LISTEN: Cam’s ‘Classic’ Is a Comfortable, Pop-Country Jam

Cam‘s new song “Classic” wraps a very progressive pop-country hook up in an old cozy sweater and offers it with a wide smile. The unmistakable feel-good song from her upcoming album will bring back memories if you let it.

Or, it will just suck you in with a final modulation. There’s no key change after the bridge, but the effect is the same. The California-raised, Nashville-based singer pulls you closer, closer, closer … Cam and her production team have done a masterful job in building a song that was already sharp as lyrics on paper.

“Classic” is a list song that pulls at your sense of nostalgia, but Cam rebuffs the usual touchstone of such songs. Old dogs, church pews, mama’s recipes and dirt roads sit this song out, but some of her chosen references take you to the same places. It’s more effective. In mentioning Lucky Strike brand cigarettes, Cam recalls dad, or a grandfather. The bench seat on that classic car brings back your adolescence.

The buoyant nature of the melody pulls you to easier, simpler times. It likely wasn’t her intention to target such a wide demographic so effectively when she sat down to write for her new album, but that “Classic” does will give her a great shot at another hit on country radio.

Cam wrote “Classic” with Jack Antonoff, who has most recently worked with Taylor Swift on her Lover and Folklore albums.

Cam’s “Classic” Lyrics:

Pickin’ up some Lucky Strikes / Leanin’ on the wall outside / They don’t make ’em like that anymore / Talkin’ down at the corner store / They shut their lights and they close their doors / ‘Cause they don’t make ’em like that anymore / But you and I are classic

Pre-chorus:

Like a bench in the front seat / Like a big yellow taxi / Like your best friend’s mixtape / A big limo and a prom date / Ain’t nothin’ new I’m waitin’ for / ‘Cause they don’t make ’em like this anymore

Chorus:

I wanna hit rewind, baby / Take our time / Wanna hit rewind, baby / Take our time / They don’t make ’em like this anymore

Fixin’ up the ’65 / Take it to the drive in tonight / They don’t make ’em like that anymore / With the stars on the screen, good Lord / I’m talkin’ speaker hangin’ off a truck door / They don’t make ’em like that anymore / But you and I are classic

Repeat Pre-Chorus

Repeat Chorus

Johnny and June / Chevy, light blue / They don’t make ’em like this anymore / Bette Davis / Yellow pages / They don’t make ’em like this anymore / But you and I, we were built to last it / Just a couple of stone-cold classics / Just a couple of stone-cold classics / Just a couple of stone-cold classics

Repeat Chorus