Is Blake Shelton’s ‘I Lived It’ a Hit? Listen and Sound Off!
With "I Lived It" Blake Shelton gently pokes fun at himself while recalling the virtues of yesterday. The warm, slow country breeze uses familiar ribbon to softly tie Texoma Shore together.
The nostalgic details of this new song come tumbling out one at a time. Old country habits like pouring grease back into a Crisco can and using tobacco juice to heal a bee sting bring back a world that was less automatic ... and a song from 2014. It is absolutely fair to compare this ballad's to ex-wife Miranda Lambert's "Automatic," but they're siblings, not twins. Ashley Gorley, Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins and Ross Copperman have penned an original.
Later in the song Shelton talks about a time when "Hollywood was fake and wrestling was real." The lyrics mean something different when The Voice coach delivers them — here his tongue is firmly planted in cheek, but it's not distracting. The love/hate relationship the singer has with Hollywood becomes more fascinating by the minute. He's a reality television staple that retreats to his Oklahoma farm whenever possible. His girlfriend Gwen Stefani epitomizes southern California, yet he's resolute in not letting his own image drift westward. Any other singer would have frosted the tips of his hair a long time ago.
"Oh, you think I'm talking crazy / In a different language / You might not understand / Oh, that's alright / That's just the kind of life that made me who I am," Shelton sings to begin the chorus of "I Lived It." His performance is honest and the production true to his roots. Anyone old enough to remember a grandfather who smoked with the car windows tightly sealed understands why he's celebrating the memory. These thoughts are what build character, for better or worse.
Did You Know?: Blake Shelton has more than two dozen No. 1 hits, but has never won a Grammy.
It's True, Blake Has Lived It and We Got Proof!
Blake Shelton's "I Lived It Lyrics":
Daddy drove the wheels off a flatbed Ford / Flies found a hole in the old screen door / Granny said the dress that my sister wore to church wasn't long enough / Mama poured grease in a Crisco can / Put a hundred thousand miles on a Sears box fan / Uncle Joe put tobacco on my hand where them yellow jackets torn me up / And I ain't making this up.
Chorus:
Oh, you think I'm talking crazy / In a different language you might not understand / Oh, that's alright / That's just the kind of life that made me who I am / Just taking my mind on a visit / Back in time 'cause I miss it / You wouldn't know to love it like I love it unless you lived it / And man, I lived it.
Granddaddy smoked Salems with the windows up / Drove me around in the back of that truck / We drank from the hose and spit in the cup / We all survived somehow / Them old Duke boys, they're flattening their heels / Hollywood was fake, wrestling was real / Wouldn't dream of spending that two dollar bill from pushing a lawnmower around / I'd go back there right now.