"Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" 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

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

. It was released in March 2011 as the first single from his album ''

Tailgates & Tanlines ''Tailgates & Tanlines'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released on August 9, 2011, by Capitol Nashville. Bryan co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen tracks, including its first single, " Country Gi ...

''. Upon being released, it debuted at number 52 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

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 ...

chart for the week of April 2, 2011. The song was written by Bryan and

Dallas Davidson Dallas Davidson is an American country music singer and songwriter from Albany, Georgia, who has written for artists such as Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Cole Swindell, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan, Randy Houser, Lady Antebellum, and Billy Curringto ...

. As of April 2014, it is the third best-selling song by a male country music solo artist.

Background and writing

"Country Girl" is a song about "a country girl getting up there getting a little wild", according to co-writer

. Bryan said that he and Davidson came up with the idea after listening to hip-hop songs, when Bryan began playing a "groove". He then told Davidson that the country genre needed more songs about "country girls shaking it a little bit". Davidson said that he and Bryan were initially "suspicious" about the song's prospects as a hit, since it sounded so different from " Rain Is a Good Thing", which Davidson also co-wrote. After he found that he got a positive reaction from playing it in concert, Bryan then decided to release it as a single.

Song structure

The song is set in E dorian (i.e., an

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

scale with the sixth tone raised by a

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

), with

open fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval from the first to the last of five ...

s in the accompaniment instead of chords, forming a pattern of E5-G5-D5-E5 twice in the verses. The chorus uses this pattern twice, and then follows it with a pattern of E5-G5-A5-E5-D5-A5-E5-G5-A5-E5 as Bryan sings "Country girl, shake it for me, girl, shake it for me, girl, shake it for me."

Clare Dunn Clare Dunn (born April 27, 1987) is an American country musician from southeast Colorado. After support from satellite radio as a "Highway Find" on The Highway (Sirius XM), she signed with Universal Music Group Nashville and BMG. She has opene ...

sings backing vocals.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song a four-star rating and calling it a "ditty" but saying "the song screams hit" and calling it "downright charming." Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave it a B grade, saying that

Jason Aldean Jason Aldean (born Jason Aldine Williams; February 28, 1977) is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released ten albums and 40 singles. His 2010 ...

would have been too aggressive in this song, but Bryan "melts away its sexist edge by layering it with goofiness and playful energy." He goes on to call it a "shamelessly catchy ditty."

Commercial performance

The song was released for sales digital six weeks after the song was released to radio. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 22, the highest debut of the week with 105,000 copies sold. The song reached its 3 million sales mark in the United States by April 2014, making it then the third best-selling song by a male country music solo artist. As of August 2017, the song has sold 3,660,000 copies in the US.

Music video

The music video was directed by Shaun Silva and premiered in May 2011. It was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at Siren Studios. The video tells a story of a small-town girl coming to L.A. to audition and beat out all the big-city dancers. The ladies are shown practicing how to dance in boots.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 singles Luke Bryan songs Songs written by Dallas Davidson Songs written by Luke Bryan Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs about dancing Song recordings produced by Mark Bright (record producer) 2011 songs