Music Notes

Liar, by Jelly Roll

My next track is a bit different, a single coming from Jelly Roll's 2024 album Beautifully Broken.

I've known about overweight, face-tattoed, country-flavored Jelly Roll and his distinctive voice for several years now, mostly taking note of his 2021 song that goes "I'm just a long-haired son of a sinner, searching for new ways I can get gone…" A dreary piece, indeed, but somewhat interesting by sheer honest grubbiness of content.

I remember looking him up a couple years ago and being disgusted (admittedly rather amused as well) by his "Whiskey, Weed, and Waffle House" debacle. After that I tossed him aside.

In 2024, he turned up in unexpected places, such as random headlines at the Washington Post about his redefinition of "sobriety." I wasn't paying much attention until OneRepublic dropped a surprise remix collaboration: Hurt (featuring Jelly Roll). Hurt had already been released as a single off Artificial Paradise, but the newer one has JR singing Ryan's second verse… which I thought was rather cheap of him. Usually when artists collaborate on a remix of a previously released song, the secondary artist brings their own substitute verse or bridge.

Anyway, I'm not discussing Hurt here, with or without Jelly Roll, because I'm kind of meh about it. Instead I'm discussing JR's single Liar, which caught my fancy from the moment I first heard it at a Love's truck stop last fall.

Sound

Liar is styled in a country gospel manner, with elements of handclaps, vocals, and rise and fall carefully chosen to give you "all the feels." Upon adding it to my personal playlist and giving it a close listen, I could quickly identify and break down the production, partly because of having recently watched Ryan Tedder doing a video with Vogue, discussing the gospel sounds incorporated into 1R's 2013 hit Counting Stars.

Theme

Jelly Roll's theme here is one I understand quite well: that of wrestling with your inner demons and calling them out on the intrusive thoughts they fill your head with.

He approaches it in a substantial way, refusing to succumb to the addictive and destructive behaviors he's dealing with. I appreciate how this song gives me a dualistic battle to "sink my teeth into;" I've heard the other single off this album, I Am Not Ok, and I find it to be quite bland and unoriginal. Liar, on the other hand, is fiercely memorable, similar to Dan Reynolds when he's dueling with himself.

Significance

As a whole, I still don't particularly care for Jelly Roll, and I think if anything his recent popularity is "watering him down." Judging by the other single I mentioned, his themes of mental health and addiction are being homogenized and commercialized for a general audience.

I believe, however, Liar is one song worth remembering. I think it's good someone from the country music genre is crossing over to pop (maybe?) with the real, down-to-earth message that alcohol and other self-destructive behaviors often exaggerated, normalized and joked about in country music are serious issues.

Words: 529.