Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride Review

Things kick off with the opening bravado of "Flat On The Floor," a balls-to-the-wall country rocker that takes fiddle and aggressive guitar to pump up Underwood's impassioned growl. There's a lot of innuendo bubbling through the song, but when it's all stripped away it's a song about a woman scorned, hiding on her floor until the maelstrom of her most recent relationship has subsided. It's a strange number indeed, breathing fire musically, but laying down lyrics that have her "hiding from the storm till the damage gets done." An interesting juxtaposition, to be sure.

The slick country rock vibe continues, albeit in a more stripped down manner, on "All-American Girl." This is a tale about a man and woman who get married and then have a kid. The man hopes for a boy, but ends up with a girl instead. "So Small" drifts away from the pure country intonations, adding pulsating strings and a more emphatic power ballad slant to the mix. Acoustic guitar, wailing fiddle, and syncopated rhythms wrap around the down-tempo "Just A Dream," a tale about a woman getting married. In contrast "Get Out Of This Town" is about escaping your current circumstances, a pretty routine subject that just about everybody can relate to.

"Crazy Dreams" again goes for the overly slick country rock embellishment, though it sounds a wee bit like a long lost Alanis Morissette number from Jagged Little Pill, albeit filtered through heavy Nashville ambiance. Underwood's vocal intonations on this track are the best on the entire album, floating, driving, and energetic in cadence and fluctuation. The domination of banjo on the track helps, too. With "I Know You Won't'" she returns to ballad terrain, this time backed by syncopated snare rhythms and piano, allowing Underwood to display the power of her voice when it's turned down a notch. Devoid of all the slick trappings it's quite beautiful. This track proves that less is more, although the chorus does drift a bit into the melodramatic.

Crunching guitars and banjo plucking combined with aggressive fiddle turn "Last Name" into a barroom blitz. It's also one of the few songs that has Underwood getting a little risqu¿, dishing out lyrics like "Last night I got served a little bit too much of that poison, baby/last night I did things I'm not proud of and I got a little crazy/last night I met a guy on the dance floor and I let him call me baby/and I don't even know his last name/my mama would be so ashamed..." It's nice to hear Underwood letting down her hair a bit, that's for sure.

Things kick off with the opening bravado of "Flat On The Floor," a balls-to-the-wall country rocker that takes fiddle and aggressive guitar to pump up Underwood's impassioned growl. There's a lot of innuendo bubbling through the song, but when it's all stripped away it's a song about a woman scorned, hiding on her floor until the maelstrom of her most recent relationship has subsided. It's a strange number indeed, breathing fire musically, but laying down lyrics that have her "hiding from the storm till the damage gets done." An interesting juxtaposition, to be sure.

The slick country rock vibe continues, albeit in a more stripped down manner, on "All-American Girl." This is a tale about a man and woman who get married and then have a kid. The man hopes for a boy, but ends up with a girl instead. "So Small" drifts away from the pure country intonations, adding pulsating strings and a more emphatic power ballad slant to the mix. Acoustic guitar, wailing fiddle, and syncopated rhythms wrap around the down-tempo "Just A Dream," a tale about a woman getting married. In contrast "Get Out Of This Town" is about escaping your current circumstances, a pretty routine subject that just about everybody can relate to.

"Crazy Dreams" again goes for the overly slick country rock embellishment, though it sounds a wee bit like a long lost Alanis Morissette number from Jagged Little Pill, albeit filtered through heavy Nashville ambiance. Underwood's vocal intonations on this track are the best on the entire album, floating, driving, and energetic in cadence and fluctuation. The domination of banjo on the track helps, too. With "I Know You Won't'" she returns to ballad terrain, this time backed by syncopated snare rhythms and piano, allowing Underwood to display the power of her voice when it's turned down a notch. Devoid of all the slick trappings it's quite beautiful. This track proves that less is more, although the chorus does drift a bit into the melodramatic.

