I discovered this week's tune when I heard it repeatedly over the store's loudspeakers while I was throwing hundreds of pounds of grocery freight every day. It was a good sixteen or seventeen years after it had been a hit, but when it comes to a good song, it's always better late than never...
Faith Hill was born in Ridgeland, Mississippi in 1967, and discovered at an early age that she had quite a talent for singing and began performing at local churches as a youngster. At nineteen she moved to Nashville in hopes of landing a recording contract and having a career in the music business, and though it took her a few years she did get that contract and went on to become one of the most successful country music singers ever. Hill has sold over 40 million records, won five Grammy Awards, a slew of lesser awards, and with country music legend (who just also happens to be her husband) Tim McGraw had the most successful country music tour ever in 2006, bringing in over $90 million. For her career she has released eight studio LP's (with four #1's and all of them reaching the top ten on the country album chart as well as three #1's on the Billboard 200), and four compilations. She's also released forty-six singles, with fifteen of them hitting #1 (eleven on both country and pop charts, plus four more topping just the country chart). While Hill continues to perform, she's only released one album since 2008 (an album of duets with her husband in 2017)--be that as it may, I'll take a wild guess and surmise that her legion of fans haven't heard the last of her.
Fun Fact: During her time in Nashville before being signed to a record deal, Hill spent some time working at McDonald's. Amazingly, it was not her dream job: "Fries, burgers, cash register--I did it all, I hated it...."
"Breathe" was released in the year in which we partied like it was, well, 1999, on her album entitled, surprisingly enough, Breathe. The single hit #1 on the country singles chart, but peaked at #2 (with a bullet!) on the pop charts; the album was #1 on both country and pop album charts. That's quite a bit of success....
Regular readers (both of you) know that emaycee loves his female vocalists, and I could tell you that for starters as to what it is about "Breathe" that I so love. Or I could tell you about Hill's wondrous vocals, or the swirling heartfelt chorus, or that sometimes a love song can be a powerful piece of music. All of that combined is enough to make for a great pop hit, but what really takes "Breathe" over the top is the moment in each chorus when Hill's voice goes up an octave (or two, or three) when she hits the word "supposed" in the line,"...isn't that the way love's supposed to be"--I've heard the song many, many times now and I still get goosebumps every time she hits that note. A truly great love ballad.
Lyric Sheet: "Caught up in the touch/The slow and steady rush/Baby, isn't that the way love's supposed [enter goosebumps here] to be..."
Enjoy:
Taxing the Wealthy Is Good Politics for the Democratic Party
Peace,
emaycee
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