Jason Aldean’s ‘Songs About Us’: Every Tracked Ranked

Longtime buddies Aldean and Bryan kick off a new stadium tour on Saturday (April 25), the night after album’s release, so it makes perfect sense for the pair to have a new joint to perform together. In this case, it’s a mid-tempo sentimental track that’s comes up with a litany of items that when they hear them in a tune, they feel like the song was written just for them. Whether it’s mud on truck tires, plowing the dirt, whiskey, cold beer, barstools, small towns, tailgates or any number of musical legends mentioned here from Hank Williams to Merle Haggard to Keith Whitley  It’s the kind of song that will have folks waving their cell phone lights in concert, but feels paint-by-numbers here.  — MELINDA NEWMAN

Aldean returns to his signature grungy country style, with rock guitar licks and pummeling, arena-ready percussion. He spins a tale of being in an emotional space of trying to heal from a breakup, but quickly realizing he’s not quite ready to move on. “I’ve had one too many shots go down/ One too many memories come around,” he sings. This song feels tailor-made to keep the concert crowd’s energy at full-throttle. — JESSICA NICHOLSON

The Aldeans joins couples like Kane and Katelyn Brown and Clint Black and Lisa Hartmann Black, who make a song a family affair even though the wife is not primarily known as a singer (however, longtime fans will remember that Brittany was an American Idol contestant in 2012). Though the tempo is upbeat — and is one of the poppier songs Aldean has ever recorded — the emotions are definitely downbeat in this tale of exes unintentionally running into each other at a bar. They trade verses and then unite for the chorus on a tune that will undoubtedly make fans of the couple happy, but is unlikely to make anyone forget his blockbuster duets with Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson (nor is it trying to). — M.N.

Aldean keeps leaning into heartbreak on this album, as “She’s Why” sets the scene of a guy drowning his troubles at a local bar. “She’s why I don’t wanna go home,” he sings. As with many tracks on this album, Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy are among the writers, lending a consistency in feel and vibe to the project. — J.N.

The song starts as one of the most genial breakup songs ever, but as calm as Aldean sounds, he can’t hide his desperation in this mid-tempo tune. “Girl, it might kill me if you don’t give me one last look,” he sings, as he’s looking for any sign that her Chevrolet is not about to pull out his driveway for the last time. — M.N. 

Instead of the feel-good storyline that the song’s title suggests, this track veers into heartbreak territory, as the listener quickly understands he’s singing about a lover who is leaving the relationship in the dust. Gritty guitars punctuate the sense of loss and the urge to make things right as he sings, “The way she tore out of the drive/ I know she meant goodbye.” This song feels like classic Aldean. — J.N.

This album closer feels like a love song about Brittany, as Aldean sings about a couple that couldn’t have been more different when they met, given her city style and his country life. But over the years, she has adopted his ways — whether it’s listening to Waylon and Willie, loving her truck or wearing his old flannel shirts. It’s a sweet song about how couples become more like each other as the years go by — if they’re lucky. – M.N.

“She’ll love you like a rodeo and make you wanna hold on,” Aldean sings here, weighing the highs of loving a particularly enchanting person against the depths of heartache he’s knows will follow. Aldean’s brawny delivery offers plenty of confidence, balanced with the stoic vibe of someone who’s seen heartache before and knows how to contemplate the risks. — J.N.

“You’re the blue sky in all my memories,” Aldean sings in this mid-tempo track — as he tries to connect with an ex-lover, and wonders: If they retraced some of their past steps, would she remember what they once meant to each other? Would it “help you remember what I’ll never forget”? he asks in this cascading song, which suits his voice perfectly. — M.N.

Aldean continues cementing himself as a purveyor of heartbreak songs here. On “The High Road,” he’s still reeling with the sting of a breakup, but he’s determined to keep the breakup from turning nasty. Here, he tears through the temptation to run an ex’s name into the ground, and instead declares he’s drowning his sorrows alone, “doing ’90 on a barstool, hundred proof.” The mesh of drums and guitars keep the song in line with the rock-fueled songs Aldean fans have come to expect, as his muscular voice never overpowers the track, but gives it just the right amount of wounded dignity. — J.N.

