Songoftheday 7/9/24 - When you light those candles up there on that mantle setting the mood, well I just lie there staring silently preparing to love on you...

 

 

"I Melt" - Rascal Flatts

from the album Melt (2002)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #34 (two weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 3

 

Today's song comes from the crossover country trio Rascal Flatts, whose second album on Disney's Lyric Street Records, Melt, had scored a pair of top-40 hits on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 with "These Days" and "Love You Out Loud". The third release from the record was the title song "I Melt". Written by lead singer Gary LeVox with Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley, the lyrics attempt to connect a night of romance involving candles to the titular "melting" going on in his emotions. Yeah. But the thing is, they know better than anyone (even Lonestar) of how to sell a country-style power-ballad, and Gary's powerful albeit slighty-nasal vocals do bring the drama if not the passion. Of course it worked - at the time I was a boy smitten with another boy who was soooo not right for me - even more than the rest of the album, and it stood out as a brazen love song vague enough for wedding receptions and country dance halls. The production from the band with Mark Wright and Marty Williams builds with the right amount of restraint until the chorus, which gives the trio room to shine with their tight harmonies. The music video promises some sultry moments with the guys and their respective loves, but why do I feel like LeVox is "Carnie Wilson-ed" a little here compared to the other two, especially a flash of Joe Don Rooney's cheeks...

"I Melt" became the third single from the album to reach the top-40 on the Hot 100 in November of 2003. The song also took three weeks at #2 on Billboard's Country Songs airplay chart. 

Both Rascal Flatts and the Melt album will be back to the series.

(8/10)

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Here's the group performing live on The Tonight Show...

Next up, in concert...

and lastly, an acoustic take from their AOL Sessions...

Up tomorrow: Former lo-fi it-girl goes pop-punk for her sole mainstream hit.