The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #163

#163: "Would You Go With Me" (2006) - Josh Turner

Eight years ago, Josh Turner traveled from South Carolina to the Grand Ole Opry to sing a song he'd written, a gospel song with country stylings called "Long Black Train." Turner received numerous plaudits for that song, struck a record deal, and he's been recording gospel-tinged albums ever since, with the occasional nod to the traditional Music Row-type song. Turner had his biggest hit with "Your Man," a fine showcase for his deep baritone voice (whose quality is on a par with Conway Twitty's and Randy Travis's and George Jones's), but the song was standard Nashville fare with standard Nashville production. From the same album came a much better record (though not as catchy)--"Would You Go With Me."

This record not only showcases Turner's sonorous vocals, but it also highlights some particularly adept dobro and banjo work (not by Turner), and more importantly (okay, not more, 'cause Turner's voice is the number one reason to hear any of his records), "Would You Go With Me" displays the best lyrics of Turner's three-album (thus far) career. This song--and many of Turner's other songs share this quality, too--takes what at first seems to be a cheery outlook on life, but underneath that cheery demeanor lies a strong sense of impending death--call it optimistic fatalism.

Turner never comes across as a doomsayer; he just seems to be calling 'em as he sees 'em. All throughout this song, Turner sounds slightly desperate, as if he knows it's all going to end soon, asking his lover not to look down, and what's worse, he admits that he might not know the way to salvation. Coming from a Nashville song by a devout Chrisitan, that's about as chilling as it gets. Reach out to me, Turner seems to say, and I'll be there...but I don't know what else will be. It's as chilling a romantic song as "Stand by Me" or "In the Still of the Nite" or "Pledging My Love." As I've noted oft-times before, Cher once sang that we all sleep alone, and I think Turner's afraid that this might be the case, and--at least here, in this song--he wants to avoid what Jody Reynolds sang about in "Endless Sleep" as long as he can.