"Swing" is a song written by

Chris Stapleton Christopher Alvin Stapleton (born April 15, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Staffordsville, Kentucky. In 2001, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to ...

and Frank Rogers, 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

Trace Adkins Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...

. It was released in May 2006 as the first single from his album '' Dangerous Man''.

Content

The song uses a typical baseball batting practice to set up a woman's night at a tavern, and several men's attempts to pick her up. The first man "strikes out" using cheap pick-up lines, such as "what's your sign?". The second lies about his background (claiming he attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

as a pre-med major) and reaches first but then tells her he quit because it was too hard, thus getting " picked off". Finally, the third man "hits a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

" successfully gaining the woman's interest and leaves the bar with her.

Critical reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewed "Swing" as "glossy and anthemic." Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' called the song "a train wreck."

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 ...

and premiered in June 2006. The video depicts a baseball team's practice. The team can't get one batter to hit against the pitcher, who is a self-centered egomaniac and thinks he is God's gift to women. The crowd of fans starts to leave when the groundskeeper (

) steps up to the plate and asks for a pitch. The pitcher is more than happy to oblige, as he had just managed to strike out the whole team. The groundskeeper is successful hitting a home run on a fastball and runs the bases, all the time making fun of the pitch. When crossing home, the girl jumps into his arms.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 47 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 for the week of May 13, 2006.

Certifications

References

{{Trace Adkins 2006 singles 2006 songs Trace Adkins songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs written by Chris Stapleton Songs written by Frank Rogers (record producer) Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Music videos directed by Michael Salomon