The second single from Kenny Chesney‘s upcoming ‘Welcome to the Fishbowl’ album finds the singer returning to his old blue chair in an effort to pour his soul into a six-chord cask. It’s not clear yet if Chesney wrote ‘Come Over,’ but like many of his best ballads, this cut feels very, very personal.

Yet somehow, the story is open enough to allow his fans to paint the faces from their past over the woman Chesney is singing about. He is yearning for yesterday’s love and doing his best to get her back.

The chorus goes:

I told you I wouldn’t call / I told you I wouldn’t care / But baby climbing the walls gets me nowhere / I don’t think that I can take this bed getting any colder / Come over, come over, come over, come over, come over.”

‘Come Over’ is in the same style as ‘You and Tequila,’ a song that earned the singer many award nominations. However, it’s not as immediately effective. To be fair, the 2011 hit took a few dozen listens to really soak in. The buzz from both songs is slower and longer-lasting than tequila, perhaps a fine Merlot would be a better metaphor.

That said, it’s difficult to get excited for a song that is so stylistically similar to ones Chesney has cut on recent albums. For years, he was the country rocker before becoming the lazy beach guy — and more recently — the contemplative poet. Kudos to the superstar for reinventing himself over and over again, but ‘Come Over’ sounds like a song that comes just prior to the next reinvention.

You can say you’re done the way you always do / it’s easier to lie to me than to yourself / Forget about your friends, you know they’re gonna say / We’re bad for each other but we ain’t good for anyone else,” Chesney sings in the second verse.

Lyrically, the songwriters show power in efficiency, yet the singer never really conveys the physical need for this woman that the repetition begs for. It offers a muted climax before fading away with a parade of “Come over, come over, come over, come over, come overs.” This is a good song, but not his best in recent years. Perhaps it is indeed a sign of great things to come, however.

3.5 Stars
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Listen to Kenny Chesney, ‘Come Over’

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