"Brothers" is the debut single by Canadian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist Dean Brody, released in October 2008. The song is from his 2009 self-titled debut album. It is a mid-tempo

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

about the relationship between two brothers, where one of them is going to war. "Brothers" received positive reviews from critics for its content and stark contrast to other country songs on the radio. The song peaked in the top 10 of the ''

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'' Country Singles chart in Canada and number 76 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. It also reached the top 30 on the ''

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Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in the United States.

Content

"Brothers" is a mid-tempo ballad describing the relationship between the narrator and his brother, who is about to go to war. In the first verse, the narrator is reluctant to let his brother leave, offering to do anything that will keep him home. The narrator's brother reassures him by saying "This is what brothers are for". In the second verse, the narrator says that out of all his heroes, his brother is his main. The two of them interact through letters in the second verse, with the narrator telling his brother how much he misses him. Finally, in the third verse, the narrator's brother comes back home, but uses a wheelchair after being injured in the war. As they hug, the brother apologizes to the narrator for having to be pushed home, but the narrator simply replies, "This is what brothers are for."

Critical reception

Jim Malec of ''The 9513'' gave the song a thumbs-up rating, saying "'Brothers' veers widely from the standard radio formula in one very significant way—for a song that so pointedly references the times in which we live, it isn't particularly uplifting, nor does it resolve into a sound byte-worthy declaration of hopefulness." Roughstock critic Matt Bjorke described the song as "a well-written story song by any measure", adding that it was "heartening to see such a song score with radio." He added that his original review, written in October 2008, was negative in nature because at the time, he did not understand the song's context.

Music video

The music video was directed by Stephen Scott.

Chart positions

References

{{authority control 2008 songs 2008 debut singles Dean Brody songs BBR Music Group singles Songs written by Dean Brody Country ballads Canadian Country Music Association Single of the Year singles Songs about soldiers Songs about siblings