American Honey
Encyclopedia
"American Honey" is the title of a song written by Cary Barlowe, Hillary Lindsey
and Shane Stevens. It was recorded by the American country music
group Lady Antebellum
, who released it on January 11, 2010 as the second single from its second studio album, Need You Now
. The group's fifth single overall, it debuted on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs
charts dated for January 2, 2010. The song is part of the track listing to Now That's What I Call Music! 34
.
, states a desire to escape her adult lifestyle and return to her childhood, which is described in the lyrics as "American honey." It is in C#, with an approximate tempo of 84 beats per minute. It uses DADGAD
or Celtic guitar tuning, tuned down a semitone effectively, with a pattern of D-Bm7-G-Em-D on the verses, and G-D-Bm7-A three times on the chorus.
was too loud. Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a D rating, saying that the "song isn't sung well" and "certainly not interesting enough to warrant suffering through the painful mediocrity of the lead vocal." The 9513 reviewer Blake Boldt gave it a thumbs-down, referring to the lyric as "a lazy depiction of a chaste young lass chasing after a fuzzy memory" and calling Scott's vocal "sad and pensive and the slightest bit off-pitch against a distracting drumbeat."
Hot Country Songs
chart for the week of January 2, 2010, before its initial release date of January 11, 2010. It has also become their third #1 hit, as well as their third consecutive. It has been certified platinum for sales exceeding 1,000,000 units.
|-
!Chart (2010)
!Position
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|94
Hillary Lindsey
Hillary Lindsey is a country music singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, she has written songs with or for Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw. One of her compositions, Underwood's Number One hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel",...
and Shane Stevens. It was recorded by the American country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
group Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum is an American country pop music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. The trio is composed of Charles Kelley , Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott .The group made its debut in 2007 as guest vocalists on Jim Brickman's single "Never Alone", before signing to Capitol...
, who released it on January 11, 2010 as the second single from its second studio album, Need You Now
Need You Now
"Need You Now" is a country pop song performed by American country music group Lady Antebellum. The song was co-written by Lady Antebellum and Josh Kear, and produced by the trio along with Paul Worley. It serves as the lead-off single and title track to their second studio album, Need You Now,...
. The group's fifth single overall, it debuted on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts dated for January 2, 2010. The song is part of the track listing to Now That's What I Call Music! 34
Now That's What I Call Music! 34 (U.S. series)
-Reception:Andy Kellman of Allmusic calls the addition of the so-called bonus tracks alarming. With 16 hits and near hits and four "bonus tracks", this Now That's What I Call Music collection "is 20 percent Tomorrow That's What I Might Call Music."...
.
Content
The song's female narrator, lead singer Hillary ScottHillary Scott (singer)
Hillary Dawn Scott is an American country music singer-songwriter. She is currently a member of Lady Antebellum, a country band that was formed in 2006 and signed to Capitol Nashville.-Early life:...
, states a desire to escape her adult lifestyle and return to her childhood, which is described in the lyrics as "American honey." It is in C#, with an approximate tempo of 84 beats per minute. It uses DADGAD
DADGAD
DADGAD, D modal tuning or Celtic tuning is an alternative guitar tuning most associated with Celtic music, though it has also found use in rock and other genres. Instead of the standard EADGBE tuning, the six guitar strings are tuned, from low to high, DADGAD...
or Celtic guitar tuning, tuned down a semitone effectively, with a pattern of D-Bm7-G-Em-D on the verses, and G-D-Bm7-A three times on the chorus.
Critical reception
The song received mainly negative reviews. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock stated that "after one listen [he doesn't] see how this single can fail," but criticized the production by saying that he thought the drum machineDrum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
was too loud. Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a D rating, saying that the "song isn't sung well" and "certainly not interesting enough to warrant suffering through the painful mediocrity of the lead vocal." The 9513 reviewer Blake Boldt gave it a thumbs-down, referring to the lyric as "a lazy depiction of a chaste young lass chasing after a fuzzy memory" and calling Scott's vocal "sad and pensive and the slightest bit off-pitch against a distracting drumbeat."
Chart performance
"American Honey" debuted at #47 on the U.S. BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart for the week of January 2, 2010, before its initial release date of January 11, 2010. It has also become their third #1 hit, as well as their third consecutive. It has been certified platinum for sales exceeding 1,000,000 units.
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"|-
!Chart (2010)
!Position
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|94