Country Girl (Shake It for Me)

"Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"
Single by Luke Bryan
from the album Tailgates & Tanlines
Released March 14, 2011
Format
Recorded 2010–11
Genre Country
Length 3:45
Label Capitol Nashville
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Luke Bryan singles chronology
"Someone Else Calling You Baby"
(2010)		 "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"
(2011)		 "I Don't Want This Night to End"
(2011)

"Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released in March 2011 as the first single from his album Tailgates & Tanlines. Upon being released, it debuted at number 52 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of April 2, 2011.[1] The song was written by Bryan and Dallas Davidson. As of April 2014, it is the third best-selling song by a male country music solo artist.[2]

Background and writing

"Country Girl" is a song about "a country girl getting up there getting a little wild", according to co-writer Dallas Davidson. Bryan said that he and Davidson came up with the idea after listening to hip-hop songs, when Bryan began playing a "groove". He then told Davidson that the country genre needed more songs about "country girls shaking it a little bit". Davidson said that he and Bryan were initially "suspicious" about the song's prospects as a hit, since it sounded so different from "Rain Is a Good Thing", which Davidson also co-wrote. After he found that he got a positive reaction from playing it in concert, Bryan then decided to release it as a single.[3]

Song structure

The song is in E dorian (i.e., an E minor scale with the sixth tone raised by a semitone), with open fifths in the accompaniment instead of chords, forming a pattern of E5-G5-D5-E5 twice in the verses.[4] The chorus uses this pattern twice, and then follows it with a pattern of E5-G5-A5-E5-D5-A5-E5-G5-A5-E5 as Bryan sings "Country girl, shake it for me, girl, shake it for me, girl, shake it for me."[3] Clare Dunn sings backing vocals.[5]

Critical reception

Sam Gazdziak of Engine 145 gave the song a "thumbs down," calling it "shamelessly sexist" and "thoroughly unremarkable," and saying it sounded like "something Justin Moore would've passed on."[6] Liv Carter of Urban Country News gave the song a similar review, also giving it a "thumbs down" and heavily criticizing the clichéd lyrics, saying that "I have looked at this songs from every angle but, apart from the delightful banjo line, I find no redeeming qualities. You did come up with one heck of a catchy tune though, so I guess the people enjoying this might be people who are just looking for something to dance to without engaging their brain to take in what they’re actually listening to. To those fans I say, fair enough."[7] In his review of the album, Trigger of Saving Country Music gave the song a very negative review, saying that "Positively nothing more than a pop dance song with a banjo, Luke Bryan commands country girls to “shake it” for the birds, the bees, for the crickets and the critters and the catfish swimming down deep in the creek, for the gerbils crawling way up his rectum to massage his prostate… oh wait, he left that line out, but you get the point. This song is like a frozen sledge hammer to the balls of anybody who has any sort of musical taste or dignity."[8]

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock was more favorable, giving the song a four-star rating and calling it a "ditty" but saying "the song screams hit" and calling it "downright charming."[9] Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a B rating, saying that Jason Aldean would have been too aggressive in this song, but Bryan "melts away its sexist edge by layering it with goofiness and playful energy." He goes on to call it a "shamelessly catchy ditty."[10]

Commercial performance

The song was released for sales digital six weeks after the song was released to radio. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 22, the highest debut of the week with 105,000 copies sold.[11] The song reached its 3 million sales mark in the United States by April 2014, making it then the third best-selling song by a male country music solo artist.[2] As of July 2016, the song has sold 3,567,000 copies in the US.[12]

Music video

The music video was directed by Shaun Silva and premiered in May 2011. It was filmed in Los Angeles at Siren Studios. The video tells a story of a small-town girl coming to L.A. to audition and beat out all the big-city dancers. It is not available to view outside of the United States for unknown reasons.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[13] 50
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 22
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[15] 4
US Country Digital Songs (Billboard)[16] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[17] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 81

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[19] 2× Platinum 160,000^
United States (RIAA)[20] 3× Platinum 3,567,000[12]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Billboard Hot Country Songs — April 2, 2011
  2. 1 2 Paul Grein (April 9, 2014). "Chart Watch: 'Happy' Peaked But It's Still Potent". Yahoo Music.
  3. 1 2 Conaway, Alanna (22 August 2011). "Story Behind the Song: Shaking It Up". Country Weekly. 18 (34): 16–17. ISSN 1074-3235.
  4. ↑ ""Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" sheet music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Mansfield, Brian (June 30, 2015). "Will 'Move On' make Clare Dunn a star?". USA Today. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Gazdziak, Sam (2011-04-07). "Luke Bryan — "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"". Engine 145. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  7. ↑ Carter, Live (3 May 2011). "Single Review – Country Girl (Shake it for Me) – Luke Bryan". Urban Country News. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Trigger (April 25, 2012). "Luke Bryan's Tailgates & Tanlines (Review & Roast)". Saving Country Music. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  9. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (2011-03-23). "Luke Bryan — "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"". Roughstock. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  10. ↑ Coyne, Kevin John (July 12, 2011). "Summer Single Reviews Round-Up: Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Jerrod Niemann, Zac Brown Band, Dierks Bentley". Country Universe. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  11. ↑ Gary Trust (April 27, 2011). "Katy Perry's 'E.T.' Returns To No. 1 On Hot 100". Billboard.
  12. 1 2 Bjorke, Matt (August 30, 2016). "Top 30 Digital Singles Sales Report: August 30, 2016".
  13. ↑ "Luke Bryan – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Luke Bryan. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Luke Bryan – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Luke Bryan. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Luke Bryan – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Luke Bryan. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Billboard Country Digital Songs : May 7, 2011". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). 7 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  17. ↑ "Best of 2011: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Best of 2011: Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  19. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Luke Bryan – Country Girl (Shake It for Me)". Music Canada. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  20. ↑ "American single certifications – Luke Bryan – Country Girl (Shake It for Me)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 10, 2014. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

External links

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