"It's Just That Way" is a song written by
Vicky McGehee
Vicky Lynn McGehee is an American country music songwriter.
Among the songs that McGehee has written are "Heart Hold On" by The Buffalo Club, "All Jacked Up" by Gretchen Wilson, "Holy Water" by Big & Rich, "Why" by Jason Aldean, "Like We Neve ...
, Kylie Sackley and
Keith Stegall
Robert Keith Stegall (born November 1, 1955) is an American country music recording artist and record producer. Active since 1980, Stegall has recorded two major-label studio albums: 1985's ''Keith Stegall'' and 1996's ''Passages'', although he ...
, 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
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...
. It was released on January 4, 2010, as the lead-off single to his sixteenth studio album ''
Freight Train
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...
'', which was released on March 30, 2010.
Content
"It's Just That Way" is a country ballad, backed primarily with steel guitar and piano fills. The song's male narrator compares common occurrences in everyday life ("That ol' sun comes up every mornin'" / "And goes back down at the end of every day") to his assurance to always love his woman. He concludes by stating that he doesn't have any explanation for this, and that "it's just that way."
Critical reception
Engine 145 reviewer Karlie Justus gave the song a thumbs up, describing favorably that "his emphasis on the two-line chorus contrasts with the song’s easy-going feel, showing there’s something below his matter-of-fact surface." Justus stated that while there is "nothing particularly ground breaking or surprising in its execution," she concluded that it "marks a welcome return to the artist that created ''
Precious Memories'' and ''
Like Red on a Rose
''Like Red on a Rose'' is the fourteenth studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on September 26, 2006. The album produced two singles, the title track and "A Woman's Love", which respectively reached numbers 1 ...
''." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' reviewed the song positively, referring to it as "Alan Jackson at his best, charmingly laid-back as he sings a straight-up steel guitar laced ballad." He compared the song favorably to "
Remember When Remember When may refer to:
Music
* "Remember When" (Alan Jackson song), 2003
* "Remember When (We Made These Memories)", a 1965 song by Wayne Newton
* "Remember When (Push Rewind)", a 2012 song by Chris Wallace
* "Remember When", a song by Color ...
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Chart performance
"It's Just That Way" debuted at number 50 on the U.S. ''Billboard (magazine)">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 chart for the week of December 26, 2009, and reached a peak of number 16 for the chart week of April 17, 2010.