Shooter Jennings, ‘The Deed and the Dollar’

Shooter Jennings is an outlaw, even when singing a love song. The media-wary son of Waylon Jennings has released a single with the charming sensitivity of country music from the '60s and '70s. 'The Deed and the Dollar' can only be heard as a heartfelt expression to his longtime lover, Drea de Matteo.

Even fans of Jennings' previous albums like 'The Wolf' (2007), 'Electric Rodeo' (2006) and 'Put the "O" Back in Country' (2005) will be surprised by this softer side of Jennings. Gone is the edge the singer leaned on during songs like 'Little White Lines.'

"We know we're a good match / That's why at our hips, we're attached / She's such a good catch / Got me grinning like a goat at a briar patch," he sings during the second verse.

It seems likely his new album will include the more familiar side of the singer, but the title 'Family Man' suggests it's a different type of project. He does have two young kids now.

"She don't just own me / She has grown me / In her secret garden deep in love's holler / Wherever she goes / I know she knows that I will always follow / She's got me chain and collared / She owns the deed / She owns the dollar," Jennings adds during the chorus. Never has a man been so happy to be "tied down."

A defender of contemporary country music may easily dismiss this mid-tempo love song, but Jennings should be applauded for continuing to make the music he feels without consideration for what will or won't be accepted by country radio. 'The Deed and the Dollar' is a little hokey, but sweet and honest. He finds creative rhymes and paints a picture of a love we'd all love to find ourselves subscribing to.

Listen to Shooter Jennings' 'The Deed and the Dollar'