"Mayberry" is a song written by Arlos Smith 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, ...

group

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

. It was released in December 2003 as the fourth and final single from the band’s 2002 album '' Melt''. The song became the group’s second number one hit 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 Singles & Tracks 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 ...

chart. It also peaked at number 21 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, thus becoming a crossover hit.

Background

Gary LeVox Gary LeVox (born Gary Wayne Vernon Jr., July 10, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for being the lead vocalist of the contemporary country music band Rascal Flatts, and his stage name was taken from the studio-console label ...

said of the song, "The banjo really stands out on this track. It tells a lot about life in 2002, how busy you can get being caught up in the rat race. It reminds me of my childhood and it’s a really cool tune--one of our favorites."
archived page from Rascalflatts.com from 2002

Content

The song references the easy-going life lived in the fictional town of Mayberry, from ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

''. It depicts the way life used to be, before the world started changing and becoming so fast-paced. The song is set in the key of

G-flat major G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a major scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has six flats. Its relative minor is E-flat minor (or enharmonically D-sharp minor), and its parallel ...

albeit every following verse modulates to the key of

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

Chart performance

"Mayberry" debuted at number 56 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of January 3, 2004. On the week of May 22, 2004, "Mayberry" became the group's second number one hit.

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2003 singles Rascal Flatts songs Song recordings produced by Mark Bright (record producer) Lyric Street Records singles 2002 songs The Andy Griffith Show Songs about nostalgia