Just `cause you could come to Nashville, doesn’t mean you should.
It was once a lovely city, now it’s not so good
I’ve searching but it’s hard to find
the love of your dreams beneath
the bachelorette screams
Finding the balance between cheeky commentary and scathing indictment is not a easy one. With their debut single “Bachelorette Screams,” duo Westwood Avenue manages to traverse that high wire act extremely successfully. The track, penned by Music City natives Carter Braillier and Erin Rae, is pretty forthcoming with its ire towards Nashville’s tourism but manages to do so with a lighthearted delivery.
The track doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to stating their opinions on the current state of affairs with Nashville’s relationship to tourism. As noted above in the lyrics, it flat out states the city is “not so good” because of the onslaught of bachelorette screams. This sentiment is enforced even further with the brilliantly simple Joshua Shoemaker video shot downtown amongst the drunken masses. The performance from the band and Erin Rae is amusing but the allure is definitely the background stumblers.
There’s always a heavy vibe when discussing “New Nashville,” a term in itself that comes laden with contention and resentment from locals. Downtown has become a version of Times Square, a tourist destination with all of the stereotypes you’d expect to see on a vacation but very little of the actual heart and soul of the city it resides in. That distinct problem is easy enough to traverse – if you live here, don’t go downtown. The bigger issue at hand is the ripple effect of housing changes, short term rental explosions and real estate investments that don’t care much for preserving history. These are big problems that are often exacerbated by local politicians that don’t do much to stand in the way of the difficult changes. When thinking about the scale of issues that stem from Downtown, it’s not outlandish to see how folks feel downtrodden about it all. Westwood Avenue is not alone in their thinking, even if the delivery is, presumably, a bit tongue-in-cheek.
It’s a debut single so it’s tough to say where this is headed. What will a larger release from Westwood Avenue sound like. Will it maintain this somewhat country bent? Will all the tracks be commentary on our city? Will the album end with an announcement that they’re leaving this godforsaken town? Who knows!? Regardless of where it ends up, it’s a compelling initial offering and certainly welcomes a larger conversation. Oh, and it’s worth a watch or two at the very least.