Crunching guitars and banjo plucking combined with aggressive fiddle turn "Last Name" into a barroom blitz. It's also one of the few songs that has Underwood getting a little risqu¿, dishing out lyrics like "Last night I got served a little bit too much of that poison, baby/last night I did things I'm not proud of and I got a little crazy/last night I met a guy on the dance floor and I let him call me baby/and I don't even know his last name/my mama would be so ashamed..." It's nice to hear Underwood letting down her hair a bit, that's for sure.

Chace Crawford confirms Carrie Underwood romance

Chace Crawford has confirmed he and Carrie Underwood are dating, but refuses to call them a couple yet. The ‘Gossip Girl’ star and country music singer sparked rumors they were dating after they were spotted out together on several occasions.

“We’re just hanging, having a good time, dating around. It’s good,” he says. “I love country music and she’s very classy.”



Underwood recently said although she is not ready for marriage, she is ready for a serious relationship. The 24-year-old singer previously dated Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. She and Romo split in May, but Underwood insists they are still good friends.

Carrie Underwood Schedule to perform at Movies Rock Television Special

Carrie Underwood will perform the title song from The Sound of Music when the Television special, Movies Rock is taped on December 2, 2007 in Los Angeles California.



The two hour special will air December 7, 2007 on CBS.



Other performers include Beyoncé, Elton John, Mary J. Blige and John Legend.



The country singer also recently confirmed that she is dating ‘The Gossip Girl’ star Chase Crawford.



Carrie Underwood released her sophomore album entitled ‘Carnival Ride’ on October 23, 2007.

Carrie Underwood, “Carnival Ride”

After a debut album that sold 6 million-plus copies, Carrie Underwood is under significant pressure to keep the momentum going. The Oklahoman delivers in spades on her sophomore effort, on which she was much more involved in the creative process. First single “So Small,” No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, is a soaring song about the important things in life. “Just a Dream” is the tale of the death of a young soldier from the perspective of his girl back home, while “Last Name,” about a drunken flirtation that turns into a Vegas marriage, is a fun diversion. Underwood provides a growling and gritty vocal on the defiant “Flat on the Floor” and convincingly covers Randy Travis’ 1988 hit “I Told You So,” which has long deserved a second life.

Underwood's second album a step down - but it'll still sell

She loves Jesus and Jack Daniel's, the Rolling Stones and Rascal Flatts. She's the farmgirl-next-door from the great state of Oklahoma; she's the legs-aplenty champ from American Idol. She sings for the single city gals; she sympathizes with the house fraus. She plays state fairs and stadiums, working multiculti crowds with a politician's precision and a bombshell smile.

Country star Carrie Underwood is all things to all people, which is one heck of a trick for a 24-year-old. Seriously, Willie Mays didn't cover the bases like Underwood does. As a result, the blond looker is one of the bestselling musicians of the past three years, her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, having sold more than 6 million copies. Hit singles ranged from religious plea Jesus, Take the Wheel to besotted revenge fantasy Before He Cheats. Each song had just enough butter-knife edge to separate them from the other pop-country dreck.

Not that content mattered that much. At a time when selling albums is a Herculean task, Underwood is a marketing marvel, a product of Simon Fuller, Clive Davis and the rest of the Idol star-making machine. She was born on television, raised on radio and nurtured by a widespread country fan base that believes in brand loyalty. As to the real Carrie Underwood, who the heck knows? She might as well be a Disney princess, which is entirely the point.

With her new album, Carnival Ride, Underwood could wind up being the top seller of 2007, too. Never mind that her second disc lacks the pop punch of the first album. Never mind that it's not very clever. Never mind that it's actually pretty dull. Underwood keeps her nose clean, dates Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks and does whatever her handlers tell her. And for that reason alone, she'll remain the pop star to beat.

Along with Kelly Clarkson. Chris Daughtry and Fantasia Barrino, Underwood is one of the more skilled alums to come out of American Idol. She has a sturdy voice that ranges from a pop-rock smolder to a high-soaring Nashville wail. She can hit and hold her notes. She also believes the words she's singing, which made her cover of the Pretenders' I'll Stand by You the best thing she's done so far.

