It remains a career-defining song.
Of course, Luke Bryan is a pioneer, if you will (for lack of a MUCH better term), of the bro country movement, and a lot it is thanks to the popularity of his hit album Tailgates & Tanlines, which was released in 2011 and included the massive hit “Country Girl (Shake It for Me).”
Co-written by Bryan alongside Dallas Davidson, it was released as the first single from his aforementioned album, debuting at #52 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. As of April 2014, it is the third best-selling song by a male country music solo artist, but you might be surprised to learn that, for as huge as it was, “Country Girl” never topped the country radio charts.
The highest it went was #4 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, and it peaked in the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming a minor crossover hit there too.
It’s honestly hard to believe that’s the case, because that song became so huge and was seemingly everywhere at the time, and I think I honestly always assumed it was a #1 hit because I didn’t follow radio charts that closely back then (I was like a freshman in high school at the time)…
I mean, you could hardly go anywhere without hearing it… as far as presumable “hits” go, and the expanse that they have, this song had it all and was played constantly.
Luke previously revealed that thanks to software like LimeWire, which allowed people to skirt around the early days of digital music, it was getting downloaded illegally. Back then, you still had to buy individual songs, albums and music videos from iTunes instead of paying a flat fee for streaming of every king with Apple Music and Spotify.
Spotify actually came to the States in 2011, the same year “Country Girl” dropped, but only had 24 million users by 2013. For reference, they reported a whopping 252 million subscribers, and 640 million monthly active users, at the end of last year.
In fact, he previously said that “Country Girl” was downloaded illegally “20 million times a week” for THREE years… but I think that goes to show how massive the song was, and as Bryan explained during a recent interview with Billboard, “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” helped him evolve his on stage presence, too.
You’ve probably seen the many viral videos of him dancing on stage and shaking his hips, something that he’s done for many years now, and you can thank “Country Girl” for that… Bryan has also been criticized a lot for hit, but he says it’s all in good fun and it’s not meant to be taken seriously at all:
“At the time, you know, you’ve got songs like Big and Rich’s ‘Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy),’ which, those are giant songs with high levels of dancing and up-tempo. And this goes back to, I was just writing music for my crowd, the joy and the years I’ve had watching country girls let their hair down and just shake it and have fun.
And then it made me morph into more of a person that does that on stage too, just to have fun. I think I’ve been judged a little bit over the years about dancing and shaking, but it’s always been for fun for me and letting everybody else come along on the party too.
So with me, it’s just been a life changing song. It really told the world who I was, who my brand was. I’m I’m the guy in the room that’s here to have fun, and I’m here to make you have fun and life‘s too short not to do that.”
There have certainly been times where it’s been a little cringey, but Bryan is really funny and he obviously doesn’t take himself too seriously. It’s what fans love about him and it makes him a really likable guy, even if some of his music isn’t my favorite.
I had this song on repeat back when it came out (downloaded legally, of course), and I can’t say I blame Bryan for wanting to shake his hips a little when he sings it… I think it would be kind of impossible not to.
“Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”
The full interview is available below.
