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The Wild Things

"James Dean's accident with a speeding Porsche 550 Spyder happened on Highway 331 in California at 5:45pm. The burgeoning star had received a speeding ticket just two hours and fifteen minutes prior, at 3:30pm, which is the same time mentioned in 'Where the Wild Things Are'."
 (Lydia Farthing / holler.country, October 23, 2023)
 
On the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) charts of November 10, 2023, Luke Combs' current single is already at number 21 after just 5 weeks. And with that it seems to be on track to follow suit all his previous 17 singles, of which only one ('The Kind of Love We Make') did not reach number 1, but had to settle for number 2.

Nevertheless, 'Where the Wild Things Are' is a little different than all his previous releases. For one thing, Luke Combs is not involved as a songwriter. Rather, the song was written by Randy Montana and Dave Turnbull and has apparently been circulating in the scene already for several years.

On the other hand, it is a story song with a dramatic ending. Something that wasn't popular at the time the song was written. Or as Luke Combs pointed out as countrynow.com: "At the time, nobody was cutting story songs at all, really."

It is the third single from his fourth and current studio album "Gettin' Old", which also includes the cover song 'Fast Car' by Tracy Chapman. For it Luke Combs received the awards for Song of the Year and Single of the Year at the annual CMA Awards on November 9, 2023. And after having also spent several weeks at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this year with 'Fast Car', general expectation was, that he would also receive a Grammy Award nomination for it. But to everyone's surprise, he, like all other country artists, were left empty-handed at the nominations on November 10, 2023.

When asked about the current single, Luke Combs said:  "I would argue that it’s a really tough song to sing and figure out how you would do you live. I mean, we struggle with it even in studio." In fact, there are probably more radio-friendly songs on the album. Especially when the structure of the track deviates from that of a typical radio hit, in which the oft-repeated chorus takes a central position.

Instead the story of the song develops from verse to verse without lingering on the title chorus for too long. So the mid-tempo song works best when focusing on the lyrics and letting oneself get guided by the powerful voice of the singer.

My big brother rode an Indian Scout.
It was black like his jacket.
American Spirit hangin' outta his mouth,
just like our daddy.
He kicked started that bike one night and broke mama's heart.
He pointed that headlight west,
out where the wild things are.
(Where the Wild Things Are / Randy Montana, Dave Turnbull)

These are striking images that the song paints with words right at the beginning of the song. Almost as if they were intended as a script for a cinematic adaptation. It deals with the eternal theme of heading west towards an unknown but hopeful future. As well as finding oneself.

He'd call me up every couple of weeks,
from South California.
Talk about the desert and the Joshua Tree
and his pretty girl stories.
And how he bought an Airstream trailer and a J-45 guitar.
Said, "Little brother, you'd love it out here,
out where the wild things are".
(Where the Wild Things Are / Randy Montana, Dave Turnbull)

The two eventually end up spending a carefree, wild summer together in California. A memorable time after which their paths part forever.

We started drinkin' on the strip in LA
and then it got crazy.
Ended up at a house in the hills with some Hollywood stars.
Kissin' on a blonde in a backyard pool,
out where the wild things are

Couple iron horse rebels,
wild as the devil.
I knew I had to move back east.
Said goodbye to my brother,
at the end of that summer,
but I knew he'd never leave
(Where the Wild Things Are / Randy Montana, Dave Turnbull)

And it happened as it had to happen, in a story whose images are not entirely unreasonably reminiscent of the story of James Dean: a too early ending of a life out where the wild things are. An ending that is brought full circle by the motorcycle with which it once started out ...

Oh, it's hearts on fire and crazy dreams,
Oh, where the nights ignite like gasoline.
And oh, them Indian Scouts, man, they're built for speed.
And oh, they said he hit that guardrail at half past three.
Lit up those streets that never sleep when the sky goes dark.
We buried him out in the wind 'neath the West Coast stars,
out where the wild things are.
(Where the Wild Things Are / Randy Montana, Dave Turnbull)

 

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