Few will need a second listen to form an opinion on Aaron Lewis’ new single, “Am I the Only One”. The decidedly patriotic acoustic statement marvels at a decaying America and deals powerful blows to liberal values.
For some, Lewis is saying something that needs to be said at a time when Confederate statues are being wrested from government property and long-held rights are called into question or even nullified. “Am I the only one who can’t take it anymore / Shout, ‘If you don’t like it, there’s the fucking door’,“he sings during the censored version of the song.
For others, the rock-to-country singer threw all chauvinistic clichés to the wall to increase the division during an angry 360-word opus. Each choir ends with, “Another statue falling in a town near you / Watching the threads of old glory unravel. ” Ira Dean and Jeffrey Steele co-wrote “Am I the One”. The full lyrics are below.
There is no middle ground with this song, song # 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart at the time of its radio release announcement. While too polarizing to be a radio hit, the song won’t need to air to become something bigger.
Lewis has long been somewhat of a cantankerous country singer ready to shoot the stars of the format, so this new material is hardly overkill for him. He’s a proud curator who understands that singing about what you feel is more important than writing for greater corporate power. After the 2020 election, it will undoubtedly find new fans and bring more listeners to the format. The timing couldn’t be better.
Or worse.
Aaron Lewis, “Am I The One” Lyrics:
Am I the only one here tonight / Shaking my head and thinking something’s wrong / Is it just me / Am I losing my mind / Am I on the verge of the end of time / Am- I the only one / Tell me I’m not / Who thinks they’re taking all the good we’ve got / And let it go wrong, damn it, I’ll be damned / I think I’m getting my old man.
Chorus:
Am I the only one who wants to bleed / Or take a bullet for being free / Scream, “What is this?” on my TV / For telling me, yeah, are you telling me / That I’m the one, ready to fight / For my love of red and white / And blue, burning on the floor / A another statue coming down a town near you / Watching the threads of Old Glory unravel.
Am I the only one not brainwashed / Making my way through the land of the lost / Who sees it as it is and worries about his children / As they try to undo all the things he did.
Second Choir:
Am I the only one who can’t take it anymore / Shout, “If you don’t like it, there’s the fucking door” / It’s not the freedom we fought for / It was some something more was something more / Am I the only one who wants to fight / For my love of red and white / And blue, burning to the ground / Another statue descending in a town near you / Watching the threads of old glory unravel / I’m not the only one / I can’t be the only one.
Am I the only one who stops singing / Every time they play a Springsteen song.
Third Choir:
Am I the only one sitting here / I’m still holding on, holding back my tears / For those who paid with the life they gave / God bless the United States / I’m not the only one who wants to fight / For my love of the red and the white / And the blue, burning to the ground / Another statue descending into a town near you / Watching the threads of old glory unravel / I’m not the only one / I can’t not be the only one.
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