Joey (song)
Encyclopedia
"Joey" is the title of a song recorded by the American country music
duo Sugarland. The duo's two members, Jennifer Nettles
and Kristian Bush
, wrote it along with country singer Bill Anderson. It was released in July 2009 as the fourth single from the duo's third studio album, Love on the Inside
. Sugarland's twelfth single release, it debuted at #50 on the Billboard
Hot Country Songs
charts in July 2009.
and Jennifer Nettles
, along with country singer Bill Anderson. The song is a mid-tempo ballad, backed primarily by acoustic guitar
and organ. In it, the narrator blames herself when her love, a teenager named Joey, is killed in a car accident. The lyrics comprise a series of "what if"s, with the narrator asking what would happened if she had taken the keys and driven him home. In the chorus, she speaks to Joey, apologizing and hoping he can hear her message. In the second verse, she asks what would have happened had she never fallen in love with him at all. Nettles said that when she, Bush, and Anderson were writing the song, Anderson compared it to the teenage tragedy song
s of the 1950s and 1960s.
On the CD/DVD
package Live on the Inside
, Sugarland opens this song with a cover version
of R.E.M.
's "Nightswimming
." A performance of "Nightswimming/Joey" has received rotation on CMT as a music video for the song.
cited the song as a standout track in his review of the album, saying that it showed that the duo is "on surer footing when they get down to emotional specifics." Allmusic critic Thom Jurek described it favorably in his review of the album as well, saying, "The emotion in Nettles' voice — especially as it is buoyed by Bush's in the refrain and the wide-open ringing guitars and mandolins — is devastating." Bobby Peacock of Roughstock reviewed the song positively, saying that its lyrics were "just vague enough to be mysterious" and that it was a "risky" single release because it was a ballad being released in the summertime. Melinda Newman of HitFix also gave a favorable review, describing the song as a "country gothic mid-tempo about loss and regret," saying that it had an alternative music sound similar to R.E.M.
Dan Milliken of Country Universe gave a B- review. He said that the song's chorus "delivers practically nothing" compared to the verses, whose "what if" structure he considered unique. Jim Malec of The 9513 gave a thumbs-down rating, calling the song "a thematically schizophrenic lyric that suffers from a debilitating lack of focus." He also said that Nettles' vocals were not as "raw" as other similar songs by the duo.
chart for the week of July 4, 2009. It reached a peak of #17 in September 2009, becoming their first single to miss the Top 10 since "Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good)" also reached #17 in 2006. The song also debuted at #98 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in late August 2009, and peaked at #89.
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...
duo Sugarland. The duo's two members, Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles is an American country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Before Sugarland's inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band...
and Kristian Bush
Kristian Bush
Kristian Merrill Bush is an American folk rock and country musician. From 1990 to 2001, Kristian was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim along with Andrew Hyra...
, wrote it along with country singer Bill Anderson. It was released in July 2009 as the fourth single from the duo's third studio album, Love on the Inside
Love on the Inside
Love on the Inside is the third album by the American country music duo Sugarland, released in 2008 on Mercury Nashville Records. It was first released on July 22, 2008 as a Deluxe Fan Edition, including five bonus tracks, with the regular edition following one week later...
. Sugarland's twelfth single release, it debuted at #50 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 in July 2009.
Content
"Joey" was written by Sugarland's two members, Kristian BushKristian Bush
Kristian Merrill Bush is an American folk rock and country musician. From 1990 to 2001, Kristian was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim along with Andrew Hyra...
and Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles is an American country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Before Sugarland's inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band...
, along with country singer Bill Anderson. The song is a mid-tempo ballad, backed primarily by acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and organ. In it, the narrator blames herself when her love, a teenager named Joey, is killed in a car accident. The lyrics comprise a series of "what if"s, with the narrator asking what would happened if she had taken the keys and driven him home. In the chorus, she speaks to Joey, apologizing and hoping he can hear her message. In the second verse, she asks what would have happened had she never fallen in love with him at all. Nettles said that when she, Bush, and Anderson were writing the song, Anderson compared it to the teenage tragedy song
Teenage tragedy song
The "teenage tragedy song", also known as death rock, "tear jerker" or a "splatter platter", is a style of ballad that was most popular between the late 1950s and early 1960s...
s of the 1950s and 1960s.
On the CD/DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
package Live on the Inside
Live on the Inside
Live on the Inside is a live DVD/CD set from country music duo Sugarland. It is their first live CD/DVD set and their fourth album overall. It was released on August 4, 2009, exclusively at Wal-Mart stores, and debuted at number one on both the U.S...
, Sugarland opens this song with a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's "Nightswimming
Nightswimming
"Nightswimming" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released in 1993 as the fifth single off the group's eighth album Automatic for the People...
." A performance of "Nightswimming/Joey" has received rotation on CMT as a music video for the song.
Reception
The song received mostly positive feedback from critics. Chris Willman of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
cited the song as a standout track in his review of the album, saying that it showed that the duo is "on surer footing when they get down to emotional specifics." Allmusic critic Thom Jurek described it favorably in his review of the album as well, saying, "The emotion in Nettles' voice — especially as it is buoyed by Bush's in the refrain and the wide-open ringing guitars and mandolins — is devastating." Bobby Peacock of Roughstock reviewed the song positively, saying that its lyrics were "just vague enough to be mysterious" and that it was a "risky" single release because it was a ballad being released in the summertime. Melinda Newman of HitFix also gave a favorable review, describing the song as a "country gothic mid-tempo about loss and regret," saying that it had an alternative music sound similar to R.E.M.
Dan Milliken of Country Universe gave a B- review. He said that the song's chorus "delivers practically nothing" compared to the verses, whose "what if" structure he considered unique. Jim Malec of The 9513 gave a thumbs-down rating, calling the song "a thematically schizophrenic lyric that suffers from a debilitating lack of focus." He also said that Nettles' vocals were not as "raw" as other similar songs by the duo.
Personnel
The following musicians perform on this track:- Brandon Bush - Hammond B-3 organ
- Kristian BushKristian BushKristian Merrill Bush is an American folk rock and country musician. From 1990 to 2001, Kristian was a member of the folk rock duo Billy Pilgrim along with Andrew Hyra...
– background vocals and acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound... - Paul Bushnell – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Dan Dugmore – 12-string guitar and steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
- Shannon Forrest – drums
- Michael Landau – electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Jennifer NettlesJennifer NettlesJennifer Nettles is an American country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Before Sugarland's inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band...
– lead and background vocals
Chart performance
"Joey" debuted at #50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country SongsHot 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 July 4, 2009. It reached a peak of #17 in September 2009, becoming their first single to miss the Top 10 since "Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good)" also reached #17 in 2006. The song also debuted at #98 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in late August 2009, and peaked at #89.
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|