Music Review // Henry Taylor "I've Got the Guns"

 

What's interesting right away about this song is the title being "I've Got the Guns" when gun control is such a huge issue in the United States.   Sometimes I remember about that time that the guy from Blues Traveler got pulled over and had a small militia's worth of weapons in his trunk and I don't want people to think that same way about Henry Taylor.   The idea of having the guns is used differently in this song and hopefully if you see this image on the video it will help take your mind off of the political debates.

Melodic rock n roll reminds me of The Beach Boys and the movie "That Thing You Do!" which just means this is clean and easy for everyone to enjoy.   With the guitar solos it's very guitar driven but it just also feels like good old fashioned rock n roll music.   Lyrics like "Cause I wasn't meant to be the second fiddle in your band" are fun because being second fiddle can mean two different things in the context of a personal relationship or also in the context of being in an actual band of musicians.

Listening to this song and appreciating the chorus of it, the main idea is that Henry Taylor is the person for you and no one else compares.   He's your one and only, no one else is better.   As this says within the chorus: "No one else has the guns"   So, in that sense, lyrically, having the guns just means having what it takes to be the best person for that someone special.  I suppose Henry Taylor could've said something like "I've Got the Balls" but that might have opened up an entirely new can of worms.

If you can somehow relate this song- and the guns in it- with the cartoon person in the music video then you'll think less about the type of guns that spark political debate and more about the guns where people have shirts that say "Sun's Out Gun's Out".    Even though this song isn't really about the muscles, it is better to at least think of it that way than in a way which is going to likely cause you to get into a political conversation you might not want to be in.