But Underwood, who takes a co-writer credit on four out of the 13 new tracks, doesn't have much to work with here. With song titles such as All-American Girl, Just a Dream, Crazy Dreams and Get Out of This Town, it's obvious that Team Underwood is trying to reinforce her aw-shucks, just-out-of-Checotah persona. Never mind her million-dollar bank account: She's just like you, flipping fries, punching numbers, driving a hatchback. Of course, that hokum is a lot easier to swallow when the songs aren't as cliched as the titles.

Producer Mark Bright, who also helmed Some Hearts, uses more fiddle and twang on this one. But for the most part, it was miles better the first time around. Syrup-smothered first single So Small ("Don't run out on your faith . . .") is basically Jesus, Take the Wheel without the catchy chorus. Last Name ("Last night I got served a little bit much of that poison, baby") is a knockoff of Before He Cheats, but without the tipsy 'tude. If you're looking for a singer who really knows how to wield a pool cue, check out Underwood's evil twin, Miranda Lambert.

Underwood gives each song her plucky cheerleader all, of course. And sometimes, but not very often, she's able to pull a track out of the dumper. A sexy, growly vocal gives opening done-me-wrong song Flat on the Floor true Southern-rock grit. And she turns ho-hum breakupper I Know You Won't into a torch song doozie reminiscent of Elton John's 1970s balladry.

But with the exception of a few shimmering moments, Underwood suffers a sophomore creative slump. If this is a Carnival Ride, we're definitely talking the Tilt-a-Whirl. But alas, this is Underwood World we're talking about here, a profitable fantasyland for sure. So don't be surprised when the line for this Ride, no matter how crummy, goes on forever.

Carrie Underwood

Carnival Ride

Carrie Underwood: Her New Guy Chace Crawford Speaks Out

Just how steamy are Chace Crawford and Carrie Underwood? The actor confirms that he and the country music star are dating, but he refuses to call them a couple just yet. It appears there won't be any kiss and tell from The "Gossip Girl" star just yet. He's keeping everything classy as he spills just a little on his adorable blonde "friend."

Reports that they were dating after they were spotted out together on several occasions began to surface and now the handsome hunk is speaking out. "We’re just hanging, having a good time, dating around. It’s good," he says. "I love country music and she’s very classy."

Indeed she is. According to an Us Weekly Magazine inside source they met in May when Crawford, 22, introduced himself to the 24-year-old singer (her album Carnival Ride drops October 23) at West Hollywood's Hyde. After she and Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo split in July, things turned serious: text messages and dates in L.A. and Nashville. “He is a country fan, and she thinks he is so funny and sweet,” says the source. “It’s total love.”

Underwood recently said although she is not ready for marriage, she is ready for a serious relationship.

Carrie Underwood among performers at first-ever Movies Rock concert

NEW YORK (AP) - Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood will join Beyonce and Elton John as some of the performers at the first-ever Movies Rock concert celebrating the relationship between music and film.

The event will be December 2nd at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and will air December 7th in a two-hour special on CBS.

Underwood from Checotah will sing the title song from "The Sound of Music."

Other performers will include Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Fergie, Jennifer Hudson and conductor John Williams.

Gary Allan, Carrie Underwood Offer New CDs

Gary Allan and Carrie Underwood are among the country artists releasing new CDs on Tuesday (Oct. 23). Allan's Living Hard (MCA) features his current single, "Watching Airplanes." Underwood's Carnival Ride (19 Recordings/Arista) includes her current single, "So Small." Other new releases include Shooter Jennings' The Wolf (Universal South), Tracy Lawrence's All Wrapped Up in Christmas (Rocky Comfort), Mountain Heart's Road That Never Ends (The Live Album) (Rural Rhythm), Rissi Palmer's self-titled debut (1720), Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand (Rounder) and Dwight Yoakam's Dwight Sings Buck (New West). In addition, nineteen albums from rockabilly and country singer Wanda Jackson were released digitally by EMI/Capitol Records.

Carrie Underwood's 'Carnival Ride' a bunch of air

Carrie Underwood is essentially an ordinary background vocalist that got real lucky.

Nowhere is that more apparent than on her cover of Randy Travis' hard country classic, "I Told You So." In her hands, not to mention under the slickly overproduced tutelage of Mark Bright, the American Idol darling turns a barroom weeper into a vanity mirror confession.

