Songoftheday 12/7/23 - You're throwin' around a lot of serious accusations, it ain't too hard to tell what you're insinuatin'...

 

 

"Man To Man" - Gary Allan

from the album Alright Guy (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #25 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 6

 

Today's song comes from country music artist Gary Allan, who after five years of having success in Nashville finally cracked Billboard magazine's Hot 100 in the summer of 2002 with "The One".  Gary's follow-up would be another mid-tempo track, "Man To Man". Written by Jamie O'Hara (of the country duo the O'Kanes), the song's lyrics put Gary in the place of a guy confronted by his girlfriend's ex, who accuses Allen of stealing her away. Allan nips that in the bud, explaining that he wouldn't have her if the ex had treated her right. He even tries to empathize with the guy, but in the end says "she's a real woman, not a doormat for you". It's a perspective that doesn't usually get told in country music, but still is so real and adult and nuanced. The production from Tony Brown and Mark Wright sets the mood in that lightly haunting Bakersfield sound, while Gary squeezes every bit of emotion out of his delivery. In return, Gary scored hit first country radio #1, and second to cross over to the pop top-40...

 

"Man To Man" reached the top-40 on Billboard's Hot 100 in March of 2003, while spending a week at #1 on their Country Songs airplay chart. 

Gary will be back to the series.

(9/10)

Well, it's about that time to get my end of year recap ready, so song of the day will return in January. In the meantime this Saturday (and every Saturday) I'll have my top tunes of this week, and will start my 2023 countdown the following week. Thanks to everyone who has come here to my little corner of the internet, I really do appreciate it.