"80s Mercedes" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Maren Morris Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter. Rooted in the country genre, her music blends in elements of pop and R&B. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, five Country Music Associatio ...

. It was released in June 2016 as her second single. She co-wrote and co-produced the song with

busbee Michael James Ryan Busbee (June 18, 1976 – September 29, 2019), known professionally as Busbee, was an American songwriter, record producer, publisher, record executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He was known for his work in both pop mus ...

during a session where they traded ideas about its title and the numerous influences from that era. "80s Mercedes" peaked at numbers 11 and 12 on both the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

and

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

charts respectively. Also, it reached number 74 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. The song was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), and has sold 236,000 units in the United States as of January 2017. It also charted in Canada, peaking at number 17 on the

Canada Country The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. It received a Gold certification from

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

, denoting sales of 40,000 units in that country. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Alon Isocianu.

Background

According to Morris, the inspiration for the song came from a conversation with

Audra Mae Audra Mae Butts (born February 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the great-niece of Judy Garland, and a great-granddaughter of Garland's sister, Dorothy Virginia Gumm. Since arriving in California ...

, who used the phrase "80s Mercedes" in their conversation and she thought it would be a good title for a song. She mentioned the idea to Busbee at their song-writing session, and Busbee started asking Morris questions for possible directions on the writing. One of those questions was: "What year were you born?". Morris answered 1990, and Busbee then came out with the line: "I'm a '90s baby in my '80s Mercedes" which became the hook for the song. The song has some influences from 1980s songs, and contains an oblique reference to

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...

's song " The Boys of Summer".

Music video

The music video was directed by Alon Isocianu and premiered in August 2016. The vehicle featured was a 1980s era Mercedes Benz 380 SL.

Critical reception

"80s Mercedes" was placed at number 38 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''’s "50 Best Songs of 2016", stating: “The Nashville breakout star is writing cooler car songs than anyone else these days – she's a "Nineties baby in an Eighties Mercedes," blasting

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

on her radio.”

Accolades

Chart performance

In the United States, the song has reached number 11 on the

chart. It entered the

chart at number 53 and has since reached number 12. It also debuted at number 91 on the US ''Billboard''

chart for the week and also debuted at number 17 on

chart for the week of November 25, 2016. The song has sold 236,000 copies as of January 2017.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Maren Morris songs Columbia Nashville Records singles Songs written by busbee Song recordings produced by busbee American pop rock songs Songs written by Maren Morris Songs about cars Mercedes-Benz