"Upstairs Downtown" 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

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

. The song was released in November 1994 as the second single from his 1994 album ''

Boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

''. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard charts in both the United States and Canada. Keith wrote the song with Carl Goff Jr.

Content

A ballad, "Upstairs Downtown" centers on the life of a young woman, who has just aged into adulthood and is moving out on her own for the first time. The song centers on the struggles of the woman, who is trying to earn a living and gain life skills. The first verses of the song recounts the woman's restlessness and desire to move from her rural community ("the woods," as described in the song) to the big city. Her triumphs are highlighted when she moves into her apartment, gets her own telephone line and gets a job at a local grocery store. However, she finds that living on her own, particularly with no moral support from family close by, is tougher than she thought it would be. She soon loses her job and is unable to pay her bills. In the end, the young woman decides to move back home "to the woods." The video starlet is Oklahoma native Amanda Breeden. Keith expressed his displeasure with the song being released as a single, saying that it was a "nice song for the album", but that he did not feel it was a strong single, and would have preferred that "

You Ain't Much Fun "You Ain't Much Fun" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released in March 1995 as the third single from his 1994 album ''Boomtown''. The song peaked at number 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country ...

" be the second single instead; "Fun" ended up being released as the third single in March 1995 and would fare better, peaking at #2, behind

Clint Black Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles on the ...

's " Summer's Comin'".

Music video

The music video was directed by Marc Ball, and premiered on CMT on November 26, 1994, as their "Hot Shot Video of the Week".

Chart performance

"Upstairs Downtown" debuted at number 73 on the

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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 December 3, 1994.

References

1994 singles 1994 songs Toby Keith songs Songs written by Toby Keith Song recordings produced by Harold Shedd Polydor Records singles {{1994-country-song-stub