"I'm Still a Guy" 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, o ...

singer

Brad Paisley Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album '' Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nash ...

. It was released in March 2008 as the fourth single from his album '' 5th Gear''. As with the other three singles from that album, "I'm Still a Guy" reached Number One on the ''

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 advertis ...

'' Hot Country Songs charts.

Content

"I'm Still a Guy" is a mid-tempo set in

triple meter Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 ( simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

, written by Paisley along with

Kelley Lovelace John Kelley Lovelace is an American songwriter known mainly for his work with country music artist Brad Paisley. He has written several of Paisley's singles, including the number 1 hits " He Didn't Have to Be" (Paisley's first number 1), " The W ...

and

Lee Thomas Miller Lee Thomas Miller (born in Nicholasville, Kentucky) is an American country music songwriter and occasional record producer. His credits include 7 number one country hits: "The Impossible" (Joe Nichols), "The World", "I'm Still a Guy" and "Perfect ...

. In the song, the narrator explains to his female companion that he is "still a guy" despite his companion's attempts to correct his stereotypical behavior and society's attempts to apply feminine traits to men. Paisley said that his intention was to "capture this struggle a little bit between men and women in a playful way". Initially, Paisley was not certain if a female audience would accept the song, so he sang it to his wife,

Kimberly Williams-Paisley Kimberly Payne Williams-Paisley (née Williams; born September 14, 1971) is an American actress known for her co-starring roles on ''According to Jim'' and ''Nashville,'' as well as her breakthrough performance in '' Father of the Bride'' (1991 ...

- who was pregnant at the time - straight after writing it at his co-writer and friend,

's, house. According to Miller, she "laughed long and hard at all the right places". Just hours later, while back at Lovelace's house, he found out his wife's water had broken - Lovelace's words to him as he ran out of the door were "Don't forget the last song you wrote before you became a father!"

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a B− rating. Coyne says that while the song would be great to create energy at a concert, it "lacks the strength to be a viable radio single. Instead, it sounds more like a ditty rather than a substantive song."

Personnel

*Randle Currie -

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

*Eric Darken -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Kevin "Swine" Grantt -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

*Wes Hightower - background vocals *Gary Hooker - electric guitar *Gordon Mote -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

music box A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or ''lamellae ...

*Brad Paisley - lead vocals,

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 gu ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

*Ben Sesar -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

*Justin Williamson - fiddle

Chart performance

The song debuted at number 48 on the Hot Country Songs chart dated March 8, 2008, moving up to number 28 the next week. It climbed to Number One on the country chart dated May 31, 2008, and stayed there for three weeks, giving Paisley his seventh consecutive Number One single and eleventh overall.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2008 singles 2007 songs Brad Paisley songs Hank Williams Jr. songs Songs written by Lee Thomas Miller Songs written by Kelley Lovelace Songs written by Brad Paisley Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Arista Nashville singles