"I Got Nothin'" is the title of a song recorded by 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...

 singer Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Dean Felber...

 and co-written by Rucker with Clay Mills

Clay Mills

Clayton Bernard "Clay" Mills is an American songwriter. His credits include the #1 hits "Beautiful Mess" by Diamond Rio and "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" by Darius Rucker, which won Mills an award from ASCAP. Other country music artists who have charted with his singles include Andy Griggs...

. It is the seventh solo release of Rucker's career, and the third single from his 2010 album Charleston, SC 1966

Charleston, SC 1966

Upon its release, Charleston, SC 1966 received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable...

.

Content

In the song, the male narrator is facing the end of a relationship. He wants to say something to his lover to reconcile, but admits that he has "got nothin'".

Critical reception

An uncredited review in HitFix

HitFix

HitFix, or the HitFix.com is an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information and providing reviews and critiques of film, music and television...

 described the song favorably, saying that it showed Rucker's "penchant for capturing details about every day life in a real, truthful way that makes you nod your head and say, 'I’ve been there.'" Taste of Country gave it a 9 out of 10 rating, praising Rucker's vocals and the twist in the song's bridge. Michael McCall of the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 was less positive, saying that both it and "Come Back Song

Come Back Song

"Come Back Song" is the title of a song recorded by American singer Darius Rucker. The song, co-written by Rucker and Nashville songwriter Chris Stapelton, was released to country radio in early July 2010 as the lead single from Rucker's second album of country music, Charleston, SC...

" "feature powerful performances that hardly vary in delivery and reveal little depth of feeling, despite dealing with serious topics." Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a C rating, saying that Rucker has potential, but he is not using it in this song.

Chart performance

"I Got Nothin'" debuted at number 54 on the 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 dated June 4, 2011. It also debuted at number 84 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of October 1, 2011.

Chart (2011)	Peak position