The song is a midtempo ballad about a sexual encounter with a lover, inspired by R&B music. Florida Georgia Line, two of the song's co-writers, originally planned on recording it until Aldean expressed interest in the song.[2]
Aldean told Country Music Television (CMT) that he considered the song "baby making music". He also felt that it was a different song style for him due to it being more sexual in nature and featuring a drum loop.[3]
Critical reception
The single has polarized critics. Leeann Ward of Country Universe gave the song a D grade, writing that "There’s a line between a passionate love song and a passionless song. There’s [also] a line between a sexy song and a sex filled song. And there’s [even] a line between a classy, passionate love song and a classless, passionless sex filled song." Ward also said that “Burnin’ it Down” crosses the line to the latter categories on all accounts."[4]
Giving it a B grade, Tammy Ragusa of Country Weekly was more favorable, writing that "Jason [Aldean] proves [that] he can also change things up, which he does dramatically through edgy, urban-and-pop-influenced arrangements and production" and that "the song's sexy lyrics push the boundaries of what might be construed as traditional themes in country music."[5] In a review of Old Boots, New Dirt for Billboard, Chuck Dauphin praised "Burnin' It Down" as "the most musically adventurous track that Aldean has ever recorded".[6]
Commercial performance
During its first week in release, the song sold 184,000 downloads in the United States[7] and debuted at number 42 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. In its second week, the song moved from number 42 to 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. On September 29, 2014, the song was certified Platinum by the RIAA just nine weeks after release, becoming the fastest single of 2014 to do that.[8] It reached its millionth sales mark in October 2014.[9] As of April 2015, the song has sold 1,589,000 copies in the US.[10]
In Canada, the song sold 15,000 downloads in its debut week.[11]
Music video
The music video was directed by Wes Edwards and premiered in August 2014.[12]
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