"Don't Think I Don't Think About It" 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, ...

artist

Darius Rucker Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Ca ...

, lead singer of the band

Hootie & the Blowfish Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band w ...

. The song, co-written by Rucker and

Clay Mills Clayton Bernard "Clay" Mills is an American songwriter. His credits include the #1 hits " Beautiful Mess" by Diamond Rio and "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" by Darius Rucker, which won Mills an award from ASCAP. Other country music artists wh ...

, was released in May 2008 as Rucker's first single from his album '' Learn to Live''. The song made Rucker the first new individual black artist to chart a number one country hit since

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Reco ...

's " Night Games" reached the top of the charts in September 1983.

Content

"Don't Think I Don't Think About It" is a mid-tempo, backed mainly by guitars. Its narrator describes a man who has left his former lover. He tells her that he thinks about what they could have been.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the University ...

Critical reception

The song received a positive review from ''

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 ...

'' reviewer Deborah Evans Price, who said that the single "is that perfect combination of solid production, a great vocal and finely crafted song that adds up to a hit." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' simple called the song "pretty great," and ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' called it a "bittersweet ballad".

Chart performance

"Don't Think I Don't Think About It" debuted at number 51 on the

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 ...

charts dated for May 3, 2008. The song reached a peak of number one on the chart week of October 4, making Rucker the first solo African-American artist to reach the top of the country charts since

's "Night Games" in 1983. The song remained on top of the chart for a second consecutive week. It is also his first solo Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, at number 35. The song reached over a million copies in sales in May 2014.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Official music video on YouTube
{{authority control 2008 debut singles 2008 songs Country ballads 2000s ballads Darius Rucker songs Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Songs written by Darius Rucker Songs written by Clay Mills Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Capitol Records Nashville singles