Radio

Album: One Sided War (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song pokes fun at rockers who search for further success as country singers (hello, Steven Tyler). Michael Sweet is not ignorant about the sounds of Nashville, having come from a country music family - his father Phil Sweet wrote Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius' 1976 #1 hit, "I Don't Want to Have to Marry You." Sweet said:

    "I wrote the song 'Radio' based on my history in country music and on what seems to be a surge of rock stars trying to become country stars.

    I'm a metalhead at heart and always will be, but I've had the opportunity to write with some of the best writers in Nashville (Blair Daly, Bruce Wallace, Luke Laird) and I've learned how talented these guys are and how serious they take their job.

    Just as metal is a lifestyle, country is as well and you have to live it, not just wake up one morning and decide you're gonna be a country star and have the respect of the country world.

    I grew up with country music, played on my dad's country songs and I know and respect the country music world.

    "This song and video is having a little fun with all the guys that think they can just throw on a cowboy hat, some cowboy boots, move to Nashville and become country stars. It's just not that simple and that's just not reality.

    The same would apply to country stars trying to become metalheads. Kind of funny when you think about it.

    Country music, just like rock, is a lifestyle rich with history and authenticity and each genre should be treated with great respect. You can't fake it. You can try, but the fans will see right through it."

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