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I’ve never really been a big Kenny Chesney fan, but I like to listen to him when I hunger for a simpler life on some beach in a faraway place, where I can live life with no sense of time. In fact, most of Chesney’s tunes reflect the ocean and the beach bum lifestyle. He likes to have fun, and it comes across in his music.
“Summertime” brings out the excitement that the start of summer awakens—when the ball park opens up, when shorts and T-shirts become the preferred attire, and music, with the car windows rolled down, fills the air. It’s also the time for the “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” type of laid-back lifestyle. “When the Sun Goes Down” (a duet with Uncle Kracker) brings out the party crowd, whether it’s at Daytona Beach or the lake.
“I Go Back” stirs feelings of nostalgia. You’ll long for your younger days, when you had fun with friends under the summer sun. One line makes me think of my cousin, who died at a very young age.
Anyone who has experienced a summer romance can relate to “Anything But Mine,” which is about that moment when summer at the beach comes to an end, along with love, and it’s time to return home.
He also sings about more serious issues, as in “I’m Alive,” where you’re urged to be thankful you’re alive and well, no matter how hard life gets. “There Goes My Life” is a song about a mistake that turns into a blessing. In “The Good Stuff,” the bartender reminds a man who’s just had a big fight with his wife that he can’t get the “good stuff” from a whiskey bottle.
But, mostly, it’s just Kenny having “Another Beer in Mexico”—when you’re at the crossroads in life, you might as well sit back and have another beer in Mexico until you can figure out what comes next. The party crowd will love Kenny Chesney’s Greatest Hits II. The rest of us will enjoy the escape it affords when life gets too tough.
