LeAnn Rimes had been inching toward pop as the '90s grew to a close, but she truly lunged at the pop charts with the soundtrack to Coyote Ugly, providing the voice for Piper Perabo's star-struck, fledgling singer/songwriter. This was a prelude to 2001's I Need You, her first full-fledged pop album — a crossover affair with more in common with Faith Hill's Breathe than Shania Twain's Come on Over. That means that its footing is squarely within adult contemporary pop, and it's heavy on ballads. Even when the tempo is kicked up a notch, as on "You Are" with its percolating drum machines, it's still mid-tempo AC pop. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially since she has a couple of good songs here (notably "I Need You," "But I Do Love You," and the Coyote leftover, "Can't Fight the Moonlight"), but it's not the most natural move in the world, either. Rimes' impressive voice sounds restrained in this setting, too self-consciously mature. In a nutshell, that's the problem with I Need You — it's a teenager attempting to make a thirtysomething album. That she occasionally succeeds is a testament to her vocal talents and the skills of her producers, but it shouldn't be surprising that it also feels awkward for large stretches, never quite becoming as alluring as Breathe, because this is a sound that she needs to grow into to be totally convincing.
LeANN RIMES
I NEED YOU
(Curb D2-77979)
January 30/2001
Produced by Chuck Howard & Wilbur C. Rimes
1.
I NEED YOU
(Ty Lacy - Dennis Matkosky)
« © '00 Ariose Music, ASCAP / Karles Music, ASCAP »
I don't need a lot of things I can get by with nothing
Of all the blessings life can bring I've always needed something
But I've got all I want when it comes to loving you
You're my only reason you're my only truth
I need you like water like breath like rain
I need you like mercy from heaven's gate
There's a freedom in your arms that carries me through I need you
You're the hope that moves me to courage again
You're the love that rescues me when the cold winds rage
And it's so amazing cause that's just how you are
And I can't turn back now cause you've brought me too far
I need you like water...
Oh yes I do
I need you like water...
Oh yes I do I need you
**********
2.
BUT I DO LOVE YOU
(Diane Warren)
« © '00 Realsongs, ASCAP »
I don't like to be alone in the night
And I don't like to hear I'm wrong when I'm right
And I don't like to have the rain on my shoes
But I do love you but I do love you
I don't like to see the sky painted gray
And I don't like when nothing's going my way
And I don't like to be the one with the blues
But I do love you but I do love you
Love everything about the way you're loving me
The way you lay your head ppon my shoulder when you sleep
And I love to kiss you in the rain I love everything you do oh I do
I don't like to turn the radio on just to find I missed my favorite song
And I don't like to be the last with the news but I do love you but I do love you
Love everything about the way...
And I don't like to be alone in the night
And I don't like to hear I'm wrong when I'm right
And I don't like to have the rain on my shoes
But I do love you but I do love you
But I do love you but I do love you
**********
3.
YOU ARE
(Laurie Webb)
« © '00 April Music, ASCAP »
You you've made no mistake
You take everything I ever wanted into account when you walk into the room
You give me reason talk in turn never too late or too soon
You are poetry in motion you inspire power and devotion
You are turning all the tide underneath you are the potential in me you are
You are the first one that I wish to tell
Everything that matters matters because you reflect it back so well
You see understanding wherever you are are standing
Between reason passion balance
You are poetry in motion...
You are my strongest link you are everything I ever wanted to be yeah
You are poetry in motion...
You are poetry in motion...
**********
4.
SOON
(Diane Warren)
« © '00 Realsongs, ASCAP »
Soon baby I will cry my last tear soon yeah I will be over you
Soon darling all these tears won't be here
Soon yeah you know that I will be over you soon
One night baby you won't be in my dreams
One night yeah I'll finally make it through
One night darling I won't call out your name
I won't be in this pain I will be over you soon
Soon as the mountains turn to rivers
Soon as the sea turns into sand
Soon as the sun comes up at midnight
That's how soon that all the hurt will end
But till then I'll just pretend it will be over over
I keep tellin' myself I'll forget you someday soon soon
[ keyboards ]
Soon as the mountains turn to rivers...
I will be over you baby I will be over you soon
**********
5.
