I had some reservations about this song. I hadn’t heard more than a few snippets before I got the album, and its association with the documentary made me a bit leery about what the lyrics would be.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the lyrics. Instead of being an overly ego-driven track where Jon sings about how great he is, which is what I was afraid of, I found a wistful, almost sad track. The backing vocals during the chorus actually reinforce the wistful feel of the song beautifully.
Most of this track displays the stronger, less nasal vocals that Jon has been doing recently. Personally I find this to be a big improvement over some earlier performances. On this track especially, since the softer ballad format would have suffered greatly from overly nasal vocals.
Also, this track demonstrates the gorgeous subtlety that Richie Sambora is capable of. The guitar in this song helps both build and drive the song, without detracting from the vocals at all. The solo in this song is also great; Richie steps forward and takes the lead smoothly and delivers a solo that fits perfectly with the rest of the song.
Overall, this track is a great ballad. It seems like Bon Jovi got their ballad-writing mojo back around the time that they started Lost Highway. If it took a side trip to Nashville for them to recover their ability to write ballads like this one, then I’m glad that they did it.
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