A miraculous turn of events-chocked up to intercessory prayer and guardian angels-lands a woman in a warm, loving family (“Somebody Must Be Prayin’ for Me”). “She’ll Have You Back” warns a lonely guy that rekindling an old love will yield misery and a return to drinking. Trials sharpen character (“Carry On”), love inspires self-confidence (“Eyes of a Woman”) and relational pain is viewed in an optimistic light (“A Place in the Sun,” “Please Remember Me”). A man forsakes three decades of overindulgence on “My Next Thirty Years.” The carefree innocence of “Seventeen” finds a boy’s heart being protected by a preacher’s words. Still . . .
The young man recalls the sermon while romancing a girl in the back seat of her daddy’s car. A man puts his faith in alcohol to numb the pain of a breakup on “Senorita Margarita.” Individual lines (“the look in your eyes when we make love” and “she was killin’ me in that miniskirt”) represent the kind of lust warned about in Matthew 18:9.
Partly sunny. A few clouds. If not for three sexual memories casually tossed into otherwise solid songs, fans of McGraw’s earthy twang would be able to hit the skip button on “Senorita Margarita” and enjoy the rest.
