I Go Back

Last updated
"I Go Back"
Chesney - I Go Back.png
Single by Kenny Chesney
from the album When the Sun Goes Down
ReleasedMay 3, 2004
RecordedNashville Recordings LLC,
Genre Country
Length4:03(album version)
3:35 (single version)
Label BNA
Songwriter(s) Kenny Chesney
Producer(s) Buddy Cannon, Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney singles chronology
"When the Sun Goes Down"
(2004)
"I Go Back"
(2004)
"Hey, Good Lookin'"
(2004)

"I Go Back" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in May 2004 as the third single from his 2004 album When the Sun Goes Down . The song spent seven weeks at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in mid-2004, behind "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw. [1]

Contents

Content

The song is a mid-tempo in which the narrator recalls various moments in his life, and how he is reminded of each of them every time he hears a certain song. He references many of these songs, including "Jack & Diane", "Only the Good Die Young", and "Rock'n Me". In the chorus, the narrator reflects in his past explaining his time, such as spending time on a football line, "driving [his] first love out to the levee," and losing a good friend, Lance Wilson. One version of the official music video ends with the note: "In memory of Lance Wilson and all the summers I shared with him". [2] Lance Wilson died in a car wreck when he was 17, inspiring the line "the loss of a real good friend, and the 16 summers I shared with him." [3]

Music video

The music video for "I Go Back" was directed by Shaun Silva and produced by Steve Gainer. It premiered on CMT on May 5, 2004. The video features members of Chesney's family, his church family, and his former track team. The video was filmed at Gibbs High School in Corryton, Tennessee, where country singer Kenny Chesney grew up. Chesney attended Gibbs and graduated in 1986. The music video for "I Go Back" shows Kenny Chesney performing the song in an empty high school gym. A camera rotates around him as he sings. Chesney's grandmother called him for dinner during the filming, and the footage is included in the video. Chesney's song "I Go Back" was inspired by his church and his friend, Lance Wilson. The church provided the inspiration for the song's lyrics, and Lance provided the inspiration for the song's music. The video also includes other home footage from Chesney's life, including scenes of a merry-go-round, which is a metaphor for "going back" to a certain time in life.

Chart performance

"I Go Back" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of May 1, 2004, at the time his single, "When the Sun Goes Down", was still at Number One.

Chart (2004)Peak
position
Canada Country ( Radio & Records ) [4] 1
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [5] 2
US Billboard Hot 100 [6] 32

Year-end charts

Chart (2004)Position
US Country Songs ( Billboard ) [7] 14
US Billboard Hot 100 100

Certifications

Certifications for I Go Back
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [8] Platinum1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 91. ISBN   978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. Music video for "I Go Back" by Kenny Chesney
  3. "USATODAY.com - Chesney finds his way". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  4. Radio & Records: August 6, 2004, page 43 worldradiohistory.com
  5. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  6. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. "Best of 2004: Country Songs". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  8. "American single certifications – Kenny Chesney – I Go Back". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 12, 2022.