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Cry
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Date Aired
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March 26, 2024
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Running Time
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32:23
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Previous review
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Website
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Intro[]
Todd: Country music fans talk about the '90s the same way pop fans talk about the '80s.
Live footage of Garth Brooks - "Friends in Low Places"
Todd (VO): Blockbuster decade, when the biggest stars were gods walking the Earth. Garth and Shania instead of Michael and Madonna. Country was never [clip of Brooks & Dunn - "Boot Scootin' Boogie"] bigger, louder, more dominant a commercial force...
Todd: ...in a way that people really don't understand now.
Clip of Weezer - "Undone (The Sweater Song)" with a cover image of the Blue Album in the lower left corner and captions reading "3x Platinum"
Todd (VO): Like, Weezer's The Blue Album went three times platinum; that's a defining album of 1994.
Clips of John Michael Montgomery - "Be My Baby Tonight" and "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)" with cover images of Life's a Dance and John Michael Montgomery in the lower left corners and captions reading "4x Platinum" for both
But they were outsold that year by John Michael Montgomery, who went four times platinum, and his next album also went four times platinum. You probably don't even know who that is, but [clips of The Notorious B.I.G. - "Big Poppa" with cover image of Ready to Die and "4x Platinum"...] he put up the same numbers in '94 as Biggie, [...Nine Inch Nails - "Closer" with cover image of The Downward Spiral, also captioned "4x Platinum"...] as Nine Inch Nails, and all of them were [...and Tim McGraw - "Indian Outlaw" with Not a Moment Too Soon cover image captioned "6x Platinum"] dwarfed that year by a scuzzy piece of white trash named Tim McGraw. And considering...
Todd: ...the sausage fest that country music has become, the '90s are especially remembered for how powerful the women were.
Live footage of Shania Twain - "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!"
Shania Twain: Let's go, America!
Todd (VO): They'd always been part of country music, but they'd never been multi-platinum superstars before. [clip of The Chicks - "I Can Love You Better"] But in the late '90s, they were bigger than the men in country music, or any other music. [clip of Lee Ann Womack's...] Everyone on Earth was singing "I Hope You Dance", [...a live performance from...] and they knew Shania, [..."How Do I Live" by...] and they knew LeAnn Rimes, [...and a red carpet interview with...] and they were buying albums from the Dixie Chicks by the bucket.
Todd: And almost no one was a bigger star than Faith Hill.
Concert footage of Faith Hill in her prime
Todd (VO): She looked like a model, she sang like an angel, but with the power of a cannon. [clip of Faith Hill - "The Way You Love Me" paired with news coverage of Faith and her fans] Shania was the first through the door, the one who proved that female country singers could be superstars, but Faith was the one who proved it wasn't a fluke.
Faith: I only wish that you could see, the way you love me
Those of you with no background in country might think of her as a perfectly vanilla, straight-arrow kind of pop singer, but by country standards, she was incredibly daring.
Clip of ABC News interview with Faith
Barbara Walters: The clothes have gotten...sexier. Some people have said you're trying to be a pop star rather than a country star, you've read this.
Faith: [rolls her eyes] So what, country women aren't sexy?
Clip of Faith Hill - "Piece of My Heart" with Faith wearing a blouse and sporting poofy hair
Todd (VO): This is what Faith Hill looked like when she started. That's how all the country women looked like at the time: like they were headed for a PTA meeting. Faith [clip of Faith Hill - "Breathe"] pivoted to glamor; she made country music sophisticated and sensual, rolling around in satin sheets and a clinging negligee, while still being wholesome enough to be relatable to a female audience. And as she began a [live clip of "Let's Make Love"] romance with one Tim McGraw, she quickly became half of Music Row's hottest power couple.
Clip of "This Kiss" plays along with a montage of concert footage and a CoverGirl ad featuring Faith
Faith: It's the way you love me
Country music was not just for rednecks anymore. Faith Hill was connecting huge audiences, mainstream audiences, larger than almost any other female country singer had ever had.
Faith: It's, ah, subliminal
This kiss, this kiss
Todd (VO): I could waste [spliced-together clips of Faith receiving various music awards] five minutes here just showing you all the awards she won between 1999 and 2001. All across the vast expanse that is normie America, Faith Hill was maybe the most popular woman alive.
Todd: Now, as you have probably heard, the good times [screenshot of news article about the decline of female-centric country] for women in country did not last, and in fact [clip of news report about sexism in country radio] has become so male that it's been roiling Music Row in controversy for years. It's always been very fascinating to me. What exactly happened there? As it turns out, this is already a known thing, and we can pinpoint it down [album cover image of Country Heat 2002] to one year: 2002, when the bottom fell out for all of country's crossover stars...
Todd (VO): ...and none of them fell harder than Faith Hill, who hit record stores that year with Cry.
Clip of Faith Hill - "Cry"
Faith: Could you cry a little, lie just a little?
Faith Hill was coming off an eight times platinum album, and she had no reason to expect anything but continued success. [clip of news story about Faith] And just off of Faith's previous momentum, that album came quick out of the gate. It hit [screenshot of Billboard's Top 50 Albums in 2002] #1, it went multi-platinum.
Todd: But that's not how it's remembered.
Clip of Faith Hill live performance
Todd (VO): Country music is such a weird, siloed-off little ecosystem that a lot of you probably don't know this, but trust me that Cry by Faith Hill was a Witness-level bomb.
Todd: A no-hit flop era that basically marks the end of the country pop boom.
Clip of Today Show interview with Faith during the album's promotion cycle
Ann Curry: This criticism that we've been hearing, saying basically "you know- you know, we don't want Faith, especially with this new album."
Faith: Recently, it's been a little difficult because it's been so personal, an-and... Listen to my music and don't be so judgmental about everything that you think is there and not there.
Todd (VO): How could this have happened? How could both her audience and the entire country industry have dropped her so quickly? Isn't Faith Hill still the ideal woman?
Todd: The wholesomely beautiful country pop balladeer we knew and loved?
Footage plays from Faith Hill: When the Lights Go Down, introducing her new song "Free"
Concert Director: Ladies and gentlemen, here we go; places please!
Faith: Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah, yeah!!!
Todd makes a noise of disgust as Faith starts drunkenly gyrating
Faith: I'm free
Todd (VO): Uh oh, Mom's had a little too much chardonnay. Yes, that's right, Faith Hill completely abandoned the country sound to switch over to...
Todd: Christ, what do you even call this?
Faith: I'm free
The song mercifully ends
Todd: It's, ah, unlistenable. Faith Hill gives herself something to cry about. This is Trainwreckords.
Trainwreckords intro followed by the album cover for Cry
A Changing Tide[]
Footage of Faith Hill opening the 2000 CMAs with "There Will Come A Day"
Todd (VO): The date is October 4th, 2000, at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, the site of the 2000 Country Music Association Awards. And kicking off the ceremony is the woman of the hour, Faith Hill.
Faith: In this world we're living in
Isn't anything sacred?
In fact, not only is she opening the show, but later on, the CMAs will [picture of Faith with an award] crown her the "Best Female Vocalist". She's gotten many awards from the various other associations in country music, and other parts of the music industry, but the CMAs are the organization of Nashville, and they've always [clips of Alison Krauss and Trisha Yearwood also winning for Best Female Vocalist] given this award to more traditional artists. But tonight, they will finally recognize her, and the show...
Todd: ...as a whole will show a changing tide in country.
Footage from the 2000 CMAs of LeAnn Rimes performing "I Need You"
LeAnn Rimes: I need you like water
Todd (VO): LeAnn Rimes will play her pop hit "I Need You", the [footage of...] Dixie Chicks will walk away with both Album and Entertainer of the Year, and Faith's husband Tim will sing an anti-traditionalist song called [clip of...] "Things Change".
Tim McGraw: But it's just good music if you can feel it in your soul
But, there are signs of discontent. "Event of the Year" - which is kind of a bullshit category if we're being honest - but the "Event of the Year" award will go to something called [footage of George Strait and Alan Jackson performing...] "Murder on Music Row", a song about how country music sold out and sucks now.
George Strait: Someone killed country music
Cut out its heart and soul
Which, I'm sorry, that's an insane thing to write about '90s country music, the era everyone loves now. But, that's country music; it's a traditional genre, and the greatest of all its traditions is whining about people not respecting traditions, so...
Todd: ...this isn't new. There was no reason to expect country pop to stop selling by the buckets.
Clip of Today Show interview with Faith
Todd (VO): And yet, just two years later, this same industry would reject Faith Hill hard enough to leave a pair of smoking shoes where Faith Hill had just been.
Faith: To be personally attacked when people don't even know who you are is - it makes you want to stand up and go, "Wait a minute!" [captions appear stating "ha ha! I want to murder everyone]
How could that have happened?
In The Year 2001...[]
Todd: Well, to understand what happened in 2002, we have to roll back a year to 2001.
Nighttime clip of the New York City skyline circa 2001
Todd (VO): And in particular, a horrible moment where everything changed. The world changed, and America changed, [clip of Alan Jackson performing "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)"] and country music very specifically changed.
Alan Jackson: Where were you when the world stopped turning?
I-I know all of you know this stuff already, but...
Todd: A lot of kids watch my channel, they might not remember. And I do remember, so let me just emphasize the gravity and the tragedy of the moment.
Clip of The Chicks performing at America: A Tribute to Heroes
Todd (VO): America had known nothing but peace and prosperity for decades. We thought history was over, bad things couldn't happen here. And then one day in 2001, just supposed to be a normal day, [various clips from the September 11th attack] we take a look at our screens and all of a sudden, we're seeing planes blowing up, Americans being killed, fire, death, explosions. And it was just the most shockingly awful thing any of us had ever seen.
Todd: None of us were prepared for this. None of us could even imagine something like this happening to America. And yet here we were, witnessing the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor.
Clip of trailer for Pearl Harbor
Todd (VO): I am of course talking about Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor, which hit theaters that summer and was just shocking and horrifying with how bad it was. Who the fuck let Michael Bay think he could make a romance?! Jesus Christ, three full hours of this shit! Why would you do this, Michael Bay?! Why would you do this to America?
Todd: [exhales] Where were you the day the world stopped turning? [beat] What, too soon? Alright, yes, also...
Clip of ABC news story about the September 11th attack
Todd (VO): ...9/11 happened, and we'll get to that.
Todd: But for our purposes, Pearl Harbor is important too.
Clip of...
Todd (VO): Mostly because of the big single from it, "There You'll Be" by Faith Hill.
Faith: I keep a part of you with me
It wasn't a very good song, and it didn't do very well. But for me, it clarified who Faith Hill really was. [various clips of...] At the time, the comparison was Faith and Shania, Faith and Shania, Shania and Faith.
Todd: But Pearl Harbor...
Todd (VO): ...is where I realized that Faith wasn't aiming to be Shania.
Todd: She was aiming for Celine Dion.
Clip of Celine Dion - "My Heart Will Go On"
Todd (VO): Pearl Harbor was a shitty Titanic, and this is its shitty "My Heart Will Go On".
Clip of "There You'll Be"
Faith: And everywhere I am, there you'll be
That song didn't really do anything, but you can blame that on the shitty movie it was attached to of course, and certainly no one thought Faith was in trouble.
Todd: Okay, and then 9/11 happened.
Clip of news footage from the attacks and Tom Hanks speaking during America: A Tribute to Heroes
Todd (VO): America was in shock, and in response everyone starting rallying around the flag, including the entertainment industries; the movies, the music, and what music could better stand up for this country than country music? And, it wasn't the women they turned to.
Todd: Country audiences apparently wanted a big, strong man to protect them.
Todd (VO): Maybe they decided all that [clip of live performance from country girl group SHeDAISY] VH1 pop shit sounded frivolous.
Todd: Or maybe that's what the country establishment decided that's what their listeners thought.
Clips of live performance from...
Todd (VO): But the big thing immediately after 9/11 was the warm, fatherly embrace of Alan Jackson, [...clip of "Young" by...] the laid-back, bro-ey vibes of Kenny Chesney, [...and live performance of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" by ...] the macho strutting of Toby Keith. It was men. It was patriotism and men.
Todd: But maybe that's just because the big lady stars didn't have projects out yet.
Clips of Faith performing the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXIV
Todd (VO): Faith Hill, a small town girl from a tiny town in Mississippi. Surely she still has a home in the new reality of country, especially with her legions of fans.
"Free"[]
Todd: In October of 2002...
Clips of Faith performing "Free" in Rockefeller Plaza
Todd (VO): ...she dropped her new album Cry. And basically as soon as it dropped, it had already gone platinum.
Clip of Today Show interview with Faith
Ann: This is the first album you've released in three years, and to have it do so well
Faith Hill's fans were ready for more polished, sophisticated country from Nashville's leading lady.
Todd: [beat] Yep. And we hit play on track 1.
Faith: Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah, yeah!!!
Todd: Still painful.
Faith: I had it tough when I was just a little kid
It didn't matter what I thought, it didn't matter what I did
Todd (VO): This song is called "Free". And the fact that it opens the album, and that she sang it on television multiple times.
Footage plays from Faith Hill: When the Lights Go Down
Faith: [spoken] It's pretty intense
Faith: Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah, yeah!!!
I think that indicates that she's particularly proud of this one. Like, if it were buried in the album, maybe you could write it off. But like, no, she definitely wants people to hear this song specifically.
Todd: And to me, that's just an obvious sign that this whole album's gonna be a disaster.
Faith: Cut these chains, I'm free
Todd (VO): Like, full disclosure, I'm not particularly a huge fan of Faith Hill. But doing this episode has taught me to appreciate what she brings; her homey warmth, her soft-focused sexuality. Those are her strengths. Her strengths do not include "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah".
Faith: Oh, whoo-hoo, yeah!
Todd: That's- that's the first thing you learn in, like, school choir; how to go "yeah, yeah, yeah". And-and she just can't do it.
Faith: Kept bumping into that misery
Locked up, deep down inside of me
Todd (VO): I think she wanted to explode out of the gate with her new sound, and the song's all about empowerment and liberation. Like, I think she's trying to prove that this is the "real" her. She said a lot of things about how the entire album is her truest, most authentic self.
Todd: And if she meant that, then her self-image was way off.
Faith: Nobody gonna put the booze inside of me
Todd (VO): The song's not as bad as those first few seconds, but the-the white woman funk, it's... Uh, it's rough. Someone with as much tradwife energy as Faith Hill should not be doing this. No.
Faith: I'm free
Okay, surely that's not the single though, we're not gonna start with that.
Todd: We're gonna ease into this.
Don't Cry for Me, America![]
Clip from Faith Hill: When the Lights Go Down, with Faith introducing "Cry"
Faith: "Cry" is a song with a message that hits you in your soul
Todd (VO): Here's something a little more traditional, the title track, the single, "Cry".
Todd: Let it rip.
Faith: If I had just one tear runnin' down your cheek
Todd (VO): "Cry" was the biggest hit off this record, and I think...
Todd: ...Faith's fans still like and support it.
Faith: Could you cry a little, lie just a little?
Todd (VO): Um, I don't remember it at all, but due to various things going on in my life, I was basically listening to no new music in 2002.
Todd: Like, that whole year is just a dead zone to me, I only dimly became aware of someone named [cover art for Ashanti by...] Ashanti in the last couple years. [image of an old Billboard magazine...] So I had to go through the Billboard charts week by week to see how it did. [...and the Hot 100 with "Cry" at #55] And I see a song that... that just never really quite got into gear.
Todd (VO): It was enough of a hit to chart, but only kinda barely scraped into the top 40.
Todd: But that's not necessarily alarming. Lots of country crossover stars have wild success...
Todd (VO): ...that isn't necessarily reflected in top 10 hits. Truly, this drippy ballad would be better served on the country charts.
Todd: Where... [screenshot showing "Cry" having peaked at #12 on the Hot Country Songs chart] Christ. Like, I don't know if that number is alarming to you.
Clips of Faith accepting a CMT award
Todd (VO): But please understand that Faith Hill was, like, Nashville's biggest star. Her missing the country top 10 is like [clip of...] Bill Maher coming in fourth place in a smug asshole competition; someone's gotten them really off their game. [clip of "Cry"] Uh, I can only guess why country audiences didn't like it, but, uh, I'm listening to it with my own ears, and I can tell you I think this song's pretty blegh.
Todd: Like, it's a song about wanting the other person in the breakup to at least pretend to be in as much pain as you are.
Faith: I gave, now I'm wanting something in return
So cry just a little for me
Todd (VO): I think that's a great idea for a song, but the song just doesn't sell it.
Todd: Like, compare one of The Chicks' sad songs from around that same time.
Clip of The Chicks - "You Were Mine"
Nathalie Maines: Please tell me she's not real
And that you're really comin' home
Sometimes, I wake up crying at night
Todd (VO): It just breaks my heart every time, and Faith is not breaking my heart.
Clip of "Cry"
Faith: Give it up, baby
Could you cry a little?
It might be because she doesn't have the emotional range, but maybe also because it's just not that kinda song.
Todd: Interestingly enough, when this song peaked at #33, here's what was at #1.
Footage of Kelly Clarkson performing "A Moment Like This" on American Idol
Kelly Clarkson: For a moment like this, some people wait a lifetime
Todd (VO): Yes, the talent shows had just started to take over, and I think that's what Faith is going for here. [clip of...] "Cry" is a talent show ballad; it's not for the country audience, it's not for the pop audience, it's for a panel of judges.
Faith: I gave now I'm wanting something in return
Like, give Faith this, she's singing her guts out. But this is just not a shattering song of heartbreak, it's a song that gets you to the next round. Yeah well, it doesn't work unless you have the narrative of me rooting for you for a full season of television. Sorry.
Todd: And let me say, the video is crap also.
Todd (VO): It's muddy and ugly, and... I don't think putting the ghost of a little black girl in what looks like a Southern plantation hits right. The lost innocence of childhood is not the vibe I'm getting from that. Sorry.
We're All Out of Faith...[]
Todd: Country radio hated this song and...
Live footage of Faith performing "Cry"
Todd (VO): I am loathe to side with them, but I think they kinda had a point here. And you have to understand, country music is as rigged as pro wrestling, even compared to the rest of the music industry. [brief clip of an interview with a radio host] The big, behind-the-scenes powers control everything, especially in radio; it doesn't matter how many copies this album sold if radio won't play the songs.
Todd: And across the country, [screenshot of news article on Faith's difficulties getting the album played on country radio] the radio programmers hated this album. I want to be clear that I'm not exaggerating. It's not that it didn't test well or they didn't think their audiences would go for it, they [highlighted text from more news articles] personally hated it. They were offended, like, how dare you do this to us? Like, we have to play your one song because it's you, but quote: "'Cry' will be the last single getting country airplay for Faith Hill". She kept trying, though.
Clip of Faith performing at the 2002 CMA awards
Todd (VO): The second single is called "When the Lights Go Down". Here she is performing it at the 2002 CMAs, and...
Todd: It's another drippy ballad.
Faith: Wrestling the Devil that tells him to pour another round
When the lights do down
Todd (VO): That move didn't work the first time, I don't know why she thought a second stab at it would work. I guess it's better than "Cry", but not by a lot. The first verse is about a guy struggling with alcohol. And uh, also a party girl celebrity with no one to help her.
Faith: They were there for the fame, the flash, and the thrill
As another star falls from the Hollywood Hills
Sounds like a veiled shot at Britney Spears. You know, "She's so lucky, she's a star, but she cries-", you get it. But then the second verse is all about uh, "I'm lonely and I miss you".
Faith: When the lights do down, yeah, there's nothing left to be
Todd (VO): At least "Cry" had a strong idea behind it. "When the Lights Go Down" feels like a very scattershot song loosely connected to this vague chorus. Nashville rejected this just like they rejected the first single, and for the same reason: it's not country enough. Where's the pedal steel? Where's the fiddles? The violins in the orchestra don't count, unless one of 'em wants to get up and start stomping and throwing it down. Quote, [screenshot of news article with text highlighted...] "It's great she wants to be the next Celine Dion, but at least put some country instrumentation in the mix."
Todd: This is a weird argument to me, because country radio has always played plenty of pop songs.
Clip of Lorrie Morgan - "Something In Red"
Lorrie Morgan: I'm looking for something in red
Todd (VO): And by that, I don't mean country pop, I mean...
Todd: ...straight up pop songs that aren't country in the least, littlest way.
Clip of Jim Brickman and Martina McBride - "Valentine"
Martina McBride: I will give you my heart until the end of time
Todd (VO): I have heard plenty of songs on country radio that sound like this, especially in the '90s. It might just be that it wasn't the style at the moment, just... Faith caught some bad timing when country music wasn't being flexible about this kinda thing. But I think these radio guys are complaining that it's not "country" enough because they can't just come right out and say that the album is bad.
Todd: Like, they can't pretend it's about quality, because since when has country radio ever cared about quality? But I think they were kinda stunned at just how much the album doesn't work.
I’m Just Not Made For These Times[]
Live footage of Faith performing "One"
Faith: Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh
Todd (VO): Like, what is this? Who is the audience here? Like yes, the rednecks are not going for this, but where's the pop audience? Where's the VH1 crowd that made up the other half of her fans?
Todd: They rejected this too, and I don't blame them.
Footage plays from Faith Hill: When the Lights Go Down
Faith: I asked them to write me something with some funk and some great attitude
Todd (VO): Funk? No, no.
Todd: Don't ask them for that, Faith.
Faith: One is breaking into two
And my heart is turning blue
Todd: Like, there's a reason she came up as a country singer.
Faith: Now, I'm game for anything, just don't ask me to dance
More live clips play, captioned "Faith Hill having no stage presence for 1 minute"
Todd (VO): One thing I discovered trying to analyze this is how stiff she is as a performer. She's got no groove in her whatsoever. [clips of live performances from Shania Twain...] Like, I never compared her with Shania because Shania was loose and funny. [...and...] Even Celine, the whitest, most awkward woman who ever lived, seemed to be having more fun up there. [live footage of Faith performing "One"] You see Faith - I think everyone kind of instinctively understands that R&B beats and Faith Hill just don't go together. This woman has never heard a swinging rhythm in her life.
Todd: This isn't even like, a hard-funk, New Jack Swing beat or anything, but...
Todd (VO): You look at her and you think "Middle America", you think "Redbook and Better Homes and Gardens". Even her [image of Faith's name in album-title font] name sounds like the name of a Christian private school. You let her try and handle even a minorly funky bass, and you immediately know not to try her potato salad.
Todd: No, this is just not what she's good at. Surely she has to have some more of that soft-focused sexy stuff like she had with "Breathe".
Live footage of Faith performing "Beautiful"
Faith: Make me feel so beautiful, beautiful
Todd (VO): Alright, thank you. This song is called "Beautiful" and, i-it's not country, but it is stuff a Faith Hill fan might be into, thank God.
Faith: [with a cringey slam poetry delivery] I love the way you stand in my way
You won't move until you get a kiss
And how you tell me that my name, it tastes so sweet on your lips
Oh my god, no. I think this might've had a shot on, like, adult contemporary as a single if it wasn't so fucking silly.
Faith: I love how soft you touch my skin
Like you're touching the wings of a butterfly
Todd sputters, then bursts out laughing
Todd: [starts coughing]
Todd (VO): Okay, I think I've made my case that Faith Hill was, like, genuinely a rebel, and daring, and provocative, and not just a sellout ruining country music. But coming at it from a pop perspective: this sucks, this is lame. Yeah, like the one thing she had on Celine Dion was that she was a lot hotter and more sexual. But this leans so far into it that it just sounds ridiculous. Is this what gets normie white women in the mood?
Celine![]
Todd: Okay, I have made...
Clip of "The Way It Is" by...
Todd (VO): ...a number of Celine Dion references so far, as did people at the time. It's bad writing to use the same reference point over and over again, but here's the thing...
Todd: What else could she be going for?
Montage clips of Celine Dion - "Where Does My Heart Break Now"; Whitney Houston - "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"; Michael Bolton - "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You"
Todd (VO): Celine came up in this whole scene of adult contemporary pop. But by 2002, that scene was gone.
Todd: "Cry" did well on the Adult Contemporary charts, which wasn't even a relevant thing in 2002. But even there, Faith doesn't fit in.
Clip of Vanessa Carlton - "A Thousand Miles"
Vanessa Carlton: Making my way downtown, walkin' fast
Todd (VO): You look what else is on there, and it's like, [clips of "Thank You" by...] Dido, [..."I'm Like A Bird" by...] Nelly Furtado, [..."Don't Know Why" by...] Norah Jones. [...and Michelle Branch - "Everywhere"] These are not gritty or authentic artists by any means, but still, they're real singer songwriters who didn't make this kinda late '80s, early '90s glossy gloop. [clip of Aerosmith - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"] That whole Dianne Warren movie ballad scene that did so well in the '90s had just completely dried up. [clip of Celine Dion - "A New Day Has Come"] Celine was the last one standing. Trying to get some of Celine Dion's swag in 2002 was like [clip of "Easy On Me" by...] trying to get some of Adele's swag now. You can't copy Adele; no one wants more Adele unless it's from Adele.
Todd: Same with Celine.
Clip from Titanic
Todd (VO): There's room for one person on this raft, and it's not gonna be you.
Todd: At the very least, you can't say she's trend chasing.
Country Is So Last Century[]
Todd (VO): It clearly didn't happen by accident. You look at the songwriters, a lot of them are from outside the Nashville system.
Faith: Bekka Bramlett wrote a song for me for the new album.
Uh, Bekka Bramlett, she's from the rock world. [clip of Bekka performing with...] She had the thankless job of trying to replace Stevie Nicks in Fleetwood Mac.
