Parker McCollum shed his typical sound on the candid, “What Kinda Man.” This up-tempo country track sees him find a woman worth settling down for. It’s a stark departure from his typical style, but has seemed to be a risk worth taking. Uncover the meaning behind “What Kinda Man,” below.
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Behind the Meaning of Parker McCollum’s Candid “What Kinda Man”
Look at that, I done stayed up all night again
I know I swore the last time would be the last time, but here I am
I ain’t too sure what they want me to do
Clean up my act, I been thinkin’ ’bout you
Ah, baby, here we go one more time
You know it’s harder than it looks to walk that line
“I think that’s a theme that’s true for a lot of guys,” co-writer Jeremy Spillman once said. “You can listen to that song and identify with that character. We are kind of hell-raisers till we find the one who gives us a reason not to be that way.”
McCollum boasts being a wild, untamable man prior to meeting the one in this song. In the opening verse, McCollum starts to feel guilty after pulling an all-nighter–a remnant of the wild life. His guilt stems from the fact that he has a woman around begging him to “clean up his act.”
Yeah, I’ve been runnin’ so damn long
There ain’t a woman who could settle me down
Wilder than a bat out of hell
Off the rails and blazin’ through town
But then you walk in floatin’ on air
And you look across the room at me
Forget the man I am, what kinda man do you need?
In the chorus, he delivers a line that we’re sure any fan in love with McCollum wouldn’t shudder to hear: Forget the man I am, what kinda man do you need. Like all of McCollum’s music, he hypnotizes with his syrupy vocals on this track. It makes the message of devotion in the lyrics go down easy.
McCollum believes this song is a strong step forward in his career. Moreover, he believes it’s “good for country music”–and we can’t disagree.
“The only thing I ever think about when I write songs is…would Rodney Crowell think this is good,” McCollum said in the same interview. “Would Steve Earle think this is good? Would James McMurtry or Robert Earl Keen think this is good for country music? And I think they would think this song was good for country music.”
Check out this track, below.
I swore that I would never step foot back
Inside thе union valley church again
But here I stand just north of Oklahoma
Tryin’ to wash away my sins
I know damn wеll what I ought to do
I have to have you, I just can’t stand to lose
Ah, baby, here we go one more time
You know I’ll love you if you let me ’til the end of the line
(Photo by Virisa Yong/BFA.com/Shutterstock)
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