Corey Smith, ‘Maybe Next Year’ – Song Review

Corey Smith is looking to be the voice of wayward youth in his new song 'Maybe Next Year.' His best songs always seem to bring a rascally indifference to life's most hallowed institutions, and for years this has been amongst the best of the best in his live shows. A showered and shaved version of the song for country radio looses none of the charm his loyal fans have already fallen for.

In this song, Smith reaches that crusty and perilous bridge to adulthood. He looks across and takes one huge step ... backward. "Yeah, my grandma still tells me enough is enough / Life ain’t a game son, it’s time to grow up," he sings before the chorus.

"Maybe next year, I’ll start acting my age / Turn a new leaf over my wicked ways / Get a real job and start pullin’ my weight / Only 365 days until I change my ways," he goes on.

As an artist Smith isn't right down country's Main Street. Like the Zac Brown Band and to a lesser extent Colt Ford, he's hoping to find inroads to the genre with songs that grab listeners in ways Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson haven't figured out. This song is probably his best chance to do that. It's catchy, relatable, clever and full of nostalgia for older listeners who've reached that bridge and chosen to cross it.

"Maybe next year I’ll quit blowin’ all of the cash / Start working out and get off of my ass / Maybe next year I’ll quit putting off all the chores / Maybe next year I’ll visit my grandparents more / Maybe next year I’ll go back to church and repent / Maybe next year I’ll pick up my Bible again," he sings during the song's bridge. Maybe -- with a little luck -- next year he'll have a well-deserved hit on country radio.

Listen to Corey Smith, 'Maybe Next Year'