Jordan Brooker’s ‘You Are’ Is a Country Music Baptism [Listen]

At a time when country music is teeming with over-produced tracks containing percussion loops, overly synthesized arrangements and cookie cutter vocals, newcomer Jordan Brooker's "You Are" feels like a revival — a baptism in the religion of country music.  

With acoustic guitar, piano and drums tapping out a simple rhythm, Brooker creates a scrapbook of beautiful and relatable vignettes that describe the love of a lifetime, but also transports listeners to another place, a nostalgic memory.

"You are a touchdown on a Friday night / A silver crowned homecoming queen right underneath those bleacher lights," he sings. "You are a verse out of a Springsteen song / A red Chevelle just giving it hell on the Main Street drag all night long," he sings.

Y’all remember that, don’t you? 

The chorus soars to a stunning pinnacle, both musically and vocally, while the lyrics create an even more gutting moment when the happily-ever-after ending doesn’t actually come. Get ready for it, folks, because it just about takes your breath away — even with the sense of peace it delivers.

This is the Spencerville, Ind., native’s first commercial release since moving to Nashville in 2014, but after a listen to his catalog of unreleased music, "You Are" is far from being a fluke or stroke of luck. Lightning could most definitely strike twice for this handsome young singer. His warm and earthy vocals are uniquely his own, and he seems to have an innate ability to craft a picturesque song lyric. "You Are" is the first of what should be many hit singles for Brooker. 

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Jordan Brooker's "You Are" Lyrics:

You are / A touchdown on a Friday night, a silver crowned homecoming queen right underneath those bleacher lights / You are / A verse out of a Springsteen song, a red Chevelle just giving it hell on the Main Street drag all night long / You are / Last day of a spring break week, the best sleep that I never got, a sunrise on Daytona Beach / You are / Too many shots of Maker’s Mark, a quick stop in a tattoo shop a name forever on my arm.

Chorus:
I don’t take for granted / Everything that we’ve been through / If my head goes stranded / And you ain’t even meaning too but you are / Yeah baby you are.

You are / A blanket on the summer grass, stars in the sky the night we found that feeling that we hadn’t found / You are / One pink line instead of two, a sigh of relief that look you gave me because heaven knows what we would do.

You are / The reason that I get to say I’ve been in love but I messed it up / I got a girl that got away.