Country Girl (Shake It for Me)

"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]

"Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"
Single by Luke Bryan
from the album Tailgates & Tanlines
ReleasedMarch 14, 2011
Recorded2010–11
GenreCountry
Length3:45
LabelCapitol Nashville
Songwriter(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)

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 set 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

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a four-star rating and calling it a "ditty" but saying "the song screams hit" and calling it "downright charming."[6] Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave it a B grade, 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."[7]

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.[8] 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 August 2017, the song has sold 3,660,000 copies in the US.[9]

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.

Charts and certifications

References
  1. Billboard Hot Country Songs — April 2, 2011
  2. Paul Grein (April 9, 2014). "Chart Watch: 'Happy' Peaked But It's Still Potent". Yahoo Music.
  3. 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. Bjorke, Matt (2011-03-23). "Luke Bryan — "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"". Roughstock. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  7. 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.
  8. Gary Trust (April 27, 2011). "Katy Perry's 'E.T.' Returns To No. 1 On Hot 100". Billboard.
  9. Bjorke, Matt (August 15, 2017). "Top 30 Digital Country Singles Sales Chart: August 15, 2017". Roughstock.
  10. "Luke Bryan Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  11. "Luke Bryan Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  12. "Luke Bryan Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  13. "Luke Bryan Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  14. "Billboard Country Digital Songs : May 7, 2011". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). 7 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  15. "Best of 2011: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  16. "Best of 2011: Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  17. "Canadian single certifications – Luke Bryan – Country Girl (Shake It for Me)". Music Canada. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  18. "American single certifications – Luke Bryan – Country Girl (Shake It for Me)". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 29, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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