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The Red Clay Strays - ‘No One Else Like Me'
Label: RCA Records
Release Date: July 26th, 2024
Album: Made By These Moments
Producer: Dave Cobb
Songwriters: Brandon Coleman, Matthew Coleman
The Background:
A regular fixture of their live set, particularly since 2023, 'No One Else Like Me' has become a staple part of The Red Clay Strays' live show, even before it's official studio release.
Written by lead singer and guitarist Brandon Coleman with his younger brother Matthew Coleman, the song is track No. 4 on Made By These Moments, the group's sophomore album.
The Sound:
Easing in with some sparse, twanging electric guitar, Coleman's voice aches across the opening moments, suggesting a ballad is about to commence. While that's not far from the truth, it's more romantic in an aspirational sense than a tangibly sensual one.
From there, there's nothing like injecting a bit of Alabaman soul straight through your veins. A perfect soundtrack to a long drive along the highway, it's like a classic you'd blast through the stereo on the bus in the '70s.
The Strays are some of the best at creating all encompassing, escapist jams within their songs, and the enrapturing duelling guitars that ripple throughout the climax of the song are exact proof why. It leaves you driving off into the sunset with all your cares left behind you.
Whether they are blasting a new searing solo within it at Red Rocks or tearing through the dry wall of Bobby Bones' studio as they jam it, 'No One Else Like Me' will always take off and carry you with it.
The Meaning:
Well I'm a broken rider
I'm a restless fighter
and I'm looking for a little hope
I'm a shadowed thinker, I'm a one-eyed blinker
At the end of his rope
I'm a dead man walking
I'm a preacher talking about love
and how to be free
If you take what Coleman has suggested the song is about as verbatim, then 'No One Else Like Me' finds the writer grappling with the desire to be known for his own distinctive self, rather than being compared to notable legends or icons who he bears similarity to in style, characteristics or sound.
Coleman is suggesting he can personify and observe from the perspective of a particular character, without it necessarily bearing similarity to the styles of those that have come before him.
He's allowed to carry pain and express it through song, or sing about love and wanting to feel alive - our personal experiences are what make us unique, and how we each differ from one another, and no other is less important.
Looking back at the promises that I could never keep
I wonder if there was ever any truth in all of me
Sometimes I wanna run away, go start over in another place
But i'd never be free, lord, i'd never be free
That's not to say there's never an element of self-doubt, nor anxiety at being able to meet the expectation that comes from the position or voice that he finds himself in.
Coleman is led to question whether what he's writing and expressing through his words were ever truly what he felt, or simply inspiration from another place.
I'm a dying ghost with a heart like most
But lord, ain't no one else me
Within the chorus, Coleman finds the answer.
At it's core, 'No One Else Like Me' is a confidence boost - a belief in one's self to achieve what they want to and find contentment and fulfilment in life, no matter what others may say or how they may judge.
We all have feelings and share the ability to love and be passionate, but that experience is still individual to you.
What have The Red Clay Strays said about ‘No One Else Like Me’?
Introducing the song during their show in the famous Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee in June 2024, Coleman took a swipe at comparisons made of the way he looks, particularly to legends past.
"This is my response to everybody that says I look like Elvis, or Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings or anybody else".
On various occasions that the band have played the song, Coleman has introduced it in this way - cementing a particular meaning behind the track and his desire to be free of those likenesses.
For the full lyrics to The Red Clay Strays’ ‘No One Else Like Me’, see below:
How many mistakes can I make before I start to see
How much love will it take to make me not wanna leave
How many tears can I cry before all my tears run dry
Will I ever be free?
Will I ever be free?
Lord I wanna be free
Well I'm a broken rider
I'm a restless fighter
and I'm looking for a little hope
I'm a shadowed thinker, I'm a one-eyed blinker
At the end of his rope
I'm a dead man walking
I'm a preacher talking about love
and how to be free
I'm a dying ghost with a heart like most
But lord, ain't no one else me
Looking back at the promises that I could never keep
I wonder if there was ever any truth in all of me
Sometimes I wanna run away, go start over in another place
But i'd never be free, lord, i'd never be free
Well I'm a broken rider
I'm a restless fighter
and I'm looking for a little hope
I'm a shadowed thinker, I'm a one-eyed blinker
At the end of his rope
I'm a dead man walking
I'm a preacher talking 'bout love
and how to be free
I'm a dying ghost with a heart like most
But lord, ain't no one else me
Well I'm a broken rider
I'm a restless fighter
and I'm looking for a little hope
I'm a shadowed thinker, I'm a one-eyed blinker
At the end of his rope
I'm a dead man walking
I'm a preacher talking 'bout love
and how to be free
I'm a dying ghost with a heart like most
But lord, ain't no one else me
~~
For more on The Red Clay Strays, see below:
