Blake Shelton Is Careful Not To ‘Overthink’ His Songs

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

August 2nd, 2021 12:19 PM

Blake Shelton is just plain fun to be around: he’s got a big personality and he doesn’t take himself so seriously. It’s the same when he looks for songs to record and take to the stage.

Blake told us about keeping his music catalog upbeat, “What’s the fun in music is everything so serious and has this underlining deep message you know? I don’t think when Steve Miller wrote ‘Space Cowboy’ that it was nothing more than, to me when I hear it it’s just fun. It just makes you wanna drink or smoke or whatever.”

He added, “I think you can overthink things and really take the personality out of a song by overthinking it.”

After playing a sold-out Cheyenne Frontier Days concert on Saturday (7/31), Shelton kicks off his “Friends and Heroes Tour 20201” on August 18 in Omaha, Nebraska.

18 Blake Shelton Songs That We Love

• 18. “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” (2008)

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  In the song, Blake sings about his relationship with a lover who has just left him. He expresses regret over having not attempted to keep her from leaving. The song became Shelton's fifth number one hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in February 2009.

• 17. “The Baby” (2002)

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  The song describes how a mother thinks of her children. Blake sings as he describes being the youngest child in his family and tells of various situations where he is referred to as "the baby" of the family. It was released in October 2002 as the first single from Shelton's album ‘The Dreamer.’

• 16. “Came Here to Forget” (2016)

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  Released as the lead single from Blake's tenth studio album, ‘If I'm Honest.’ It was hailed for its progressive production and his expressive performance.
• 15. “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking” (2010)

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  The title says it all. It's a ballad in which the narrator wants to know the characteristics his lover's hiding from him (e.g. "Do you paint your toes 'cause you bite your nails?"). It was another chart-topper for Shelton.

• 14. “God Gave Me You” (2011)

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  Blake has a lot of songs with "God" in them; in this one Shelton heard Dave Barnes' version of the song on a contemporary Christian station and said that it had inspired him to propose to then-girlfriend Miranda Lambert.

• 13. “Minimum Wage” (2020)

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  Following the live debut of "Minimum Wage" in December 2020, the general public described the money-centric lyrics as insensitive and tone-deaf, amidst the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shelton later addressed the criticism, revealing he felt that some people misinterpreted the song.
• 12. “Lonely Tonight” (featuring Ashley Monroe) (2014)

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  "Lonely Tonight" is a bittersweet song about a one-night stand, with Blake and Monroe playing ex-lovers who reconnect for one last night. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

• 11. “I’ll Name the Dogs” (2017)

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  This song was released on September 11, 2017, as the first single of Shelton's 2017 album ‘Texoma Shore.’

• 10. “Some Beach” (2004)

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  On this fun twist of the song title, Blake sings of dealing with frustrations, such as being flipped off in traffic on the highway and having to wait all afternoon at the dentist's office, by wishing that he were "on some beach, somewhere."
• 9. “Dive Bar” (with Garth Brooks) (2019)

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  t’s never a bad thing when Garth Brooks asks you to join him on a duet and this song hits the mark. This song was released in 2019 in part to promote Brooks’ "Dive Bar Tour."

• 8. “Boys ‘Round Here”(featuring Pistol Annies and Friends) (2013)

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  A fun collaboration with his then-wife Miranda Lambert and her trio, the Pistol Annies. Shelton said of the song, "That song had me from the first because I thought about all the guys I know back in Tishomingo. None of them listened to The Beatles. They listened to Hank, or these days you'll hear Jason Aldean blaring out of somebody's car coming from a mile away. It's just how they are, and that song is just written exactly how I live."

• 7. “Honeybee” (2011)

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  An up-tempo joy of a song that reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in July 2011. The song also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Solo Performance, but it lost to Taylor Swift's "Mean."
• 6. “Hillbilly Bone”(featuring Trace Adkins) (2009)

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  A monster song and a big hit featuring Blake and his buddy Trace Adkins, who like Shelton stands 6’6. The song won the 2010 Academy of Country Music award for "Vocal Event of the Year," giving Blake his first Academy of Country Music award.

• 5. “Ol’ Red” (2002)

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  A true classic for Shelton. This song is a remake. It was first recorded by George Jones, then Kenny Rogers but it was Blake that put the real stamp on it and it’s one of his signature songs.

• 4. “Happy Anywhere” (featuring Gwen Stefani) (2020)

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  The second duet from Blake and Gwen. The song was recently nominated for an Academy of Country Music awards and Shelton joked with us if it didn’t win, the awards were rigged. It did not win. The lyrics pertain to the couple's relationship and describe being able to find happiness anywhere, which alludes to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 3. “Austin” (2001)

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  Blake’s very first single and his first number one song. "Austin" tied a record set by Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992. Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" stayed atop the chart for five weeks, setting the mark for an artist's debut single in the Broadcast Data Systems era of the chart.

• 2. “God’s Country” (2018)

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  A powerful song. Shelton first heard the song while working on his farm in Oklahoma. He said at the time, "I had to stop and just listen to this song because the song was talking to me about a place that I was in at that moment, which was a place in the middle of nowhere that meant something to me that probably nobody else could ever understand, what that is and what it is inside of me and what my connection is to the land."

• 1.”Nobody but You” (with Gwen Stefani) (2020)

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  An infectious song sung by two people in love. A duet with his soon-to-be wife Gwen Stefani, the song received the Collaborative Video of the Year accolade at the 2020 […]

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

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• Country 102.5
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Blake Shelton