"80s Mercedes" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Maren Morris Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter. While rooted in the Country music, country genre, her music also blends elements of Pop music, pop, R&B music, R&B, and Hip-Hop music, hip-hop. Born and raised in Arlingt ...

. 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 label executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his work in both po ...

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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

charts respectively. Also, it reached number 74 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' 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), radio play, and online streaming ...

. The song was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

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 (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

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

Alon Isocianu Alon Isocianu (born in Hadera, Israel) is a Canadian music video and commercial director and visual artist. He has helmed music videos for a variety of notable international artists including Kelly Clarkson, Maren Morris, Pentatonix, Lights, Billy ...

Background

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

Audra Mae Audra Mae (born February 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the great-great-niece of Judy Garland, and a great granddaughter of Garland's sister Jimmie. Since arriving in California in 2007, she has ...

, 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 and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

's song " The Boys of Summer".

Music video

The music video was directed by

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, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''’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 Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

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

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 {{2010s-pop-song-stub