I tend to stick to bands I know, namely bands from the sixties and seventies. i was born in the eighties yet own a record player. But I do occasionally come across some more recent finds, artists whose music doesn't sound like cookie-cutter nonsense spun out to make money. My friend recently gave me a Mat Kearney album. By recently I actually mean several months ago. I gave it a listen and enjoyed it, but considered it Jack Johnson-esque. It was pleasant background music, but didn't grab my attention. It wasn't awful, it was well-done, but didn't seem to have much to say.Until some of the lyrics happened to catch me off-guard, and I did actually start to listen, then look up the lyrics. The song was "In the Middle", and it's possibly one of the most mature and rational love songs I've ever heard. Basically, it's about not taking a love for granted. The beat's quicker than a ballad, the verses are spoken and spoken quickly, almost a rap, with an uplifting chorus dividing them whenever it sounds like the singer's running out of breath. In other words, the chorus fits the theme of the song. It's one of the few songs in recent musical history where the melody and make-up of the song matching the meaning and the words to make a statement. I highly recommend anyone who gets bored with sappy or melodramatic love songs to give it a listen.