During the tune, she's more concerned with hitting and holding those high notes than she is with finding the emotional core of the lyrics. That's been the main problem with Oklahoma's sweetheart since the release of her monstrous, six-million-selling debut, 2005's Some Hearts. Taking her cues from the louder-is-better mantra that defines Idol, Ms. Underwood goes out of her way on Carnival Ride to breathe herself into a belting stupor.

Listen to "All-American Girl," one of four songs she co-wrote here, and the current single, "So Small." On both cuts she delivers breathless choruses designed to impress the masses. Neither track sounds all that different from "Jesus, Take the Wheel," her breakthrough hit two years ago.

That's because toying with the formula now could seriously thwart Ms. Underwood's bottom line. She's a potential goldmine as Shania Twain was back in the late '90s.

So while Carnival Ride fiddles with a handful of traditional country instruments such as banjo, mandolin and steel guitar, her roots remain in radio-ready pop. Tellingly, the CD's best cut, "Last Name," is a rocked-up little corker about too much booze and a surprise Vegas wedding. It's a catchy guilty pleasure.

Ultimately, Carrie Underwood's artistic abilities amount to a bunch of air. Give her a batch of palatable pop nuggets, such as the breezy final track "Wheel of the World," and then let her blow. She'll blend perfectly with the proceedings. She'll even harmonize for you. Her voice will be purely pleasant white noise.

Just like any other background vocalist.

Carrie Underwood's 'Carnival Ride' a bunch of air

Carrie Underwood is essentially an ordinary background vocalist that got real lucky.

Nowhere is that more apparent than on her cover of Randy Travis' hard country classic, "I Told You So." In her hands, not to mention under the slickly overproduced tutelage of Mark Bright, the American Idol darling turns a barroom weeper into a vanity mirror confession.

During the tune, she's more concerned with hitting and holding those high notes than she is with finding the emotional core of the lyrics. That's been the main problem with Oklahoma's sweetheart since the release of her monstrous, six-million-selling debut, 2005's Some Hearts. Taking her cues from the louder-is-better mantra that defines Idol, Ms. Underwood goes out of her way on Carnival Ride to breathe herself into a belting stupor.

Listen to "All-American Girl," one of four songs she co-wrote here, and the current single, "So Small." On both cuts she delivers breathless choruses designed to impress the masses. Neither track sounds all that different from "Jesus, Take the Wheel," her breakthrough hit two years ago.

That's because toying with the formula now could seriously thwart Ms. Underwood's bottom line. She's a potential goldmine as Shania Twain was back in the late '90s.

So while Carnival Ride fiddles with a handful of traditional country instruments such as banjo, mandolin and steel guitar, her roots remain in radio-ready pop. Tellingly, the CD's best cut, "Last Name," is a rocked-up little corker about too much booze and a surprise Vegas wedding. It's a catchy guilty pleasure.

Ultimately, Carrie Underwood's artistic abilities amount to a bunch of air. Give her a batch of palatable pop nuggets, such as the breezy final track "Wheel of the World," and then let her blow. She'll blend perfectly with the proceedings. She'll even harmonize for you. Her voice will be purely pleasant white noise.

Just like any other background vocalist.

Carrie Underwood before he cheats video

Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats video watched by 150 visitors this week. You can add Before He Cheats video to your playlist or share it with your friends, the Before He Cheats music video code is fully customizable to fit to your profiles/pages. Don't forget to browse all our carrie underwood videos for more. (check out these: myspace comments - myspace graphics)
Carrie Underwood before he cheats video

Carrie Underwood Before He Cheats Lyrics

Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleached-blond tramp,
and she's probably getting frisky.
right now he's probably buying her some fruity little drink
cause she can't shoot whiskey.
right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick,
showing her how to shoot a combo
and he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats.
I took a louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires.
maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

right now, she's probably up singing some
white-trash version of Shania karaoke..
right now, she's probably saying "I'm drunk"
and he's thinking that he's gonna lucky,
right now, he's probably dabbing on 3 dollars worth of that bathroom polo.
and he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seat...
I took a louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might've saved a little trouble for the next girl,
cause the next time that he cheats..
oh you know it won't be on me!
no.. not on me..

