Jessica Simpson Sings Country Music from the Heart

Douglas Boultinghouse
Staff Writer

    When pop star, actress and designer Jessica Simpson announced her plans to record a country album, very few took her seriously. Well, shame on them.

   Taking the advice from country legends and good friends Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, she began writing and telling her story. She and Nelson became friends while filming the 2005 big-screen adaptation of “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

   Simpson released her debut country single “Come on Over” in June and since then, the track peaked at No. 18 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. The song broke Billboard history when it debuted at No. 41 on the charts marking the highest chart debut from a solo artist with no prior history on country charts, according to a Columbia Nashville press release.

Courtesy of JessicaSimpson.com

   Simpson made various appearances throughout the summer promoting her single and album that included a performance on “The View” and a surprise autograph and meet and greet at the 2008 CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tenn. Her sixth studio album, yet first in the country genre, “Do You Know” hit the shelves Sept. 9.

   “I always get butterflies right before an album comes out,” Simpson told The Tennesseean. “I'm even more nervous and excited for this one since I co-wrote almost all the tracks and it really speaks from my heart.”

   Sadly, even before the album released, many critics jumped on the “Boo Jessica Bandwagon.”

   The buzz around the Internet consists of people wanting to see her fail before giving her a chance. The album begins with the first single “Come on Over.” By far the most “pop sounding” track on the album, it misleads the listener on what to expect from the rest of the album. Despite saying that, the song remains one of country music’s catchiest summer tracks.
  
   “I need you now / I need you bad / I need you baby looking just like that / Don't pack a bag / Don't make me wait / I wanna kiss that smile that's on your face / I need you wrapped up in these arms / I want you just the way you are / Come on over,” she sings on the addictive chorus backed by a steel guitar.   The second single “Remember That” follows.

     Though she did not write the anthem for abused women, she told several magazines that she has experienced abuse and could relate to the song written by Rachel Proctor and Victoria Banks.
  

   Before performing the song at her debut on the legendary Grand Ole Opry stage, Simpson told the crowd that it was a personal song for many women. When she first heard the song, she said she burst into tears and at that moment she knew God wanted her to sing it.

   “Remember how he pushed you in the hallway / Just enough to hurt a little bit / Remember the whiskey in his whispers / And the lies that fell so easy from his lips / Remember that…” she sings before the chorus. “When it's 3AM and he's at your door / And he wants you back and he's begging for forgiveness / Remember that / When your phone keeps ringing all night long / And that same old weakness gets so strong / That you're helpless / Remember that.”

   She adds words of encouragement through powerful vocals singing, “It doesn't matter how he hurts you / With his hands or with his words / You don't deserve it / It ain't worth it / Take your heart and run / Just run.”

  Taking an even braver step, she closes the song with the heart-breaking line, “Remember you're gonna be alright / Take it from me I've stood there in your shoes...”
   To pick thinks up, she goes back to her gospel upbringing for the inspirational song “Pray Out Loud.”

   “When you’re down / Don’t be afraid to pray out loud / Just close your eyes and let it out / Take all your fears and doubts / He’s listening right now / Don’t be afraid to pray out loud / Don’t have to face it on your own / We don’t have to be alone / Just open up your arms and look up at the sky / And pray out loud,” the preacher’s daughter sings.

   Anyone who reads tabloids or watches television knows Jessica Simpson currently dates Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.   Simpson wrote the next song for Romo, entitled “You’re My Sunday.”

   “We spend so much time worried about what’s coming up next / Can’t even find a little room, a little space, to even catch a breath / When life is like a hurricane / Flying off the rails like a fast train / Everything around me is so insane / You come and take it all away / You’re my Sunday,” she sings for her Cowboy. With the next cut, Simpson proves her ability as a songwriter, writing one of the most brilliant country songs in ages.

  
   “I could have been your June Carter Cash / Waltzed right along with you / All through this life with you / I could have been your light in the dark / The one that you’re reaching for / When you can’t take it anymore / We could have been…” she begins the song “Sipping on History.”

   She continues with the chorus, “Eighty years old sipping on history / Every drop, taste every memory / Under the stars, looking back on this beautiful life that we made / Holding your hand.”

   Between the simple melody and the faint sounds of a carousel blended with the incredible vocal delivery and creative lyrics, Simpson painted her masterpiece.
   She channels her idol, fellow blonde Dolly Parton on the song “Still Beautiful.”   The song resembles the style of a song Parton would have released in the late ‘80s.
  
   “They won't all be sunny days / Life’s gonna bring down some rain / But after it’s over / I’ll be that much stronger for the pain / So even when I’m sad / I know every day I have is still beautiful,” she sings over the upbeat country rhythm. Once again, Simpson puts her chops as a songwriter to work, creating the perfect country song.

   “I’d like to tell myself / If you showed up tonight / I’d tell you to go to hell / And get on with my life  / I’d just walk away without a fight / Without one tear falling from my eye / I’d like to think that’s what I would do / Yeah I know that’s what I should do,” she sings on the broken and bitter beginning of “Still Don’t Stop Me.”

