"Something in the Water" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

, from her compilation album '' Greatest Hits: Decade #1''. The song was released on September 29, 2014, as the album's lead single through Arista Nashville. It was written by Underwood, Chris DeStefano,

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 ( ...

, and produced by Mark Bright. A crossover success, "Something in the Water" reached No. 1 on both the ''Billboard''

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 ...

and Hot Christian Songs charts. It is Underwood's 14th career leader on Hot Country Songs and her second in 2014. It topped the former chart for seven weeks and the latter for 26 weeks, and also debuted at number 24 on the ''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 ...

. It set and broke multiple airplay records on country radio in its first week. The song won the Grammy Award for

Best Country Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is design ...

Background

The song was written by Underwood along with Chris DeStefano and Brett James, and produced by Underwood's longtime producer Mark Bright. It also has a sample of Amazing Grace at the closing of the song, sung by Underwood. James told '' Country Weekly'' that, when he arrived at Underwood's cabin in

Leiper's Fork, Tennessee Leiper's Fork (also spelled Leipers Fork) is an unincorporated rural village in Williamson County, Tennessee. It has a population of about 650 on an area of about . Most of the village shares a ZIP code with Franklin. The village, located on the ...

, for a songwriter's session, she and DeStefano already had a track ready, when Underwood suggested "Something in the Water" as a title. They then chose to make the song themed after a person whose life changes after baptism. James said that he found Underwood's demo of the song "emotional", and praised Underwood's singing and songwriting style. He later called it "one of the most perfect writing days I have had in my life".

Critical reception

"Something in the Water" was met with widespread critical acclaim. '' Rolling Stone'' praised the song stating that "Underwood sings in the soaring song showcasing her heavenly high vocal range" and called the song a "spiritual heartstring-tugger". ''

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 ...

'' praised the song with 4 out of 5 stars, stating: "Carrie Underwood offers a message of faith in times of trouble". ''Music Times'' praised the song by saying that Underwood "pulls out all of her strongest, boldest notes for the religious anthem" and that the song "builds to some of the greatest heights Underwood has reached to date". ''All Access Music'' also praised the song, stating that "It's a welcome – and bold – move for Underwood that flies in the face of Country's recent direction. Her vocals soar and to no one's surprise she powerfully delivers the message". AXS called "Something in the Water" a "mighty offering" while praising Underwood for a "righteously powerful performance." Website ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' praised Underwood's vocals and the songs's lyrics and production, saying "Mark Bright creates a complex and rich tapestry that swirls between the rare breathes Underwood takes. Her vocal performance is typically stunning and personal" and also predicted the song "to clean up come 2015 awards season". Website ''Popdust'' gave the song a rating of 4.5/5, saying, "assembled with an orchestral arrangement and a backing of a harmoniously sanctified choir, this track...is a game changer." The website also praised Underwood bringing faith back into her song. On February 8, 2015, at the

57th Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. ...

, Underwood won

for "Something in the Water", marking her seventh career Grammy Award.

Awards and nominations

Billboard Music Awards

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Country Music Association Awards

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CMT Music Awards

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Grammy Awards

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Music Row Awards

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Inspirational Country Music Awards

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Chart performance

"Something in the Water" sold over 125,000 copies in its first week, becoming the biggest opening-week sales of any female country artist in 2014 and the singer's highest sales frame since 2009, when " I Told You So", featuring Randy Travis, sold 126,000 copies. It is also Underwood's best debut sales week for a digital song. It debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's

Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally sta ...

chart. The song's massive airplay in its first week prompted it to also debuted at No. 17 on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart, achieving the highest debut for a solo artist in 2014 and surpassing Underwood's previous record of No. 20 with "

So Small "So Small" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in August 2007 as the first single from her 2007 album ''Carnival Ride''. Underwood co-wrote this song with Hillary Lindsey and Luke L ...

" in 2007. Additionally, it set an all-time record by amassing 144 total stations on impact date on Mediabase. The song debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Christian Songs, becoming the singer's first song to top such a chart, and rose from No. 48 to number two on the ''Billboard''

in its second week on the chart. It also debuted at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. In its seventh week on the charts, "Something in the Water" reached No.1 on the ''Billboard''

, becoming Underwood's 14th career leader on the chart and her second in 2014. It became her fastest climbing single on the Hot Country Songs chart. With 14 chart-toppers on such a chart, she expands her record as the female country artist with the most number one hits on the Hot Country Songs chart in the

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

era (1991–present), breaking her own '' Guinness Book'' record of ten, set in 2010. It has topped the Hot Country Songs for seven weeks, becoming her longest No.1 reign on the chart and the third longest No.1 reign among women in the chart's history. The song has also topped the Hot Christian Songs for 26 consecutive weeks,setting a record for the longest reign on that chart by a woman and also the third longest running number one. The song's record was broken by Lauren Daigle's "

You Say "You Say" is a song by American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter Lauren Daigle. It is the lead single from her third studio album, ''Look Up Child''. Written by Daigle, alongside producers Paul Mabury and Jason Ingram, it was r ...

.". The song was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA on July 23, 2020. As of April, 2016, the song has sold over 1,100,000 copies in the United States. The song won Top Christian Song at the

2015 Billboard Music Awards The 2015 ''Billboard'' Music Awards ceremony was held on May 17, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It was aired live on ABC. The show was hosted by Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen. Taylor Swift won 8 out of her 14 nominations, inclu ...

Music video

The music video was directed by Raj Kapoor and premiered on November 4, 2014, on Twitter during the 48th Annual CMA Awards. Emmy nominated choreographer Travis Wall choreographed the video. Underwood performed with dancers from the Shaping Sound dance academy dancing in the background and "required 16 choir members, 12 dancers, three costume changes and a custom-built tank of recycled water to create its dance spectacle."

Live performances

Underwood performed the song at 2014 CMA Awards and on April 7, 2016, at the fifteenth season finale of '' American Idol.'' The song is also performed as the encore of her " Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round".

Track listing

;Digital download # "Something in the Water" – 3:45

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads Carrie Underwood songs Arista Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Mark Bright (record producer) Songs written by Chris DeStefano Songs written by Brett James Songs written by Carrie Underwood