If you know me, you know I am not a particular fan of country music. 

This most likely stems from the fact that all of my siblings love that genre of music, so it is all I grew up hearing; I found most of it to be quite boring. Although, through all of the incessant listening to songs about tractors and alcohol, I have found some silver lining in the classification of music.

There have been a few artists who I would choose to listen to if country music was forced upon me. Florida Georgia Line, Hunter Hayes, and Thomas Rhett have been some artists that I have somewhat enjoyed, but there is one group that I truly don’t mind listening to: Dan + Shay.

The music duo is comprised of vocalists Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, and both are originally from Nashville, Tennessee.

Now, I have heard from several country music connoisseurs that Dan + Shay is not “real country,” but quite honestly, anyone who has a southern accent is country to me. 

I started listening to the two singers around 2016 when they released Obsessed, their second album. Ever since then, I have found myself listening to their more popular songs such as “From the Ground Up,” “Tequila,” and “10,000 Hours.” When I heard they were releasing a new song, my hopes were set high.

Yet after listening to it, I was left somewhat indifferent.

Their newest single, “Glad You Exist,” was just released this past Friday. I was hoping this wouldn’t be a bad song, and it wasn’t. It just wasn’t my favorite.

The single starts off just like almost every other song they have produced—with a guitar and a voice adding in a few seconds later. The song starts out with a really strong chorus that was actually to my liking.

Smyers and Mooney sing, “There’s a couple billion people in the world, and a million other places we could be, but you’re here with me.” With both strong vocals and few instruments backing them up, the chorus is extremely catchy; I actually liked it.

At the nearing end of each chorus, they sing, “I’m just so glad you exist,” which is then followed by another bridge.

The problem I had with the song is the ceaseless repetition of the chorus.

The song is only two minutes and a few seconds long, and more than half of that is the repetitive chorus. 

Yes, it is extremely catchy, but it gets old once it is repeated every time after the fifteen-second bridge. Also, I feel the song lacks a lot of originality.

About six years ago—when the two were just starting their music career—they released an album called Where It All Began. When I was listening to “Glad You Exist,” it sounded oddly familiar, so, I went to my Spotify, and searched for their first album. After looking through all of the songs, I came across their song, “Can’t Say No”.

As it turns out, “Glad You Exist” and “Can’t Say No” sound extremely similar—just in different keys and different lyrics.

After listening to their newest single, I found it to be stuck in my head. This normally happens with Dan + Shay songs, and while normally I enjoy listening to their songs, I wasn’t thrilled to be constantly hearing this one. “Glad You Exist” left a very average impact on me; I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it.

This is very possibly the only song of theirs that left me unimpressed, and I can only hope they come out with more impactful songs this year. Yes, I didn’t adore this song, but I am still very glad Smyers and Mooney—and their songs—exist.