Tim McGraw continues his desperate search for relevancy with his latest single "Lookin' For That Girl". Tim was responsible for some of the biggest hits of the 90's and early 2000's, including classics like "Where The Green Grass Grows" and "Live Like You Were Dying". When you have the kind of career Tim has had, you have two options: Ride off gallantly into the sunset on top of your game and true to yourself, or tragically cling to the fame and success and sell your soul for one last shot to be cool. Tim has unfortunately been consistently choosing the latter.
"Lookin' For That Girl" is a mess. The lyrics are your standard every day mix of frat boy terminology mixed with countryisms to create a hodge-podge mess that sounds like a blueprint for a date rape. Are the lyrics stupid? Yes. But that isn't the biggest issue here. If Florida-Georgia Line or Jason Aldean sang this, at least it would make sense. FLA-GA Line are typical bros and Aldean did this kind of stuff when he was married so I can't imagine what he is up to now. The problem is that Tim is a 50 year old man doing this crap. He is old enough to be a grandpa, and here he is creepin on the hotties at the bar. Ladies, what would you do if some married 50 year old with three kids came to you with this garbage at a bar? It's a pathetic cry for relevancy. Tim wants to be the cool kid, but he isn't a kid anymore. Combine this song with the disaster that was "Truck Yeah" and add in the weight loss that has Tim tipping the scales at what appears to be 75 lbs soaking wet and add in the creepy tan that has Tim looking like he took some of Faith's designer leather bags and made himself a full body jumpsuit from them to wear in public and you have a full fledged midlife crisis. At this point, nothing he did next could surprise me. I can totally see him signing up for some kind of sky-diving, bungee-jumping, binge-drinking, monster truck rally and making a reality show of it. Tim, go look at your contemporaries Alan Jackson and George Strait. That's aging with grace and dignity. Shoot, George is still garnering more awards and more attention than you, and he didn't have to sell out to do it! Staying true to yourself can work wonders sometimes.
Of course, sonically, this song is a joke as well. Autotune. AUTOTUNE?!?! You know how to make country music cool? Let's use a gimmick that pop singers and rappers used 5 years ago and beat into the ground so far that even those teeny-bopper fans are tired of it! Good plan! This is such a sad attempt to "cross-over" to the pop world, but unfortunately it's about 5 years too late. Didn't you hear Tim? Auto-tune is dead. Jay-Z killed it. Maybe Tim can do a remix with T-Pain on this song. It would be a smash... in 2008.
Upon further digging, this song is actually par for the course for Tim. When the new traditionalists of the 90's were big, Tim had "Don't Take The Girl" and "Not A Moment Too Soon". "Indian Outlaw" and "Down on The Farm" capitalized on the line dancing craze in the 90's as well. When Rascal Flatts and the move towards pop country hit it big, Tim released "Live Like You Were Dying". When bro-country hit, Tim has "Southern Girl", "Lookin For That Girl", and "Truck Yeah". The point is, while Tim certainly can pick some great songs and has some classics, he is hardly a leader. Tim McGraw is a follower. He does whatever is popular and will sell. While he has just as many hits as some of his peers, he will never be a George Strait or Alan Jackson or Reba McEntire. Those artists came from the same era, but kept their dignity. "Lookin' For That Girl" is a sad tale of a song, showing what can happen when an artist sells their soul for one last hit. You are better than this Tim.
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