Kane Brown’s ‘I Can Feel It’ Captures the Intensity of the Phil Collins Song He Samples [Listen]
Kane Brown's new song "I Can Feel It" is a captivating amalgam of everything he's done thus far. The uptempo smash builds off his last single, "Bury Me in Georgia," but also speaks to how we met him.
Longtime fans recall Brown as a kid from north Georgia who'd post covers to Facebook. His career grew out of that, and since 2015 he's vacillated between traditional country and pop and hip-hop leaning singles and deep cuts. Songs like "One Mississippi" have attempted to bridge the genres, but "I Can Feel It" nails the formula.
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Banjo, fiddle and the cry of an electric guitar work to amplify a pop drum beat. It's literally "pop," as in popular. Who hasn't pretended to air drum Phil Collins' epic drum fill during "In the Air Tonight"?
Lyrically, Brown and co-writers Gabe Foust and Jaxson Free describe a pretty typical pop-country scene. There's a girl trying to mend a broken heart at the bar, so a guy slides over "like a steel guitar" and they hit it off, to the point that he wonders if they need to relocate. The intensity of Collins' original remains, even if the plot of this song is very different. Both songs burn bright.
Talking to Taste of Country, Brown said the idea for this song came after he was unable to get Collins to perform with him at Stagecoach, but the classic rocker ultimately signed off on "I Can Feel It." He's listed as a co-writer, as well, so his approval isn't likely to go unrewarded.
Did You Know?: The bridge of the song does borrow directly from "In the Air Tonight" as Brown cries out, "I can feel it coming in the air tonight / Oh, Lord." The rest of the lyrics are original.
Listen to Kane Brown's "I Can Feel It":
Here Are the Lyrics to Kane Brown's "I Can Feel It":
I can see you by the bar / Skinny margarita with a broken heart / So, I slid over like a steel guitar / We started talking ‘til I / Saw your boots bounce to the beat / You said, Do you dance? Wanna dance with me / Next thing I know, I started to think / That we might be onto something.
You’re putting on a show / No need to take it slow / There’s something here, I know.
Chorus:
I can feel it in the air / Feel it in the whiskey in my hand / In your hips / Your body tells me when you start to dance / Maybe this is turning to a we should probably get up out of here / Oh, baby, I swear / I can feel it in the air / I can feel it.
You got everybody looking / Looking at you, looking at me / Them words you’re whispering in my ear / Girl, they’re as smooth as Tennessee / We got all night to go / This flame ain’t burning low / There’s something here I know.
Repeat Chorus
I can feel it in the air / I can feel it coming in the air tonight / Oh, Lord
Repeat Chorus
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