"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

{{authority control 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)