"American Honey" is a song written by

Cary Barlowe Cary Barlowe (born 1982) is an American country music songwriter, and a former member of the rock band Luna Halo. Born in Virginia and raised in North Carolina, Barlowe originally performed with his older brother Nathan in the rock group Lu ...

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bo ...

and Shane Stevens, 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, ...

group

Lady A Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar), ...

ntebellum. It was released on January 11, 2010, as the second single from their second album '' Need You Now''. The group's fifth single overall, it debuted on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts dated for January 2, 2010, and it features lead vocals from Scott.

Content

The song's female narrator, lead singer

Hillary Scott Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell (born April 1, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the co-lead singer of Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, a country music group that was formed in 2006, and is signed to Big Machine Records ...

, states a desire to escape her adult lifestyle and return to her childhood, which is described in the lyrics as "American honey." It is in

D-flat major D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major. The D-flat major scale is: : Its ...

, with an approximate tempo of 84

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 ...

. The guitars use

DADGAD , or Celtic tuning is an alternative guitar tuning most associated with Celtic music, though it has also found use in rock, folk, metal and several other genres. Instead of the Guitar tuning#Standard and alternatives, standard tuning () the six gui ...

or Celtic tuning decreased by a

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

, and the chords are in a pattern of D - B m7 - G - E m - D on the verses, and G - D - B m7 - A three times on the chorus.

Critical reception

The song received mainly negative reviews. Matt Bjorke of Roughstock stated that "after one listen e doesn'tsee how this single can fail," but criticized the production by saying that he thought the drum machine was too loud. Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a D rating, saying that the "song isn't sung well" and "certainly not interesting enough to warrant suffering through the painful mediocrity of the lead vocal." Engine 145 reviewer Blake Boldt gave it a thumbs-down, referring to the lyric as "a lazy depiction of a chaste young lass chasing after a fuzzy memory" and calling Scott's vocal "sad and pensive and the slightest bit off-pitch against a distracting drumbeat."

Music video

The video was directed by

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music A ...

and was filmed at

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Golden Oak Ranch Golden Oak Ranch is an 890-acre (360 ha) movie ranch owned by the Walt Disney Studios subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that serves as a filming location and backlot. The ranch is off of Placerita Canyon Road outside of Newhall, Santa ...

Synopsis

The video shows Hillary, Charles and Dave looking back at their younger selves. When Hillary lies in the grass and walks through clothes lines she looks back her younger self running and dancing through a field and playing through clothes lines. Charles who is sitting by a pond looks back to his young self spending time with a girl he likes. As Dave walks along a dirt path he sees him riding a bike he was younger on that same path. Starting with the first chorus there are cut to shots of all three of them sitting on a porch singing the song at night.

In popular culture

The song features prominently in a pivotal scene in the 2016 Andrea Arnold film of the same name.

Chart performance

"American Honey" debuted at number 47 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of January 2, 2010, before its initial release date of January 11, 2010. It also became their third number 1 hit, as well as their third consecutive. It has been certified platinum for sales exceeding 1,000,000 units.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2010 singles 2010 songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Country ballads Lady A songs Music videos directed by Trey Fanjoy Song recordings produced by Paul Worley Songs written by Cary Barlowe Songs written by Hillary Lindsey Songs written by Shane Stevens (songwriter)