"Miami, My Amy" is a song written by

Dean Dillon Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...

Hank Cochran Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran (August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy ...

and Royce Porter, and recorded by American country music artist

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and 7 more after his death. ...

. It was released in January 1986 as the second single from the album ''

L.A. to Miami ''L.A. to Miami'' is the debut studio album by American country music singer Keith Whitley. It was released in October 1985 by RCA Records. The album includes the singles "I've Got the Heart for You," "Miami, My Amy," "Ten Feet Away," "Homecoming ...

''. The song reached number 14 on the ''

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.

Content

The song is about a man from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

who meets a woman named Amy in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

before traveling back to his hometown. Upon returning to Los Angeles, he receives a phone call from the woman, who claims that she misses him and invites him to take a flight back to Miami. In the chorus, the narrator states that "''Miami, my Amy, loves me after all.''"

Critical reception

Kay Privett of the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'' described the song favorably in a review of ''L.A. to Miami'', comparing Whitley's "warm" vocals to those of Merle Haggard. In the book ''Country Music: The Rough Guide'', Kurt Wolff stated that the song's initial success on the charts helped Whitley gain recognition for the success of his following album, '' Don't Close Your Eyes''. He also stated that the song had a more country pop production style than ''Don't Close Your Eyes'' did. From March 2022, the song trended on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

when users began posting videos with a nostalgic theme set to the song.

Chart performance

"Miami, My Amy" debuted on the ''

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 dated for November 2, 1985. The song became Whitley's first top-40 hit on that chart, peaking at number 14 in early 1986. The single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was "I've Got the Heart for You", which had previously served as the album's lead single and peaked at number 57 on the same chart in 1985.

Cover versions

In 2007, Daryle Singletary recorded the song for his covers album '' Straight from the Heart''.

References

{{authority control 1985 songs 1985 singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Hank Cochran Songs written by Dean Dillon Songs written by Royce Porter Daryle Singletary songs Keith Whitley songs Songs about Florida Songs about telephone calls