"How I Got to Be This Way" 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

Justin Moore Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released six studio albums: his Justin Moore (album), self titled debut ...

. It was released in June 2010 as the fourth single from his self-titled debut album. The song was written by Moore,

Rivers Rutherford Melvern Rivers Rutherford II (born June 17, 1967) is an American country music songwriter. Has been writing country songs since the mid-1990s as a songwriter, he has written several number one country hits, including "Ain't Nothing 'bout You" by B ...

and

Jeremy Stover Jeremy Stover (born August 20, 1972) is an American country music songwriter and record producer. Stover is an alumnus of Belmont University. Stover has written singles for Tim McGraw, Jon Pardi, Wynonna, Martina McBride, and others. His first ...

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' described the song positively in his review of the album, saying that it had a similar rock influence to the work of

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 ...

but was comparably more authentic. Bobby Peacock of ''Roughstock'' gave the song three and a half stars out of five, writing that Moore "has a down-home, everyman twang to his voice, lending the right amount of authenticity to his country-boy anthems" and that "the melody and production are a pleasing throwback to the early-mid 1990s."

Music video

The music video was directed by

Chris Hicky Chris Hicky is a writer/director from Forrest City, Arkansas, United States, best known for directing many of Keith Urban's videos. Hicky has also directed videos for many other artists in the country music genre, including Dierks Bentley, Madd ...

and premiered in July 2010. It begins and ends with Moore explaining what the song means to him, and that everything in the song is true. It shows him and his band performing in a deserted alleyway and on stage at a concert, while Moore also performs solo in a doorway as childhood pictures of him appear throughout.

Chart performance

The song debuted on the U.S. ''

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 ...

charts at number 54 for the week of June 12, 2010.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2010 singles Justin Moore songs Songs written by Rivers Rutherford Big Machine Records singles Music videos directed by Chris Hicky Songs written by Justin Moore Songs written by Jeremy Stover 2009 songs Song recordings produced by Jeremy Stover