"Flatliner" is a song co-written 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
Cole Swindell
Colden Rainey Swindell (born June 30, 1983) is an American rock music singer and songwriter. He has written singles for Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Scotty McCreery, and Luke Bryan, and has released four albums for Warner Bros. Records Nashvil ...
featuring vocals from
Dierks Bentley
Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's '' Modern Day Drifter'', a ...
. The song was released to radio on January 23, 2017 as the third single to Swindell's second studio album ''
You Should Be Here''. The song was written by Swindell, Jaron Boyer and
Matt Bronleewe
Matthew Ryan Bronleewe (born December 13, 1973) is an American record producer, musician, novelist and songwriter.
Biography
Matt Bronleewe was born on December 13, 1973, in Dallas, Texas. As a boy, he moved to central Kansas, Lorraine, with his ...
in 2012.
Composition
In a
sizzle reel, Swindell described the song as "about a hot girl in the club, dancing on the dance floor, making your heart stop, killing all the guys out there who are watching."
Critical reception
Joseph Hudak of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' gave a negative review of "Flatliner", criticizing it as "a hit that employs the laziest clichés of contemporary country music". He called the song "a step back for Swindell as a serious artist", compared to the maturity in the lyrics of previous releases "
You Should Be Here" and "
Middle of a Memory".
In 2017, ''
Billboard'' contributor
Chuck Dauphin put "Flatliner" at number ten on his top 10 list of Swindell's best songs.
Commercial performance
''Flatliner'' first entered the Hot Country Songs at number 36 on April 30, 2016 based on 14,000 copies sold when it was released as a preview track before the album ''
You Should Be Here'' dropped. It only entered Billboard's Country Airplay at number 48 on chart date of January 28, 2017 when it was released as a single, and re-entered the Hot Country Songs the following week at No. 48. It reached number ten on Hot Country Songs and number two on Country Airplay in August 2017. As of September 2017, the song has sold 280,000 copies in the United States. On December 12, 2018, the single was certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Pla ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming data of over a million units in the United States.
Music video
The music video was directed by Michael Monaco and premiered in March 2017. It features Cole Swindell performing with Dierks Bentley at a show in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...
during Dierks' 2017 What the Hell World Tour.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Notes
References
{{authority control
2016 songs
2017 singles
Cole Swindell songs
Dierks Bentley songs
Warner Records Nashville singles
Male vocal duets
Songs written by Cole Swindell
Songs written by Matt Bronleewe
Warner Records singles
Songs written by Jaron Boyer