   For the painful twist, the chorus blazes “But it still don’t stop me / Yeah it still don’t change the truth / Cause baby you got me / Where I can’t let go of you / I know if I let you back in / It’s the same damn thing all over again / You’ll just hurt me / You’ll just hurt me / But it still don’t stop me.”

   At the beginning of “When I Loved You Like That,” Simpson softly sings, “You lit me up just like a match / Then you burned me out just as fast / You flew me high just like a kite / Up in the air / Leaving me there alone in the sky / Why you gotta be so complicated / Give me the world and then take it back / When I loved you, when I loved you like that.”

   By the final stage of the song, Simpson turns cold singing, “Now you're walking on the city street / And you're cold and you're all alone / The only thing keeping you company is the melody in your song / Keep singing it / Pour your scotch on the rocks / And drink your misery down / Go home and make love to her / And picture me, picture me / Yeah, Picture me / When I loved you like that.” Despite not writing the song “Might As Well Be Making Love,” Simpson gives one of her most powerful vocal efforts to date.

   “If tomorrow we won't even remember / How it started, who was right and who was wrong / If this fire will be burned down to an ember / Before too long,” she sings. “If the morning's gonna turn it into history / Be a page of what we wish we'd never said / If you're gonna wake up here with me / Here with me anyway / Here in this bed / We might as well be making love. The end of the song comes with a vocal trill so enormous chills will run down your spine.

   Starting out low Simpson sings, “We might as well be making love,” before shooting the next line straight up into the chorus, “Let this rainy night have the best of us / Turn these stubborn walls into a pile of dust / Think we've said enough / We might as well be making love.”

   After experiencing her share of heartache, Simpson penned the song “Man Enough,” a series of questions a guy must answer yes to before pursuing her.

   She asks, “Are you man enough / Are you brave enough / Can you pick me up / When I fall down / When I loose my place / When I loose my faith / Can you find a way / To turn me back around?”   The song features perfect vocals from Simpson arranged with a laid-back and rhythmic beat.

   On the bonus DVD you receive when you purchase the deluxe edition of the album, Simpson said while sequencing the album, she saved the best for last.

   After taking a liking to Simpson, Dolly Parton wrote a song for her new friend, the title track “Do You Know.” Parton sings harmony and background vocals on the track.
   “Lying here beside you in the dark / I feel the steady rhythm of your heart / Feel your face against my shoulder, breath upon my skin / Embers barely smoldered, I make love to you again,” Simpson sings.

   “Nothing in this world compares to this  / The way our bodies fit the way we kiss / Passion, warmth and eagerness just adds to my desire / Seems that I am more or less consumed here in your fire,” she sings with Parton backing her.

   For the chorus, the two divas belt “Do you know how much I love you / Do you know how much it means to me / The interest that you show / Do you know how beautiful you are here in the afterglow / Do you know I'd walk through hell for you, barefoot on burning coals / A thousand ways I love you and I need to know you know.”
   Simpson and Parton then go into repetitious lines of “Do you know.” First Simpson, then Parton.

   The magic begins when Simpson lets loose, holding perhaps the longest note in history, while Parton bursts “Do you know I’d walk through hell for you, barefoot on burning coals,” into the rafters.

   When interviewed by country site The Boot about the duet, Simpson said, “After she sang her part on the song, she looked into my dad's video camera and said, 'Well, Jessica sang her butt off. I sang my butt off. So now we're two blondes with no asses!”

   Also on the bonus DVD, Simpson said she should have made this album years ago because she feels most at home in country music. She vowed on the Grand Ole Opry never to record another pop album again.

   In all honesty, I expected the album to be good simply because of Jessica Simpson’s powerful voice. What I heard exceeded my expectations. Simpson returned to her roots as a country girl from Texas, brought back the gospel influences that led her to music and created one of the best country albums of the year.

   Despite various reports in the media of a feud between Simpson and country superstar Carrie Underwood over Tony Romo, listeners need to take that out of the music. The two both sing country, but the genre holds space for two blond superstars. Comparisons will be made between the two, but a fair comparison cannot be made because the artists’ work sound nothing alike.

   In fact, Simpson holds nothing but respect for Underwood. She told The Boot, “I think it's impressive how many No. 1s Carrie Underwood has. Her choice in songs is really great, and she has an incredible voice. As far as new people, she has one of the strongest voices out there.”

   According to New York Daily News, country trio Rascal Flatts plans on bringing Simpson along as the supporting act for their new tour kicking off in January.
   After the first day sales Simpson’s album holds the top spot on iTunes Country charts. However, with digital sales, the chart positions vary from day to day. The official sales rank will be released by Billboard Thurs., Sept. 18.

   Simpson released “Do You Know” in two formats: a standard CD and a deluxe edition with a bonus DVD. Go pick up a copy and listen to her story. 

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