CAN'T FIGHT THE MOONLIGHT
(Diane Warren)
« © '00 Realsongs, ASCAP »
Under a lover's sky gonna be with you
And no one's gonna be around if you think that you won't fall
Well just wait untill till the sun goes down
Underneath the starlight starlight there's a magical feeling so right
It will steal your heart tonight
You can try to resist try to hide from my kiss
But you know but you know that you can't fight the moonlight
Deep in the dark you'll surrender your heart
But you know but you know that you can't fight the moonlight
No you can't fight it
It's gonna get to your heart there's no escaping love
Once a gentle breeze weaves its spell upon you heart
No matter what you think it won't be too long till your in my arms
Underneath the starlight...
Underneath the starlight...
**********
6.
LOVE MUST BE TELLING ME SOMETHING
(Thom McHugh - Jerry T. Correnfos - Keith Follese)
« © '93 Breaker Maker Music, BMI / Corernflos Music, BMI / Music Of Stage Three, BMI /
Songs Of The Collective, BMI / Songs Of Windswept Pacific, BMI / Warner-Tamerlane Publishing, BMI »
Can't see can't breathe can't get up off my knees
I don't know what comes over me whenever you come near
Heart's poundin' in my chest little voice inside my head
I cant hear a word it said but the feelins loud and clear
Love must be tellin' me somethin' givin' me some kind of sign
Spellin' it out for me love must be tellin' me I must be fallin' tonight
But I've been in love and lost I swore us one and all
No matter what the cost gotta learn to live without
No you werent in my plans but baby here I am
I still don't understand but I know there aint no doubt
Love must be tellin' me somethin'...
No you weren't in my plans but now baby here I am
I still dont understand but I know there aint no doubt
Love must be tellin' me somethin'...
Love must be tellin' me somethin'...
Love must be tellin' me somethin'...
**********
7.
WRITTEN IN THE STARS
(Elton John - Tim Rice)
« © '98 Wonderland Music, BMI »
[ with Elton John ]
I am here to tell you we can never meet again
Simple really isn't it a word or two and then
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when
You think of me or speak of me or wonder what befell
The someone you once loved so long ago so well
Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by
You don't have to ask me and I need not reply
Every moment of my life from now until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confounded out of a hand
Is it written in the stars are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment in which we have no say
In which we're given paradise but only only for a day
Nothing can be altered there is nothing to decide
No escape no change of heart no anyplace to hide
You are all I'll ever want but this I am denied
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts I wish I'd never learned
What it is to be in love and have that love returned
Is it written in the stars...
(Is it written in the stars...)
Is it written in the stars...
**********
8.
ONE OF THESE DAYS
(Robin Lee Bruce - Christi Dannemiller)
« © '00 Big Red Tractor Music, ASCAP / Red Drum Music, ASCAP »
Wish someone would tell me when I won't think of you again
I'll get past the emptiness and let a little happiness back in
Pretending not to care leads me half way there
One of these one of these days I'll be completely over you
Heaven knows how long it will take
And one of these one of these days I'll find somebody who'll
Love your memory away one of these days
One of these days somehow someway
Ever since you've been gone time has a way of dragging on and on
Friends drop by for company but I'm not much company for long
Oh I'll get past what was if I live long enough
One of these one of these days...
[ guitar ]
One of these days somehow someway
One of these one of these days...
**********
9.
I BELIEVE IN YOU
(Ty Lacy - Dan Muckala)
« © '00 Ariose Music, ASCAP / Lehsem Music, ASCAP »
You breathe and life begins you speak and my world makes sense
That's how it is when it comes to you
Your mercy has no end you're more than just a friend
It amazes me you feel the way you do
I believe in you and nothing less I believe in you can't help myself
You're all the hope the reason that I need
I believe in you just because I don't need no one to prove your love
You're all that I have seen it's easier for me to believe in you
You are so beautiful you are the miracle
That dries the tears and heals a wounded heart
And it's so clear to see your hand in everything
You were there for me there to see me through
I believe in you and nothing less...
Through the fire and through the rain
I know your love for me will never ever change
I believe in you and nothing less...
I believe in you and nothing less...
**********
10.
TOGETHER FOREVER ALWAYS
(LeAnn Rimes)
« © '00 Mike Curb Music, BMI / Rimes Publishing, BMI / Timeless Creations Music, BMI »
Life can be distance between us days even years could pass on
But the love that lies between us will always be worth holding on
Together forever always from the dawn till the end of each day
No matter how far away you are we're together forever always
[ fiddle ]
I could try to forget you but the mem'ries keep lingering on
But the dreams I dream about you keep me holding on
Together forever always...
Together forever always...
**********