"I Miss My Friend" is a song written by

Tom Shapiro Tom Curtis Shapiro (born in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American songwriter and occasional record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. To date, he holds four Country Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorpo ...

Mark Nesler Mark Nesler (born January 5, 1961 in Beaumont, Texas) is an American country music artist. Signed to Elektra Records as a recording artist in 1998, Nesler charted three singles on the U.S. ''Billboard'' country charts. In addition, he has writt ...

and Tony Martin, 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, ...

singer

Darryl Worley Darryl Wade Worley (born October 31, 1964) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1999, Worley released four albums for the label: ''Hard Rain Don't Last'' (2000), '' I Miss My Friend'' (20 ...

. It was released in March 2002 the first single and title track from his album of the same name. The song became his first number one single on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart. It also crossed over to pop radio, peaking at #28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Development and promotion

DreamWorks promoted the album in conjunction with long-distance telephone company MCI for monitored stations to give away "I Miss My Friend"-themed phone cards in on-air contests.

Content

The song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

to a lost significant other. In the verses, the narrator lists the details of his significant other that he misses, stating in the chorus that what he misses the most of all is her friendship. It features accompaniment from

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, mandolin, and a string section throughout.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the song was directed by Shaun Silva, and features Worley playing guitar, facing a woman who is sitting on a couch. The camera predominantly alternates between a full shot showing both subjects, a close-up of the singer's face and a top-down shot of Worley and the rear wall; occasional shots from over Worley's shoulder shows the woman's reactions between song phrases. The left wall (which the woman looks toward) is not shown until the outro: the woman stands, walks through Worley and reveals that her reactions during the song were due to a home movie playing on a television behind the singer. Worley then stands up and walks away, disappearing into white light.

Critical reception

People A person ( : 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 prope ...

'' magazine called the tune "a unique, thoughtful take on romantic remorse that demonstrates Worley's sensitive brand of country," and noted that "Although the singer didn't have a hand in composing that tune...his eye for smart material is evident."Novak, Ralph (August 26, 2002), "I Miss My Friend (Music release)". People. 58 (9):31

Chart performance

"I Miss My Friend" debuted at #51 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated March 23, 2002. Having charted for 32 weeks on that chart, it reached Number One on the country chart dated September 21, 2002, holding that position for one week.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Miss My Friend (Song) 2002 singles 2002 songs Darryl Worley songs Songs written by Mark Nesler Songs written by Tom Shapiro Music videos directed by Shaun Silva Songs written by Tony Martin (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) DreamWorks Records singles