"Reality" is a song co-written 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, ...

artist

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Coun ...

. It was released in October 2011 as the fifth and final single from his 2010 album ''

Hemingway's Whiskey ''Hemingway's Whiskey'' is the thirteenth studio album by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released on September 28, 2010 as his last studio album for BNA Records. This is Kenny Chesney's last studio album since signing contra ...

''. The song became Chesney's twenty-first number one hit on the US ''

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 ...

chart in early 2012. Chesney wrote this song with

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...

Background and Writing

Co-written by Chesney with help from

, he told ''Billboard'' magazine's Ray Waddell that he got the idea of writing the song while sitting in a dentist's chair with a gas mask on. "There were a couple of years that I was so busy on the road I was kinda numb," Chesney said. "I wasn't really tired, I wasn't really not tired, I wasn't really happy, I was just kind of numb. So, I'd go to the dentist to have something done and they'd put that gas mask on me and I'd be like, 'Wow, that's as relaxed as I've been in years!' I thought to myself, 'This is why people smoke pot right here! This is it!' I don't smoke pot, but this is why people do it, I guarantee you. Because it gets them away from reality. I even asked my dentist, 'I just want to come over here and sit some time, can you guys do that?' He said, 'We can't do that, we'd get in trouble.' I swear, I started writing that song on the way home. But then, I related it to everybody that comes to see us. That's what live music is. It's an escape from reality. That's why as a kid I loved it. I still love going to shows, I love live music. That's where I got the idea to write the song, it's my message to the fans that it's OK to break free and escape reality, with us."

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song three stars out of five, saying that it "does and says all the right things" but " ailsto capture the live energy that Chesney consistently inserted into uptempo hits in the past." Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B grade, saying that while it has a "strong concept", the delivery is "fairly flat." He goes on to say that the production "never takes off" and "keeps things a little too grounded in reality for it to actually sound like the escapism it celebrates.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Shaun Silva Shaun Silva is a music video director who works primarily in the country music field. He has directed a number of music videos for many country music artists, including many of Kenny Chesney's music videos. His other clients include Jason Aldean, ...

, and premiered on October 12, 2011.

Chart performance

"Reality" debuted at number 50 on the U.S. ''

chart for the week of October 15, 2011. It also debuted at number 97 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart for the week of November 19, 2011 and number 96 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

chart for the week of December 17, 2011.

Year-end charts

References

{{Kenny Chesney singles 2011 singles 2010 songs Kenny Chesney songs BNA Records singles Songs written by Kenny Chesney Songs written by Brett James Song recordings produced by Buddy Cannon Music videos directed by Shaun Silva