I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seat...
I took a louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...
maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.
ohh.. maybe next time he'll think.. before he cheats...

ohh... before he cheats...
ohhhh.

Carrie Underwood So Small Lyrics

Yeah, Yeah

What you got if you ain't got love
The kind that you just want to give away
It's ok to open up
Go ahead and let the light shine through
I know it's hard on a rainy day
You wanna shut the world out and just be left alone
But don't run out on your faith

Cause sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
And what you've been out there searching for forever
Is in your hands
And when you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem
So small

It's so easy to get lost inside
A problem that seems so big at the time
It's like a river that's so wide it swallows you whole
While you're sitting around thinking about what you can't change
[So Small lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]

And worrying about all the wrong things
Time's flying by, moving so fast
You better make it count cause you can't get it back
Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
And what you've been out there searching for forever
Is in your hands
Oh, and when you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem
So small, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
And what you've out there searching for forever
Is in your hands
And then you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else
Oh, it sure makes everything else seem
So small

Yeah, yeah

Carrie Underwood Carnival Ride

Country singer pushes past new-kid status with sophomore album


Carrie Underwood found the name of her second album, Carnival Ride, within a line in "Wheel of the World," the last song on the album: "God put us here on this carnival ride/We close our eyes never knowing/Where it'll take us next."

It's no surprise that those words spoke to her. Underwood, 24, was catapulted from the safe life of a shy Oklahoma college student into the unknown world of an award-winning country superstar in less than two years.

Six months after winning American Idol in May 2005, she released her debut album, Some Hearts. It sold 6 million copies, making it the best-selling female country album of the past three years. All five singles hit No. 1, including "Jesus, Take the Wheel," "Before He Cheats" and "Wasted." The reigning Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music female vocalist has won two Grammys and several other industry awards. On Tuesday, she releases Carnival Ride, for which she co-wrote four songs, and she's up for three awards at the Nov. 7 CMA awards show.

"It was a great fluke to me," she says of her debut's success. "We got really lucky and a lot of people did their jobs really well and worked really hard. I don't think I can still process it, quite. I think I'll process it when other stuff doesn't do as well," she says with a laugh, "and then it will hit me, 'Wow, that was really cool.' "

Singer keeps her cool

After changing from a short black dress and heels into a sweatshirt and leggings, Underwood sits on a black sofa in a Grand Ole Opry House dressing room and nibbles on a granola bar. As her mother, sister and grandfather watched, Underwood sang four songs on the Tuesday-night show, including "How Great Thou Art." The song's notes were so high that it was painful to sing, so she found herself unexpectedly moved to tears by the audience's overwhelming response.

This was a rare moment when her emotions got the best of her. Like her father, Underwood remains on even keel, staying steady whether she's receiving news that excites or disappoints. For instance, when she was text-messaged by her manager that she received two American Music Awards nominations, her only response was, "Cool. Who else is nominated?"

"I am not great with emotion sometimes," she says. "That might perturb people occasionally or they might get the wrong idea because I don't act as excited as I should. I'm a thinker. Even when I get good news, I'm like, 'All right, what does this mean?'

"I just don't wear them on the outside. I'm excited on the inside. Every once in awhile my emotion escapes me, and when it does, it's weird to me."

Her quick rise hasn't been easy

Despite her unchanging demeanor and impressive stats, it hasn't all been one steady ride to the top.

Thrust into the unfamiliar country music industry, where she's faced resentment and jealousy, she was often terrified as she tackled high-profile endeavors such as singing at the 2005 Country Music Association awards show in front of some who doubted her place on that stage.

"There were no thoughts running through my head; my heart was pounding. I had two minutes to convince everybody sitting in those seats that I am supposed to be here, so there was a lot of pressure."

Says her label chief, Sony BMG Nashville chairman Joe Galante, "She stepped up to the plate, knocked it out of the park and made us all proud."

