The Singles Jukebox

Buy a boat? In this economy?

[Video]
[3.83]

Thomas Inskeep: A little too “Kum Ba Yah” in its sentiments — and the banjo sounds phony as hell. 
[4]

Julian Axelrod: It’s been fascinating watching bro country’s figureheads respond to the US’s descent into fascist hell with Life Is Good platitudes and summer anthems for people who own a lake. To be fair, no one actually wants to hear a Kenny Chesney song about the alt-right. But “Get Along” can’t even commit to its own misguided premise, with a weird second verse that seems to condemn a nice girl with a modeling gig who seems to have followed the song’s advice. The chorus is just a grab bag of middle-class white people mantras that makes you wonder if every country singer really thinks singing “Call your mom” qualifies them for woke bae status. (That said, there’s something morbidly hilarious about imagining Chesney hearing the plight of a disenfranchised person of color and earnestly replying, “Have you tried buying a boat?”) This song wants to remind you of carefree summer days, but it mostly recalls a dog sitting in a burning room.
[4]

Will Adams: In fairness to Chesney, “can’t we all get along” is more pithy than “can’t we all recognize that there are people with vastly different life experiences than our own and with that comes extreme inequalities — across a variety of factors, including race, gender, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, disability, etc. — that will require a deep examination of our ideologies and creating solutions to rectify that inequality and NO drinking beer around a campfire doesn’t count as a solution.”
[2]

Edward Okulicz: I don’t resent Chesney for releasing something so lacking in cognizance of why people can’t get along. He’s smart enough to know exactly why and craven enough to try to milk it for a hit. I actually resent the hypothetical audience blithe enough to swallow it, but the song at least has the amicable tone it’s aiming for, a placebo marketed as an indigestion remedy.
[4]

Stephen Eisermann: Pleasant little folky country-pop track bogged down by a ridiculous chorus and tone deaf message. Also, I’m sorry, if I went to a Kenny Chesney concert I would not chant along to the laundry list chorus that sounds more like a list of chores than anything else.
[5]

Alfred Soto: Play guitar. Make me yawn. Get a life. 
[4]