"Carlene" is a song co-written and 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, ...

artist Phil Vassar. It was released in October 1999 as Vassar's debut single, from his self-titled debut album (2000). "Carlene" reached a peak of number 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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 ...

charts and number 45 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and it reached number 1 in Canada. The song was written by Vassar,

Charlie Black Charles Frank Black (November 23, 1949 – April 23, 2021) was an American country music songwriter and record producer. Biography Black graduated from University of Maryland in 1970 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee the same year. His first c ...

and

Rory Bourke Rory Michael Bourke (born July 14, 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio is an American country music songwriter and music publisher. Bourke moved to Nashville in 1964 and worked for a period in the promotional department of Mercury Records. His songwritin ...

Content

"Carlene" is a moderate up-tempo backed mainly by

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, played by Vassar. In the lyric, the narrator recalls a girl named Carlene with whom he went to

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. He recalls being an athlete who struggled with his academics, while she was the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

. Now an adult, he visits the school yard, where he meets Carlene again. He tells her that she is "lookin' good". In the second verse, the two go out for a ride together and begin conversing. She reveals that she now has a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

and is modeling for ''

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'', while he is a songwriter who "finally got a couple ongsout on country radio". The single edit omits one repetition of the chorus at the end. Collin Raye sings backing vocals on the song.

Music video

The music video was directed by Gerry Wenner, and premiered on CMT on October 29, 1999, when CMT named it a "Hot Shot". It features Vassar singing the song while playing the piano on a rooftop.

Critical reception

'' Country Standard Time'' critic George Hauenstein cited "Carlene" as a standout track on Vassar's debut album. He said that although the song did not have a traditional country music sound, it was a "fun, up-tempo song", and that it was more lyrically substantial than most other songs on the country radio at the time. Vince Ripol, reviewing the album for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, also described "Carlene" favorably, calling it "boisterous" and an "immediate hit", also saying that Vassar's songwriting style recalled

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

's story songs.

Chart positions

"Carlene" debuted at number 74 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of October 30, 1999. Although Vassar had written several singles for other singers since the mid-1990s, "Carlene" is his first release as a singer.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1999 debut singles 1999 songs Phil Vassar songs Songs written by Charlie Black Songs written by Rory Bourke Songs written by Phil Vassar Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Arista Nashville singles