My Musical Stories: Rascal Flatts' "Skin (Sarabeth)"

I was exposed to country music at a young age.  My late father would turn it on in the truck and there we'd be, listening to 99.9 Radio USA, hearing the voices of radio personalities such as Scott Hanson, Jessie B Hawkins, and Justin "The Big Deal" depending on what time of the day we were listening.  The music was always so new and fresh to me back then, about 2005-06, and there seemed to be a lot less artists and bands on the country radio spectrum than there are today.  Perhaps we were in a period of transition at that time?

One of the bands that spoke to me a lot back then was the country group Rascal Flatts.  My mother always found them to be whiny, but through their songs such as "Mayberry", "Prayin For Daylight", and of course "Life Is A Highway" from the 2006 Disney smash hit Cars, they could turn their vocals into something amazing in my mind through the use of harmony and amazing syncopation and instrumenation. 

In 2004 on their album Feels Like Today, the band released a ballad called "Skin (Sarabeth)" about a girl who has been diagnosed with cancer, and is now undergoing the struggles associated with disease, including hair loss which the song focuses on for most of it's runtime.  But while the song starts out very sad indeed, there's a positive message to be heard around the last verse and chorus that brings the song into a different emotional dimension for me.  For those of you who haven't heard this song, it concerns the girl's boyfriend/prom date shaving his head of hair to show sympathy and empathy, and then he also accompanies her to the dance.  It's a very sweet track that many people listened to and loved, especially on WUSN in Chicago when the track wasn't even a single from Feels Like Today yet, rather it was just a hidden track because the band's recording contract only allowed for eleven songs and they thought that the track wouldn't fit in right with the rest of the album.  That's right folks, they snuck this one in at the last minute at first.  But after it was found out to be so popular, the label (Lyric Street Records) re-released Feels Like Today with the song as Track #12 on the album, in it's rightful place.

This song doesn't really impact me in a personal way, but I chose to share my thoughts on it becuase I think it's a very beautiful song with a lot of moving parts and beautifully done instrumentation.  Plus the chorus is a big win for me with it's simple lyrics and how it's changed at the end to fit the fact that the girl's boyfriend decided to shave his head and take his girl to prom.  It's a song that shows that are still people out there with good character who will do anything to keep a friendship or relationship or show empathy for others.  I think there could use to be more of this in the world sooner rather than later, and this song is a good place to start, or at least it was back when it was released nearly fifteen years ago.

So, if you're into old music from decades past, here's a country music treasure to dig up.  You can listen to "Skin (Sarabeth)" at the link below, and feel free to drop a comment to start a discussion about the song if you'd like.  I always enjoy discussion about music!  It's one of my favorite things to talk about and I'm hoping that I'll be able to talk about for years to come as I continue my education.

  Happy listening!