A little more than 30 years since Murphy took this tune to No. 1 on Country Airplay, Aldean and Murphy make a delightful remake of the song that’s become a modern country classic. They stay fairly faithful to the original — though they amp up the guitars a bit — on this sweet tale about how love, like fine wine, only gets better with time. A fun interlude that will have both fans of the original and listeners who are hearing it for their first time tapping their toes and singing along. Creole Williams would approve. — M.N.

Aldean issues another barn burner here, setting the scene of a group of small-town denizens ready to blow off steam and find a reason to celebrate. He offers another nod to David Lee Murphy, dropping in a lyrical nod to “Dust on the Bottle.” The song’s country-rock stylings, washes of gritty guitar, and even machismo-driven lines such as “If you’re gonna backtalk/ Better have some backbone” does evoke a similar vibe to Aldean’s 2011 breakthrough rendition of “Dirt Road Anthem.” — J.N.

One of the album’s more upbeat tracks — one that breaks out above the rest in both tempo and subject matter. Aldean reflects on the crazy life that took him away from his small hometown, but he knows he’ll return one day, “as long as I have a little hometown left in me.” His family and childhood friends will make sure he never forgets, as long as his mom keeps praying for him and dad fills him in on how the bass are biting. Sounds a little more like Morgan Wallen than Aldean, but it’s good to see Aldean showing his range musically, if not topically. – M.N.

This smoldering track delves into the early moments of a night of romance. “You gotta let her go where she wants to go,” he sings, comparing a lover to a raging wildfire in the West. Like much of the album, the music is full-bodied, thick with guitars, bass and drums, with a sultry tempo that matches this song’s vibe of the passionate evening that is fast brewing. — J.N.

Aldean has a heart-to-heart with, well, his heart on this driving country rocker, where he’s hoping his heart will keep his secret that this former loner is secretly devastated by a break-up: “You’re the only one who knows that I still love her/ You’ve got a secret to keep, I’ve got a memory to drown,” he pleads. Will The current single, which is sure to be a real crowd pleaser in concert, be his 27th Country Airplay No. 1?  Don’t bet against it. — M.N.

He briefly detours from a run of heartbreak-heavy songs, though that lens still lingers here as a driving force. He sings of retracing a journey of making his way to Nashville, playing shows on Nashville’s Broadway and struggling to make a name for himself early in his career. “Only get one ride on the river of time,” he sings, capturing how certain places can bring forth a flood of memories, even years later. — J.N.

This slow-burner of a song instantly reels in the listener, as Aldean sits in a bar in the time-honored tradition of trying to drink off a heartache. “One goes down, two light up, three in a midnight smoke/ Don’t get me close enough to get me over you,” he sings, as the guitars wail and the tension builds. The answer is: The endless supply of whiskey won’t be enough. The song circles back around to really hammer home the point. It’s a strong album opener. — M.N.

Aldean slows down the slate of full-throttle songs with this vulnerable ballad about the nuances of a committed relationship. “When I get it wrong/ You ain’t always easy on me, but it ain’t hard to love you,” he sings, delivering the lines earnestly. Underpinned by understated musicianship, especially on the verses, this track should be a welcome addition to his concert setlists. — J.N.

Aldean raises a philosophical question on his 26^th No. 1: “How far does a goodbye go ’til it don’t come back?” the protagonist questions, as his girl has gone home to Mama and has been MIA for four days. The poor sap is left wondering as he questions how much different distances and modes of transportation factor into the equation, all the while knowing in his heart she is not returning. The mid-tempo, acoustic-driven ballad bursts into electric guitar about halfway through to build the sense of loss. — M.N.

This creative track, which closes out the album, nods to the kaleidoscope of colors that surrounds a couple’s daily life, from the green of his tractor to the red of the sunsets at night. The song describes a lover who appreciates all of those colors, but what she loves the most is the muddy brown of dirt he’s collected over a long day of hard work outdoors — on his boots, on the ground of the land he works on, o,r as the lyrics put it, “on generations of my roots.” — J.N.