"Pontoon" 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, ...

group

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbro ...

. It was released in April 2012 as the first single from their fifth studio album, ''

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

''. The song, written by

Natalie Hemby Natalie Nicole Hemby Wrucke (born March 24, 1977) is an American country music songwriter and singer. She has written songs for Lee Ann Womack, Eli Young Band, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Sunny Sweeney, Little Big Town, Jon Pardi, Kacey Musgrav ...

Luke Laird Luke Robert Laird (born May 4, 1978 in Hartstown, Pennsylvania) is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one ''Billboard'' singles, including Carrie Underwood's "So Small", "Temporary Home", and "Und ...

and Barry Dean, became the group's first No. 1 single on the ''Billboard''

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 for the week of September 15, 2012. The song won the

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Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

Content

Laird said that the idea for "Pontoon" came about when a publisher asked about a song that he and Hemby wrote for

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

called "Fine Tune", but the publisher thought that it was called "Pontoon". After Hemby corrected him, the two thought that they should write a song called "Pontoon". "Pontoon" is a mid-tempo song about having a party while on a pontoon. The song is in

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 ...

, with an A-D-A pattern twice on the verses, and A-D-A-E-A on the chorus. Karen Fairchild's lead vocal ranges from E3 to A4. It has an approximate tempo of 96

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song three and a half stars out of five, writing that "those who invest time to pull apart the layers of this lazy lake song will be rewarded with a new toy upon each listen." Bobby Peacock of ''Roughstock'' gave the song four stars out of five, saying that "Karen Fairchild's lead vocal has a heavy reverb effect, which mixes in excellently with the hi-strung guitar, drum loop, organ and ��er three bandmates' earthy harmonies." He also thought that the lyrics "have a sense of playfulness that make the mere act of riding on a pontoon sound like a blast." Dan Milliken of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a C+ grade, writing that the "lyrics are so dull that, when paired with the weird reverb on Karen Fairchild’s vocal, they start to sound like a diary of seasickness." The song was awarded with 2012 Single Of The Year by the Country Music Association and 2013

Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. It was first awarded in 2012, after a major overhaul of Gramm ...

Music video

The music video was directed by Declan Whitebloom and premiered in May 2012. It was filmed at

Percy Priest Lake J. Percy Priest Lake is a reservoir in north central part of Tennessee. It is formed by J. Percy Priest Dam, located between miles six and seven of the Stones River. The dam (easily visible from Interstate 40) is located about east of downtow ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Chart performance

"Pontoon" debuted at number 51 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 ...

chart for the week of May 19, 2012. For the week of September 15, 2012, "Pontoon" became Little Big Town's first number one hit. As of June 2016 the song has sold 2.66 million copies in the United States.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Parodies

* American parody artist

Cledus T. Judd James Barry Poole (born December 18, 1964) is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and ...

released a parody of "Pontoon" titled "Honeymoon" on his 2012 album '' Parodyziac!!''.

References

{{Authority control 2012 singles Little Big Town songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs written by Luke Laird Song recordings produced by Jay Joyce Songs written by Natalie Hemby Songs written by Barry Dean (songwriter) 2012 songs Songs about boats