Cam’s ‘Classic’ Is a Comfortable, Pop-Country Jam [Listen]
Cam's new song "Classic" wraps a very progressive pop-country hook up in an old cozy sweater and offers it with a wide smile. The unmistakable feel-good song from her upcoming album will bring back memories if you let it.
Or, it will just suck you in with a final modulation. There's no key change after the bridge, but the effect is the same. The California-raised, Nashville-based singer pulls you closer, closer, closer ... Cam and her production team have done a masterful job in building a song that was already sharp as lyrics on paper.
"Classic" is a list song that pulls at your sense of nostalgia, but Cam rebuffs the usual touchstone of such songs. Old dogs, church pews, mama's recipes and dirt roads sit this song out, but some of her chosen references take you to the same places. It's more effective. In mentioning Lucky Strike brand cigarettes, Cam recalls dad, or a grandfather. The bench seat on that classic car brings back your adolescence. The buoyant nature of the melody pulls you to easier, simpler times. It likely wasn't her intention to target such a wide demographic so effectively when she sat down to write for her new album, but that "Classic" does will give her a great shot at another hit on country radio.
Did You Know?: Cam wrote "Classic" with Jack Antonoff, who has most recently worked with Taylor Swift on her Lover and Folklore albums.
Country Music's Best Love Song Ever? Here Are Our Favorites:
50 Best Country Love Songs
Cam's "Classic" Lyrics:
Pickin' up some Lucky Strikes / Leanin' on the wall outside / They don't make 'em like that anymore / Talkin' down at the corner store / They shut their lights and they close their doors / 'Cause they don't make 'em like that anymore / But you and I are classic.
Pre-chorus:
Like a bench in the front seat / Like a big yellow taxi / Like your best friend's mixtape / A big limo and a prom date / Ain't nothin' new I'm waitin' for / 'Cause they don't make 'em like this anymore.
Chorus:
I wanna hit rewind, baby / Take our time / Wanna hit rewind, baby / Take our time / They don't make 'em like this anymore.
Fixin' up the '65 / Take it to the drive in tonight / They don't make 'em like that anymore / With the stars on the screen, good Lord / I'm talkin' speaker hangin' off a truck door / They don't make 'em like that anymore / But you and I are classic.
Repeat Pre-Chorus
Repeat Chorus
Johnny and June / Chevy light blue / They don't make 'em like this anymore / Bette Davis / Yellow pages / They don't make 'em like this anymore / But you and I, we were built to last it / Just a couple of stone cold classics / Just a couple of stone cold classics / Just a couple of stone cold classics.
Repeat Chorus
See the Top 10 Songs of 2020: