I wrote a blog recently analyzing Ed Sheeran’s song “Perfect” because, quite frankly, I assumed it would be THE WEDDING SONG of 2018.

But I’ve recently gotten a few requests for the Faith Hill, Tim McGraw duet “The Rest of Our Life” and I have to say, this could be a tight race.

0781d84825a89dd00a2d48b1402b4347.1000x1000x1Faith Hill and Tim McGraw have a lot going for them.  First they are an actual couple (21 years married which is an eternity in the entertainment field).  Plus they are pretty familiar with singing huge ballads.  I’m old enough to remember when their duet “It’s Your Love” was a huge wedding song in the late 90s and McGraw’s solo effort “My Best Friend” has certainly been a popular first dance as well.  The fact that Hill and McGraw sing a very pop influenced style of country music doesn’t hurt either (or is it a country influenced style of pop.)  It means they appeal to country music fans without turning off non-country music fans.  That’s pretty much the sound that Shania Twain helped perfect back in the day and it has helped so many artists out of Nashville win cross-over appeal.

So will “The Rest of Our Life” be huge wedding song?

A weird video doesn't ruin a great song
A weird video doesn’t ruin a great song

Well, it’s certainly got all the elements.  First of all, as I argued in the blog about “Perfect,” duets usually make the best first dances.  And when it comes to the lyrics, they are as universally  appealing as can be.  I love the sentiment about growing old together (“If one gray hair shows, I’ll be fine. If my waistline grows, I’ll be fine”) with the added touch that “we’ll stay young for the rest of our lives.”  In fact my only challenge with the song is the music video they released for it which starts with McGraw and Hill getting into an argument in the back of their limousine which results in Hill walking off in the rain.  Sure they eventually make up but it’s an odd choice for a song that doesn’t speak at all about fighting and reconciling and is a far cry from a video that matches a romantic song’s lyrics perfectly (like say, John Legend’s “All of Me.”)  Still, music videos are rarely played during a first dance so this shouldn’t hold the song back from contention for WEDDING SONG OF THE YEAR.

If I had to place my bets I’d say “Perfect” still has the better shot at being the most popular first dance of 2018 simply because it was out first and Sheeran’s duet version with Beyonce has already spent multiple weeks at the top of the charts.  But it won’t be the runaway choice like I thought it’d be as recently as 2 weeks ago and if Tim McGraw and Faith Hill can nudge their way into contention I wonder what other artists can as well.  The year is still young after all and who knows, maybe Justin Timberlake will have a great ballad on his soon to be released album Man of the Woods.

 

pin - Elite Entertainment - Perfects Wedding Song of the Year Competition