She hit the road to open for Kenny Chesney and Brad Paisley and headlined her own shows. "It's great being onstage, but I think a few people would forget occasionally that I had one album out and that I am just now being not new at this — now. I am just now becoming not the new kid on the block anymore."

When she was able to escape from the pressures and return home to Checotah, Okla., she discovered that her old life had changed, as well. Most of her family and friends treated her differently, and suddenly speculation about her love life — much of it wrong — surfaced in tabloids.

"It was just really weird . . . 'Wow, I don't think I can be friends with this person anymore because they go and tell everything I say to them,' or they post private pictures of us hanging out on the Internet — not anything bad, but to get attention," she says. "They talk about me like they know me really well. I realized it when I started having to cut people out of my life."

Paisley says Underwood has handled fame better than anyone else he's seen who has ascended so fast. "She seems to have weathered the storm and slipped comfortably from relatively unknown to superstar. This is someone who has her head on straight, a healthy outlook on music and life, and everything going for her — the sky's the limit."

Some resent her success

But not everyone has been as happy with Underwood's success. Soon after her album's release, rumors began circulating on Music Row that a standoffish Underwood had refused to speak to others backstage at industry events.

"If anybody came up and talked to me — and I'm not even saying a lot of people did — I was as nice as I knew how to be. You know, I was in a different world; I didn't know what I was doing there.

"I'm better at it now, but I was the new kid and nobody knew anything about me, so I would say everybody was kind of being standoffish towards me.

"I've been in dressing rooms where I've known people were sitting 8 feet from me, talking about me when I was sitting right there," she says, adding that others such as Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd and Keith Anderson have been extremely supportive.

That resentment became apparent to Underwood after the 2006 CMA awards, where Faith Hill joked on-camera after Underwood's female vocalist win by saying, "What?" and raising her hands.

Hill's gesture made people take sides, Underwood says. "It was a stupid fluke; she let her guard down for five seconds. There were no sides, but then you realized people were saying she had the right to be angry."

LeAnn Rimes wrote on her Web site that Underwood hadn't paid her dues long enough to fully deserve that award.

"She had megasuccess early on, and you know she wasn't a 12-year-old playing in bars," Underwood says. "I didn't really think that much of it coming from her. If it had been somebody who had spent 20 years working to get this and then they got it, that would be a little different.

"I mean no disrespect to anybody in the industry, but everybody in the music industry knows that if they had the chances that I had that they would take them in a heartbeat. If anybody acts like they wouldn't, they are lying," she says with a laugh.

"And nobody knows what I went through in Idol, nobody. There were 10 of us on the show that understand what we went through. It was the hardest thing, the most nerve-wracking, scariest thing that I've ever gone through in my entire life. I don't know anything that will ever be more monumental than that."

She's found her place

Wynonna Judd says Underwood is the future of country music.

"What I admire about Carrie is that she has held her head up through the storm and through all the opinions and judgments based on whether she belongs in Nashville or not because of her American Idol upbringing," Judd says. "The fact is, she has a place here. She is part of our community and she has a right to be here and she has earned her spot.

"She's come from a very fast-paced presentation, American Idol, and people feel she's won the lottery and hasn't earned it. That disappoints and burdens me, because how dare we judge and question God's timing? It's arrogant and it's just because we're entitled."

Galante, who predicts Underwood's new album will go multiplatinum in a market declining 30 percent in sales, says he shudders to think about country's market share without Underwood's 6 million in sales.

"The breakthrough moment for all of the people doubting her was when she got up at the Grammys and said, 'I'm a country artist and I love country music,' " Galante says. "It took everybody that long, which was a full year later, for people to go, 'Oh, she is one of us.' "

Does she feel fully accepted now?

"I am accepted as I need to be," she says. "I feel good. Country radio has been good to me and a lot of people have been great to me. It's like any other job or thing you do; there are going to be people at the office who are great to you and there are going to be people who aren't so great to you and cause drama."

Now secure with her place in the industry, she has no interest in convincing anyone that she belongs.

"If somebody likes me or likes the way I sing or the way I am onstage, awesome," she says. "I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I've realized that people who don't like you for any reason are never going to like you, most likely. You can't win most people over.

