Bruce Robison – “The New Me”
1. On “The New Me”, the latest track from Bruce Robison’s slowly-leaking new record From the Top, he leads by announcing that the story takes place in a small town. Bruce has a way of depicting small towns, much like Larry McMurtry does in The Last Picture Show — full of hard feelings, and occasionally unescapable. The characters in this song struggle with situations that would be hard to re-create in a more anonymous big city, though the feelings of separation and moving on are universal.
2. Robison makes a small distinction in the first verse that makes all the difference. Though he says he has seen his old flame around town, all of the details come through a friend — that the new boyfriend “ain’t that bad”, and that the old flame is “so happy now”. By separating himself from the news, he drums up that heart-sinking feeling of being left behind, though he admits that the new love “looks good on you”, before wondering if he “can do it all over again”. Many country songs brag about being able to move on, but Robison touches a vulnerable nerve here, unsure of himself.
3. The chorus finds him rattling off a series of common phrases — “40 is the brand new 30/ and 30 is the new 18″, before hoping out loud that “losing is the brand new winning”, and expressing is fear that the new boyfriend is “the new me”. Rather than expressing anger at the broken relationship or bravado at the new relationship he has found, Robison looks inside and wonders if he is now outdated, and unable to try again.
4. Robison’s strength is in the small details that make the song personal — which he showed off in “Travelin’ Soldier”, perhaps his best known song. The main character of that song heard about her fallen love and retreated under the bleachers to react, which perfectly encapsulated the hidden nature of their relationship. Here in “The New Me”, Robison lays out the feelings of uncertainty that hit especially close to home in a small town, and does so with the nuances that have made him one of his generation’s best writers.
Good song and I like your analysis of it. Looking forward to the entire album. Is Bruce Robison related to Charlie Robison?