal shooting at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks , California in 2018 when the National Rifle Association chose to tweet “ Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane .” As Stapleton ’ s song builds to a frenetic and angry pitch with a shrieking choir and full throttle guitar , it conjures one forensic pathologist ’ s viral 2018 tweet in response , “ This isn ’ t just my lane . It ’ s my f ****** highway .”
Stapleton moves past the anger and reaffirms the album as a lyrical therapy session for all emotions with his tender , but gut-wrenching , “ Maggie ’ s Song .” Discussing the song , a tribute to his beloved dog Maggie and one of the more emotionally evocative and personal songs on the album , Stapleton tells the LA Times , “ I ’ m no authority on masculinity , but I don ’ t feel un-masculine or embarrassed by having feelings . In fact , I think it ’ s the most manly thing you can do . And if somebody wants to say something to me about that , we can talk about it outside .” The song recounts Maggie ’ s life and death and Stapleton ’ s realization that a dog , indeed , has a soul . This ballad about a simple joy and the common pain of loss is a reminder to check our own souls . A tissue box is recommended as an accompaniment . This humble but direct approach to life ’ s experiences embodies Stapleton ’ s lyrics and style , an approachability that makes his music so meaningful .
Music can be a transformative experience to all who partake . A
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