"I remember being in high school and someone saying, 'My favorite singer is blah blah.' I would be like, 'Ugh, you like that person? I hate them.' Somebody is saying that about me. That's just the way it is."

Carrie Underwood so small

New CD, Carnival Ride, Features "So Small"

Expect long lines for Carnival Ride, the new CD from Carrie Underwood, due Tuesday (Oct. 23). The follow-up to Some Hearts features her newest hit, "So Small," one of four songs she co-wrote for the album. Here, she talks about new songs, good karma and knowing when it's time to leave your comfort zone.

CMT: Several songs on the album are about figuring out what matters and finding balance in your life. Do you consider yourself a philosophical person?

Underwood: I've never really been one for philosophy, but I guess everybody has things in their life that they'd like to fix or something about themselves that they know they need to pay more attention to. Or basically just trying to enjoy life more. But, no, I don't really consider myself a really thoughtful person. I mean, I have thoughts, but I don't really have epiphanies.

You don't stay up late at night wondering what this all means?

No, you probably won't ever get into a deep conversation with me about too much. I'm too boyish for that.

In "You Won't Find This," you sing, "There's once in a lifetime and once in a while/And the difference between them is a million miles." What does that mean to you?

That is about a girl who says, no matter what you do, no matter who you're with, it's not going to be me. You're always going to be empty because of it. There's once in a lifetime, which would be the character. It'd be me. And there's once in a while, which would be trying to fulfill your life with things like immediate gratification instead of finding what really makes you happy and could make you happy for the rest of your life.



What was it about that song that caught your ear?

The way it said, "You can do whatever you want, but you're not gonna find this." And that kinda sounds sassy if you say, "You can be with whoever you want. It's not going to be me. She's not going to be as good as me." But it's not saying it in a sassy way. It's really matter-of-fact: "This is the way it is. We're supposed to be together, and you're never going to be happy."

I like the line in "Wheel of the World" that says, "In the blink of an eye, it'll break your heart and it never even slows down."

It's not saying it's a good thing or bad thing. It's saying that this is the way it is. It just doesn't stop, ever, no matter what happens. The good times seem like they go by so fast. You can't stop them during the good times, and you can't make them speed up during the bad times. One minute you're up, one minute you're down, and that's the way life is. It's a wheel constantly spinning and turning, and you can't stop it.

Would you like to slow it down or stop it every once in a while?

I don't want to stop my carnival ride. I love what I do and the people I meet. I consider myself very, very blessed, and things go by so fast. I think sometimes people might feel sorry for me because it's like, "Oh, are you going home for the holidays?" "Oh, I'm not really sure. I think I have to be in L.A. or something." But that's my life, and I love it. I love being busy, and I love the ride.

Do you believe in the saying, "What goes around comes around"?

I do believe in stuff like that. I believe in good karma. I think some people have good karma. I think I have good karma. It's about treating people nicely and doing things in your life that give you good karma -- so that you get what you give. There's a saying in my sorority, "To receive much, you must give much." That's one of the truest statements I've ever seen, especially in this business. If you put your heart and soul into it, you'll get it back.

Are you good at making quick decisions?

I think I'm good at making under pressure decisions. You do what you do, and sometimes there has to be some definitive OK. Yes or no. I think I'm good at that.

Is it easier for you now?

I've been doing what I do for about two years now, so I've gotten a lot better at it. I think at first, I was stumbling around, trying not to mess up, but now I am used to what I do -- doing interviews, singing on stage and especially handling it when things go wrong. I think I'm a lot better at all that stuff.

You have a lot of songs about going into the world for the first time. What advice would you give someone who isn't sure if they're ready to leave their comfort zone?

There's nothing wrong with comfort zones. If you leave it too early, it could have worse repercussions than staying in it. But there's a point in your life when you know, "All right, it's time for me to move on ... or time for me do something different or time for me to grow up or whatever it is. There's a time, and you know in your heart when that time is. ... Or maybe take baby steps. Get out of your comfort zone a little bit. See how you feel about that. It depends on the person. You can either take the leap, or do it small, or you can stay in your comfort zone. Some people like that. They may not ever be ready. Just listen to your heart.