Montgomery Gentry

Some People Change--Song By Song

Montgomery Gentry Some People Change photo courtesy of Columbia Records

1. "Some People Change" – Writers: Michael Dulaney, Neil Thrasher, Jason Sellers

"Neil and I are buddies, we hunt together. He brought this song to the house one night after his wife suggested that we might be the right ones to sing it. As soon as I heard it, I knew it could be a career song for us. It's really powerful – strong lyrics about people being able to change their lives." - Troy

"What a great song and what a great message! Neil played it for Troy who brought it to me, and we played it for [label chief] Joe Galante, who had already heard it and said, ‘I knew this was a smash.’ So did we." - Eddie

2. "Hey Country" – Writers: Jeffrey Steele, Danny Myrick, Bart Allmand, Kip Raines

"That's pure arena rock. We can do the first verse and chorus for a crowd that's never heard the song, and I guarantee that by the next chorus they'll be singing along." - Eddie

"This song parallels a lot of things in my own life - high school days, skipping school, country back roads, skinny-dipping, to my community college days with my friends joining the Marines, to the odd jobs like bartending and then moving to Nashville. It's just a great country song." - Troy

3. "Lucky Man" – Writers: Dave Turnbill, David Lee

"This is probably my favorite song on the whole album. I've been very blessed, and I might be singing this song for me more than anybody. I love what it says, I love the way it flows. To me, it doesn't get any more country than this." - Eddie

"If you take the time to look around at what you've got, you're going to find somebody else that doesn't have it as well as you do. This song just makes me appreciate my family more, and the things my life and career have afforded me." - Troy

4. "Takes All Kinds" – Writers: Neil Thrasher, Michael Dulaney, Troy Gentry

"How dull would this world be if we all walked and talked the same? It takes all kinds of people to make this world go around, and it's up to all of us to do the right thing, provide for our families, and keep it between the lines." - Troy

"I think this is a monster. I call it the Bumper Sticker Song. It's that everyday American moment when you're driving down the interstate and you see so many different kinds of people, views and outlooks. I wish the whole world would listen to this song because it takes all of us to make this great country, and it takes a lot more energy to fight than to just have fun and live life. It's simple but it's so true. He wrote the hell out of that one. I was jealous--I wish I was on it." –Eddie

5. "Tears Are Comin'" – Writers: Jeffrey Steele, Tom Hambridge

"I tried to sing this and I told them the whole time, ‘T ought to be singing this song,’ and, man, when he got hold of it, it changed everything. I can see people in their cars turning the stereo up as loud as they can when this comes on. I can see people drinking a few cold ones and belting it out at parties." - Eddie

"Just an upbeat, driving, fun song about karma, about the way that what goes around comes around. Eventually, if you do something bad to somebody it's going to come around somewhere down the road and kick you." - Troy

6. "Clouds" – Writers: Eddie Montgomery, Jeffrey Steele, Tony Mullins

"My dad died in '94, and my son died in '91, five days before his birthday. I always said I would never write a song about them until it came to me in a way that let me know it was right. One day we were taking a break from writing and I walked outside, looked up at the sky, and all it once it hit me. I just started getting all these lyrics in my head. Jeffrey got on the piano and it started flowing. But I know I'd have to work on it to ever sing it live." - Eddie

"Eddie does a great job of singing this. It's definitely something different for Montgomery Gentry, something people haven't heard before. It's very close to the heart for Eddie. Knowing what it's about gives me chill bumps. It's one of the best things I've ever heard him write or sing on." - Troy

7. "Twenty Years Ago" – Writers: Rivers Rutherford, Gary Nicholson, Jeffrey Steele

"What a well-written song. And it's true. What boy growing up doesn't try his dad or his mom? And, of course, my dad told me when I was young, ‘One of these days you're gonna find out I'm not so dumb.’ I think guys are really going to relate to this song." - Eddie

"Another heart-touching song for any guy that ever had words or a falling out with their fathers. With me in Nashville and my mother and father in Kentucky, distance has kept us from talking so much, and when I hear this song I think of him and want to pick up the phone. This one hit home with me, and it helps remind me of everything he did for me when I was growing up." - Troy

8. "What Do You Think About That" – Writers: Anthony Smith, Brett Jones

"That has always been my life right there, because I never really gave a damn what other people thought. I was raised in a honky-tonk family and a lot of people looked down on us. We didn't have a whole lot of money, we moved around a lot and didn't have the best clothes or shoes, but we didn't really care. We were living life and having fun. I reckon my dad proved everybody wrong." – Eddie

"To me, it's a story about those people who aren't happy unless they're complaining, passing judgment against others without getting to know them. It reminds me of ‘You Do Your Thing’ - you have your way of doing things and I have mine, and let's leave it at that." - Troy

9. "Redder Than That" – Writers: Rivers Rutherford, George Teren

"Despite the many different directions we travel in life, when you get back and meet up with high school buddies and start telling stories, if we sit around long enough, you can see that the personalities are the same--the partiers are still the partiers, the comedians are still comedians, the gossips are still gossips, and the homecoming queen is still hot, only in a motherly kind of way." - Troy

"I absolutely love that song. When people go back and meet all their high school buddies and friends, they start thinking and acting and telling stories like they're back in high school again. The only thing is they're a little bit older and can't handle it quite as well. They don't have the hot rod. They have the mini-van." - Eddie

10. "Man's Job" – Writers: Phil O'Donnell, Gary Hannan, Thom Shepherd, Eddie Montgomery

"That's Eddie's, just a funny song on how women can go through a mid-life crisis just like us men, leaving our spouses to look for the fountain of youth. It always backfires, as it does in this tale, which is very cleverly told. I always get a chuckle out of this song." - Troy

"We were sitting on the bus playing with this idea, always talking about the guy being the bad guy. I flipped it around and made it the woman who took off with the young man and how that feels from the guy's standpoint. We actually wrote it country as hell, and then we got in the studio and Mark [Wright] and Rivers [Rutherford] said, ‘This would be totally awesome if we made this rhythm & blues,’ and they were right. It came off killer." - Eddie

11. "If You Wanna Keep An Angel" – Writers: Rivers Rutherford, Tom Shapiro, Troy Gentry

"Obviously, we had our better halves in mind on this one. It's about going from the barroom to being one of the luckiest men in the world. You can always spot the guy struggling to hang onto his youth. Growing up, I never wanted to be one of those guys. I love hanging out with my buddies, but at the end of the day, my wife keeps me smiling and grounded. Hey, I'm not perfect, but because of her and my love for her, I'm going to try to do the best I can to be a better man." –Troy

"It's a great song, and I'm really glad to see T really stepping up and writing because he has such great ideas if you can get him out of the woods long enough." - Eddie

12. "Free Ride In The Fast Lane" – Writers: Rivers Rutherford, Houston Roberts, George Teren

"It's one of those songs about life on the road, no holds barred, pointing into the wind, running and gunning from venue to venue, partying Montgomery Gentry style." - Troy

"That's a very true song, written about us. Rivers nailed that on the head. It's a hard-driving song, and it kind of reminds me of a more blue-collar version of something the Eagles would have done." - Eddie