“Runaway” by 3 Doors Down, Friday, July 14, 2023

 

We’re firmly in the territory of “butt rock” today. According to Houston Press, the origin of the phrase comes from a radio station in the ‘90s that had a programming slogan, “Nothing but Rock,” and listeners dropped “nothing” from the tagline. Loudwire points out that there are two distinct eras of butt rock: the ‘80s hair bands and the post grunge and nu metal of the late ‘90s and ‘00s. 

HOPPIN’ ON A TRAIN, WE’LL BURN UP THE TRACKS. What, then, is the characteristics of “butt rock”? Like any musical sub-genre, especially if it is named more as a slur for the sub-genre not even used by the bands classified by the sub-genre, associations in the label are loose. Just as The Doobie Brothers & Daryl Hall and John Oats may be classified or contested alongside Christopher Cross and Kenny Loggins in the now so-called sub-genre of Yacht Rock, association with “butt-rock” seems to be more about music listeners disdain for certain characteristics. For the sake of today’s song, I’m only going to discuss second wave “butt rock,” music classified by  unimaginative, sometimes toxic masculine lyrics and boring melodies droned by a white male lead singer with a limited vocal range. It’s a copy and paste of the sound of grunge without any progressive politics—butt rockers tend to be nihilistic or even lean to conservative politics—or any of the novelty that made the the original sound of grunge unique to the music scene. Now that we have a loose definition of the label, music snobs start casting your favorite bands from 2001 into the pit. 

AS LONG AS WE’RE TOGETHER, FOREVER IS NEVER TOO LONG. Creed is perhaps the first band that gets cast into the “butt rock” collection. There were a ton of bands in the Angsty Aughts who fit the definition from Three Days Grace to 3 Doors Down. Mississippi-based post-grunge band 3 Doors Down was huge from their first hit, “Kryptonite.” They had a string of hits both on rock and pop radio and even a few big movie placements like their massive hit “Be Like That” appearing in the film American Pie 2. For me, 3 Doors Down albums sound mostly the same except for their 2008 eponymous album, which feels like the most refined version of their southern blues rock with elements of gospel. The guitar tones are well recorded and add a longing sense that I think is absent in their earlier work and singer Brad Arnold’s voice plays on the guitar tones in a satisfying way. From the bluesy opening “Train” into the “support the troops” anthems of “Citizen/Solider” and “It’s Not My Time” the album are balanced by introspective tracks like “Let Me Be Myself,” “When It’s Over,” the R&B-drumbeat closer “She Doesn’t Want the World” make 3 Doors Down the best that the band has to offer. My favorite song, though, has to be “Runaway” for the meditation it presents on the rock ‘n’ roll theme of escape, which becomes escapism for those of us rooted to a job. It’s a simple song, but production is key in the delivery. If only the band stopped while they were ahead. But there had to be the 2017 presidential inauguration, which is certainly a topic for another day. 

Read the lyrics on Genius.