"Sideways" 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

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's ''Modern Day Drifter'', ar ...

. It was released on March 2, 2009, as the second single from his 2009 album '' Feel That Fire'' and as the twelfth single of his career. On the chart week of July 11, 2009, the song became Bentley's seventh Number One hit 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 ...

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.

Content

"Sideways" was co-written by Bentley himself, along with

Jim Beavers Jim Beavers is an American country music songwriter. Early life and education Jim Beavers grew up in Garland and Jacksonville, Texas. His educational background includes a BBA from Baylor University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Care ...

, the brother of Bentley's producer,

Brett Beavers Brett Beavers (born in Waco, Texas), is an American country music songwriter and producer and the co-author of the book ''Something Worth Leaving Behind''. Education and early career Beavers attended Baylor University, where he earned a bachelo ...

. This song is a up-tempo backed mainly by

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

and by

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

. The song is about the male character's attempt to talk to a female in a bar. Despite not being able to hear her name because of the loud noise, he still tries to come on to her, saying that he wants to "get a little sideways" with her. The song's final chorus features the ambient noise of a bar, along with a chanted chorus by backing vocalists.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Michael Salomon Michael Salomon (born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States) is an American music video/film director, who has directed many music videos, including many of Toby Keith's music videos. He directed the video for Metallica's " One", which was no ...

, and features Bentley singing in front of a large party crowd. The video was #50 on the GAC's Top 50 Videos of the Year list. It was shot inside the Fuse nightclub, located inside the

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, formerly known as Opryland Hotel, is a hotel and convention center located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (formerly known as Gaylord Entertainment Company), and o ...

. A second video, containing live performance footage, was released in August 2009. This is the most commonly used version on TV.

Critical reception

Kevin J. Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a C rating and thought that Bentley sounded uncomfortable singing the song, making it sound "dull and lifeless" as a result.

Popular culture

*The song was used and mixed by the dance crew Southern Movement, hailing from

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 ...

, during the first week and premiere of the fourth season of '' America's Best Dance Crew''. *"Sideways" was used with rewritten lyrics as a theme song for ''

NASCAR on Fox ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox television network in the United States since 2001. Speed, a motorsports-focused cable channel ...

'' at the very beginning of the pre-race show starting in the 2011 and the 2012 Sprint Cup Series seasons. In 2013, ''NASCAR on Fox'' returned to using the ''

NFL on Fox The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by ''Fox NFL Kickoff ...

'' theme.

Chart and sales performance

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sideways (Song) 2009 singles Dierks Bentley songs Music videos directed by Michael Salomon Songs written by Dierks Bentley Songs written by Jim Beavers Capitol Records Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Brett Beavers 2009 songs