"Chattahoochee" 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
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...
. It was released in May 1993 as the third single from his album ''
A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love)
''A Lot about Livin' (and a Little 'bout Love)'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on October 6, 1992, and produced the singles, "Chattahoochee", "She's Got the Rhythm (and I Got the Blues) ...
''. The album is named for a line in the song itself. Jackson wrote the song with Jim McBride.
"Chattahoochee" also received
CMA awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.
Background and writing
Alan Jackson talks about the song in the liner notes for his 1995 compilation album, ''
The Greatest Hits Collection'': "Jim McBride and I were trying to write an up-tempo song and Jim came in with the line 'way down yonder on the Chattahoochee'. It kind of went from there. It's a song about having fun, growing up, and coming of age in a small town - which really applies to anyone across the country, not just by the Chattahoochee. We never thought it would be as big as it's become."
Content
The song is uptempo and talks about growing up and falling in love along the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
that flows from northern
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and forms part of the borders that Georgia shares with
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Critical reception
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade, saying that the song could have performed well because it "looked back on the innocence of adolescence with bemusement and fondness for that transitional period of life."
CountryUniverse.net
Song review
Music video
The music video was directed by Martin Kahan, premiered in May 1993, and uses the Extended Remix of the song. The video is remembered for Jackson water-skiing in his red cowboy boots and red life vest.
Chart performance
"Chattahoochee" debuted at #72 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of May 15, 1993. It also peaked at #46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Jackson's first Hot 100 entry.
Year-end charts
References
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1993 singles
1992 songs
Alan Jackson songs
Songs written by Alan Jackson
Songs written by Jim McBride (songwriter)
Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year
Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall
Arista Nashville singles
Songs about rivers
Songs about Georgia (U.S. state)