Josh Turner – Time Is Love
So by the transitive property, love is money?
[Video][Website]
[6.12]
Anthony Easton: This is most likely a placeholder single, until the new album comes out and something more interesting replaces it. It is perfectly competent, with some lovely bits: some good percussion, beautiful guitar work, and his voice is as delightful as ever, but the writing is anonymous and sentimental in ways that are beneath his genial professionalism.
[6]
John Seroff: It’s likely a mix of the bittersweet homilies and the indie-sounding “Chopsticks” keys under the layers of strings but “Time Is Love” evokes direct comparison to John Mayer and DMB. YMMV as to whether that spoils the sharp performances or you’re able to take solace in the sturm und twang or (like me) you more or less split the difference.
[6]
Brad Shoup: The post-chorus guitar twinning speaks to the theme far better than the actual text. Gorgeous arrangement, though, and it’s kinda neat to hear him make amateur-night transitions between notes.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: “Time is Love” hits close to home and stabs me at the same time because it speaks to experiences and mistakes we’ve all made. Its lyrical concept — that it’s better to spend times with the person who matters — is potentially saccharine, but it’s handled lightly and doesn’t lay the lessons on too thick. But it also soothes me, because its melody isn’t saccharine, it is sweet and humble and beautiful. Its arrangement is surprisingly ornate and delicate like layers of honeycomb beneath Turner’s honeyed voice. It’s also sung with the wisdom of someone who’s let work and the unimportant things get in the way one too many times.
[9]
Alfred Soto: The slide guitar has more treacle than Turner’s voice, but that’s the worst thing about this crowd pleaser, which sports at least two unexpected curlicues from a mandolin and another guitar. A producer for a WB drama looking for an opening credit theme song could do worse.
[7]
Michaela Drapes: Sorry, Josh — I’m afraid you’re treading in some territory already well-trafficked by Joni Mitchell and Ben Folds telling the other side of this story. Unfortunately, the turgid arrangement and the fact that dude is actually already late and is depending his girl to patiently wait for him to show up are both such turnoffs here.
[2]
Pete Baran: A jolly country roll-along song shouldn’t have such fancy orchestration, is my first response. The break into fiddly Django-esque jazz guitar is arresting because it is so well done. Josh’s syrupy voice doesn’t seem out of place with the juxtaposition, and if this was an experiment, it’s almost wholly successful.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: The warmth in his voice is like a summer’s day: overpowering and sleepy, full of meaningless platitude.
[6]
I am a total sap, it seems. But I don’t see this as the other side of the songs Michaela mentions – the Folds song has the narrator observing the girl (that he is in love with) waiting for a boy with no sense of duty who ditches her repeatedly for no good reason, and here, well, isn’t Josh saying “My duty IS the girl, work be damned”?
Am I reading this in an erroneously romantic light because of something I ate, or what?
Ugh, by turgid I actually meant FLACCID.
Ed, I was just noting to my roommate how amusing our polar opposite interpretations are. I don’t think either of us is wrong, and both readings are valid.
However, another wrench to throw in the works — who is he singing this to, anyway? His boss, his bros? Strangers on the street? I’d like it more if it was clear (with a more TURGID arrangement, perhaps) that he was singing it to The Other Woman.
There’s another woman? Surely this isn’t another “Just Fishin'” waiting to happen.
No, sorry — I don’t think there’s one here. That was poor wording on my part. I’d like it more if he were singing to another woman — clearly, he’s not. The arrangement wouldn’t be so … sappy if he was.
Also, just as an aside, my internal judgement schema for country music is very, very heavily weighted towards both a) the quality of the singer’s voice (sadly, Josh just doesn’t do it for me) and b) the prowess of the session musicians in the background (here, kind of lackluster). The lyrics are good, but they get lost in all that musical mush.
I love the guitars.
I am confused about why you think turner has a poor voice
I can’t speak for Michaela, but I noticed his baritone slipping on the lines before the first chorus. The harmonies cover it up somewhat during the next go-round.
In the photo please note the grinning confidence of a lifelong commitment to pedophilia.
i wish he would have a life long commitment to my cock. fuck, is that photo make my pussy wet.
Josh Turner just looks disturbing right now. As in, I’m pretty sure my best friend and I both had crushes on him when we were 16, and he still looks EXACTLY THE SAME.
(I didn’t blurb the song because after listening to it three times I could’t even remember how it went, which would constitute a blurb if I could figure out any interesting way to say that. Also, Lana.)
OH NOT YOU TOO KATHERINE
This stretches too much at the edges of his upper range in really key points of the song, and not in a good way. He sounds strained, in a way that makes me fear for how this would sound live.