Tim McGraw - “Don’t Take The Girl”
It’s just a classic song. It may be a perfect country song.
The chords and melody are typical of country, the lyrics are precise and recharacterise one line in three contexts, “Don’t take the girl.”
The question of its perfection regards the line, “Give it a whirl”. The narrator, now romantically involved with a girl he once implored his father not to bring on a fishing trip, is mugged after a date at the movies. He offers the delinquent a number of things in return for the safety of “the girl”. It’s quite touching, until, having handed over the keys to his car, he suggests that the fellow “give it a whirl.”
It’s a stunning moment of gaiety in the middle of a scene of horror. Imagine being mugged, handing over your wallet, and saying, “There’s a two-for-one card in there for Denny’s. I recommend the Moons Over My Hammy sandwich.”
Other rhymes that could be used:
“a gift from my daddy Merle” or Earle
“It’s shiny new like a pearl”
even “watch the speedometer whirl” would be less goofy… ok not that one.
It’s not an easy rhyme, but given time something else would do. Why then does McGraw make this choice? Perhaps he is intentionally lightening the mood. The next verse places the girl in a life threatening childbirth situation; perhaps the song needs to hold back until then.
But even so, an entirely different concept may be better for the second verse than “Give it a whirl”. I believe the second verse should be about a competitor for the girl’s affections, someone who could be captain of the football team and have his own car, maybe a friend of the narrator. In fact, in that telling, “give it a whirl” fits, because it is in a less dire context. The “other guy” theme must actually have been considered and rejected, but why?
1 year ago