Clip of Faith Hill performing "If You're Gonna Fly Away"
Faith: If you're gonna fly away
Todd (VO): Or here, we got [image of "If You're Gonna Fly Away" credits] Alecia Moore and Linda Perry. [clip of "What's Up?", with the audio replaced by that of the He-Man meme version, by...] Uh, Linda Perry, that's the frontwoman from 4 Non Blondes. [clip of Christina Aguilera - "Beautiful"] And then a big pop songwriter at that point for Christina Aguilera and P!nk. And Alecia Moore [clip of "Get The Party Started" by...] is P!nk. That's literally P!nk.
Faith: If you're gonna leave this place, take me with you
I guess P!nk thought she couldn't record something this mom pop for herself.
Todd: Not yet at least. Check back in ten years.
Clip of "Get The Party Started"
Todd (VO): In any case, even P!nk at her most mom-ish is too edgy for Faith Hill. Like, why would Faith Hill be recording something with, like, R&B beats and DJ scratches?
Faith: Never live without you
Todd: Wiki-wiki-wi- No. Noooo.
Todd (VO): Promotionally, "Cry" was also a disaster. After the first single flopped, the album never seemed to get a foothold back in. [clip from Faith Hill: When the Lights Go Down] She did a TV special in 2002, but quite frankly, it's not good at all.
Faith: [spoken] I also thought it might be fun to do a classic production number like I used to love when I was a kid. So we came up with the idea of dancers performing behind me in silhouette.
Faith: It's not right, it's not fair
Yeah, it looks like shit. [clip of Faith performing with Carlos Santana] They seem to have slapped it together at the last second. [text appears: "hi Carlos. Carlos will show up for anything"] And there aren't many videos for this album. [clip of Faith Hill - "Baby You Belong"] Here's one of the few videos that got made, only because the song got attached to the soundtrack of Lilo and Stitch.
Faith: Baby, you belong
Baby, you belong
Todd (VO): Yeah, you remember, from Lilo and Stitch. You don't remember this song being in Lilo and Stitch?
Todd: Yeah, that's because it was only on [cover for...] the Japanese soundtrack.
Todd (VO): Couldn't even get on an American Disney CD at this point. I've heard that maybe the whole idea behind the album was Faith chasing an international audience, like Celine's. But this didn't do any better overseas than it did here.
You're Still Here?[]
Clip of Faith Hill - "You're Still Here"
Faith: Thought I saw you today
You were standing in the sun
The last attempt at getting on the radio was the album closer "You're Still Here". I guess it's the closest thing she has to a country song on the album, but it doesn't help that for some reason, she's copying the phrasing of Barbara Streisand?
Faith: I heard you in a stranger's laugh
And I hung around to hear your laugh
Todd (VO): This isn't even '90s easy listening crap anymore, it's '70s easy listening crap.
Todd: Somehow, trying to modernize her sound made her wildly out-of-date.
Faith: You came to me on silver wings at night
Todd (VO): Anyway, this is a song about how she has misty, watercolor memories of the way we were. [clip of "This Kiss"]. There's just nothing on the album that hits the adult pop sweet spot like she had before this. She's either gone too adult or too pop. Nothing in the Goldilocks zone where she'd done so well. She's not only drastically miscalculated country radio's appetite for this, but also her fans' appetite. [live performance from the 2012 Grammys from...] Taylor Swift's fans followed her to pop music cause they were Swifties first. Faith's core fanbase were country fans first, the rest were casuals.
Todd: They were not gonna follow her wherever.
Todd (VO): Kinda tragic to end with a song called "You're Still Here".
Todd: Because pretty much no one was still here after this.
Clip of Today Show interview with Faith
Ann: Uh, that your- Your manager is a little upset
Todd (VO): Faith's manager was interviewed during all this, [screenshot of quote from Faith's manager] and his tone was basically "Jesus Christ, country radio, what did we do to you? Did we fart during your mom's eulogy, what the fuck? Why are we being treated like this?"
Todd: But Faith wasn't the only one being dropped.
Beginning of the End[]
Clip of Shania Twain - "Up!"
