"Play It Again" is a song written by Dallas Davidson and

Ashley Gorley Ashley Glenn Gorley (born April 29, 1977) is an American songwriter, publisher, and producer from Danville, Kentucky, who is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Gorley has written 60 number 1 songs and has over 300 songs recorded by artists including ...

and recorded by American country music artist

Luke Bryan Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Reco ...

. It was released in March 2014 as the fourth single from Bryan’s 2013 album ''

Crash My Party ''Crash My Party'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released on August 13, 2013 by Capitol Nashville. Its first single, the title track, reached number one on the '' Billboard'' Country Airplay char ...

''. On April 17, 2014, the song became Bryan's eighth non-consecutive chart-topper 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 ...

chart, the most by any act in the time since his first number one "

Rain Is a Good Thing "Rain Is a Good Thing" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released in January 2010 as the second single from his 2009 album ''Doin' My Thing''. The song became Bryan's first number one hit on the U ...

" hit the top spot on July 24, 2010.

Content

The protagonist approaches a girl at a tailgate party. Suddenly, the girl's favorite song comes on, causing her to ask the protagonist to dance with her, and they both exclaim "play it again" when the song is finished. He drives her home that night, when the song comes on the radio, triggering a similar reaction. The next week, they go on a date together where the protagonist plays the song on his guitar.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song 4 stars out of 5, praising both the lyrics for " ettingat the emotion that hits young people who are full of life" and Bryan's charming delivery, which "sells the song". Bjorke also commended the label's timing in releasing a feel-good song so close to Summertime. Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' also gave the song a positive review, saying that "This superstar is enjoying a time when everything that he sings sounds unique and feels deeply satisfying. He’s found a few familiar themes that don’t grow old quickly, and his performances have gotten better with each release. ‘Play It Again’ is another hit for Bryan. When it finishes its chart run, it will likely be amongst the top 5 of his career." Vickye Fisher of ''For The Country Record'' was less favorable, saying that "The choruses, full production guitars/drums and belted vocals, do nothing to make ‘Play It Again’ sound any different from any other songs on the album, or any other songs on the radio, for that matter. It’s not distinctive, it’s just boring."

Commercial reception

"Play It Again" debuted at number 46 on the

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week ending of March 15, 2014. Two weeks later, "Play It Again" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at number 81 for the week ending of March 29, 2014. "Play It Again" reached number one on the

chart dated of April 17, 2014. "Play It Again" reached number one on the Country Airplay chart for the week ending of May 31, 2014; the same week, Florida Georgia Line's " This Is How We Roll", on which Bryan is a featured artist, held the number 2 position on the Country Airplay chart, making Bryan the first artist in the chart's 24-year history to hold the top two positions simultaneously. "Play It Again" is currently certified six times platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, reaching the mark on August 3, 2020. As of April 2017, the song has sold 2,493,000 copies in the United States.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Monaco and premiered in April 2014.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Luke Bryan 2014 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads Luke Bryan songs Songs about music Songs written by Dallas Davidson Songs written by Ashley Gorley Capitol Records Nashville singles 2013 songs