‘Play On,” Carrie Underwood’s latest album, has proven to be her best album yet. Once again, the beloved ‘American Idol” winner has delivered to her fans a soulful album with beautiful lyrics that tell stories everyone can relate to.
One of the reasons why Underwood’s albums are always so likeable is that she’s capable of telling meaningful stories. Each song has a purpose, and listeners feel as though they are sitting in her living room as she shares stories about her life.
Although ‘Play On” is not always 100 percent country, Underwood’s voice is enough to make her audience accept her decision to mix rock, pop and country all together. Her latest album addresses heartache, true love and the importance of believing in yourself.
The first single off of the album, ‘Cowboy Casanova,” has already become a hit, and the rest of her album is a collection of memorable songs that do a brilliant job of showcasing her talent.
‘Mama’s Song” addresses how difficult it is for a mother to acknowledge that she has to make room for her daughter’s future husband, while ‘Songs Like This” is Underwood’s anthem to all the guys out there capable of breaking hearts. ‘Change” encourages her listeners to do all they can to help out those less fortunate. It is coupled with the song ‘Temporary Home,” which explains how difficult it is for children trapped in the foster care system.
While all of the above songs have different themes, they somehow fit nicely together in the sense that within each song is a message.
When singers are able to release albums that have variety, as Underwood has, they find that they have a more reliable fan base, because the stories are so interesting the fans will always come back for more.
In ‘Someday When I Stop Loving You,” Underwood explains the difficulty of letting a loved one walk away: ‘I bet all I had on a thing called love/ I guess in the end it wasn’t enough/ And it’s hard to watch you leave right now/ I’m gonna have to learn to let you go somehow.”
‘Unapologize” is relatable to anyone who has ever felt selfconscious about saying they love someone for the first time. Underwood sings, ‘”I love you’ came flooding out/ Couldn’t make it stop, couldn’t shut my mouth/ Felt like a fool then lied and said I was sorry.”
Though a lot of singers produce songs that are about falling in love or breaking up, Underwood manages to take the same topics and make them unique. Her listeners get the feeling that her songs are personal and this makes her lyrics more believable.
The underlying message of never giving up, believing in love and the importance of not settling for second best give her songs an edge over other music.
Underwood has had an amazing career in the music industry, so far. In many ways, she is a modern-day Cinderella starting out as just another face in the crowd, being discovered by ‘American Idol” and launching a dazzling, fairytale career as a result.
But Underwood takes her job in the entertainment industry seriously and her latest album, ‘Play On,” is not a disappointment. True, she has strayed slightly from her country roots, but her daring decision to mix genres works and is what will make this album so memorable.
Leonard is a member of
the class of 2013.



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