Todd (VO): 2002 turned out to be the last gasp for all those female crossover stars. Early predictions were that Faith and Shania would be duking it out all winter for chart dominance, and that's not what happened. [clip of "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" by...] Shania didn't necessarily switch gears like Faith did, but the songs just weren't there and then she kinda disappeared for a long time. [clip of "Something Worth Leaving Behind" by...] Lee Ann Womack also made something of a crossover play, and that got a negative reception also. [live performance clip from...] LeAnn Rimes tried to go full Xtina, and... Woof, stay tuned for that one, Jesus Christ. [live performance clip from...] The only women still putting up numbers were the Dixie Chicks, and we all know how that one ended.
Todd: And that was it for the glory days of women in country.
Clip of Faith Hill - "Mississippi Girl"
Faith: Some people seem to think that I've changed
Todd (VO): When Faith released her next album, she was determined to correct those mistakes and get back her country audience. She took the blonde out of her hair and kinda desperately insisted that she was still Jenny from the Block.
Faith: Mississippi girl don't change her ways
Just cause everybody knows her name
You know, she got some big country hits out of it. So you could say that even though Cry ended her pop career, she still had her fans, so Cry didn't really end her as a whole.
Todd: But, there's a big problem with that argument.
Clip of Faith Hill - "The Lucky One"
Todd (VO): Which is that since her supposed big comeback in 2005, Faith Hill has released...
Todd: ...basically nothing.
Clip of Faith performing at the 2012 CMA awards
Todd (VO): The last time she made moves towards another album was in 2012. But, a couple advance singles flopped, and she got dropped from her label. So for the last eighteen years, the only things she's made [clip of Faith performing on a Christmas special...] are a Christmas album [...and Tim McGraw & Faith Hill - "The Rest of Our Lives"] and a duets record with her husband. Who, for the record, has made eight solo albums in that same length of time. There could be many reasons why it took her so long to release more music. She could be focusing on her family, whatever. But personally, I think she was trying to escape country music entirely, and that when she couldn't get out, she found it difficult to keep being creative.
Outro[]
Todd: And according to at least one journalist I read, [screenshot from an article about women in country, saying...] she never got over the rejection of Cry. Now, no one is owed success.
Todd (VO): And being not a particular fan of hers, it's easy for me to say "Oh well, them's the brakes." But it's hard for me to look at this album outside of the context of how historically awful country music has been for women since.
Todd: 'Cause it's not like we got this grand wave of grit and authenticity afterwards.
Clip of Trace Adkins'...
Todd (VO): We were just a few years away from "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk". I think it's worth noting how [clip of "Before He Cheats" by...] Carrie Underwood, the woman who replaced Faith Hill symbolically, and in one case, literally.
Clip of Faith's Sunday Night Football intro, which then abruptly switches to Carrie's
Faith: I've been waiting all day for...
Carrie: ...Sunday Night!!!
Clip of Carrie Underwood - "Jesus, Take The Wheel"
Carrie is an extremely rare case of a woman staying successful in Nashville. And even though she had two or three big crossover hits right off the bat, she has stayed resolutely in her lane and not tried to push any boundaries. [clip of live performances from Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, and Maren Morris] Meanwhile, any other woman who's had crossover success ended up abandoning Nashville entirely. It seems like Faith Hill was used as a cautionary tale just as much as the Dixie Chicks were.
Todd: But, on the other hand, let's not make this too much about the broader narrative.
Clip of Today Show interview with Faith
Faith: You know, I'm a strong woman, and I- I do what's right for me and what I think my fans will like, and that's all I think about
Clip of "Cry"
Todd (VO): Faith Hill is an individual, she's her own artist, she made her own decisions. No one made her record this album, and the album's not good. It didn't deserve to be successful. And if that hurts, well... The big single was about her failing to get an emotional response.
Todd: [shrugs] What did you expect was gonna happen?
Faith: Could you cry a little for me?
Sponsor[]
Todd: And, one last thing; The Beatles.
Clip from The Ballad of John and Yoko
Todd (VO): You know, The Beatles. Well, Lindsay Ellis is back, and she's made a great video about The Beatles. And why they broke up, and why it wasn't Yoko's fault, and why everyone blamed Yoko anyway. Starring me as the voice of Mark David Chapman, the role of a lifetime. Anyway, if you wanna know why Yoko is innocent, you can watch the first ten minutes on YouTube, and then you can see the full complete version on...
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Todd: For as long as both you and Nebula exist on this Earth, you're in. [Nebula logo briefly appears]
Ending Music: Todd plays "Cry" on the piano
THE END
"Cry" is owned by Warner Bros. Nashville
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!