"Mississippi Girl" is a song 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

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

. It was released in May 2005 as the lead single from her sixth studio album ''

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

''. A number one single 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 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 in late 2005, it was her first number one on the country music charts since 2000's " The Way You Love Me".

Content

Written specifically for the Star, Mississippi-bred singer by John Rich (of

Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a solo ...

) and fellow

MuzikMafia The MuzikMafia was an informal collection of American country music artists, founded in October 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee by Big Kenny and John Rich (musician), John Rich (who compose the duo Big & Rich), along with Jon Nicholson and Cory Gierma ...

member

Adam Shoenfeld Adam Shoenfeld (born April 29, 1974) is a professional guitarist, songwriter and producer based in Nashville, TN. Primarily focused on modern country music, his guitar playing has been featured on over 200 albums, and is closely associated with Bi ...

, the uptempo tune was anticipated within the industry and spearheaded Hill's post-''

Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

'' "country comeback""Faith Hill: Fireflies"
''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'', August 29, 2005. Accessed June 23, 2007. by insisting that she had not forgotten her roots: :'' 'Cause a Mississippi girl don't change her ways'' :'' Just 'cause everybody knows her name.'' :'' Ain't big-headed from a little bit of fame ...'' The song also references Hill's forays into acting, in an episode of ''

Touched By An Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

'' and the 2004 film ''

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''. "Mississippi Girl" was considered identical in purpose and theme to singer

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

' 2002 hit "

Jenny from the Block "Jenny from the Block" is a song by American singer Jennifer Lopez, which features American rappers Jadakiss and Styles P, both members of The LOX. It was released by Epic Records on September 26, 2002, as the lead single from her third studio ...

", a fact noted by a number of commentators at the time.

Chart performance

The single debuted at #27 on the ''Billboard'' U.S.

chart dated for May 28, 2005. It became Hill's first Number One on the country music charts since " The Way You Love Me" in 2000. "Mississippi Girl" peaked at No. 1 September 3, and stayed at No. 1 for two weeks. It also reached at peak of No. 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and also became Hill's first single to chart the ''Billboard ''

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

, peaking at No. 29 there. "Mississippi Girl" was nominated for the ''

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends ...

'' but did not win; however it did win the

SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.

Country Song of the Year award for its two writers. ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' said the song had the "stench of desperation" about it, with "southern-fried production eant toape shamelessly the things that the women who supplanted her at the top of Nashville's pecking order have been doing." Mississippi Girl was also the 500 millionth song download via the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

Music video

There is also a

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song, directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the Univers ...

. In It, Hill and her band are seen performing the song in concert (filmed at a concert in July 2005 at

Rupp Arena Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility o ...

in Lexington, KY), intercut with shots of Hill walking around

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

settings in a white dress as CGI

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

flutter about. The video received a CMT Awards nomination.Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert each land 3 CMT Awards noms - Reality TV World - News, information, episode summaries, message boards, chat and games for unscripted television programs
/ref> At the beginning of the video, it shows Hill diving into the water from a wooden bridge in a long white dress.

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes. * Bruce Bouton — steel guitar *

Bekka Bramlett Rebekka Ruth Lazone Bramlett (born April 19, 1968) is an American singer and session background singer. She is the daughter of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, of the music duo Delaney & Bonnie. She has been a member of Mick Fleetwood's band the Z ...

— background vocals *

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac is an American session musician and producer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in nearby Willowick, Ohio. He has been a Nashville-based musician since 1992. He previously owned 2nd Gear, a used music consignment shop in Sou ...

— electric guitar * Paul Bushnell — bass guitar * Perry Coleman — background vocals * Eric Darken — percussion *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying B ...

— steel guitar *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

— electric guitar * Tim Lauer — accordion * Chris McHugh — drums * Jimmy Nichols — keyboards *

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

— mandolin

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2005 singles 2005 songs Faith Hill songs Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Songs written by John Rich Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Warner Records Nashville singles Songs about Mississippi