Find out Who Your Friends Are
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| “Find out Who Your Friends Are” | |||||
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| Single by Tracy Lawrence from the album For the Love |
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| Released | August 21, 2006 | ||||
| Format | CD single, 7" | ||||
| Recorded | 2006 | ||||
| Genre | Country | ||||
| Length | 3:49 | ||||
| Label | Rocky Comfort | ||||
| Writer(s) | Casey Beathard, Ed Hill | ||||
| Producer | Flip Anderson, Julian King and Tracy Lawrence | ||||
| Tracy Lawrence singles chronology | |||||
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"Find out Who Your Friends Are" is the title of a single by American country music artist Tracy Lawrence. It was the lead-off single for his album For the Love, which was released in early 2007 on Rocky Comfort Records, his own label. Originally released in August of 2006, the single did not enter the Top 40 on the Billboard country music charts until January of 2007.
After the release of For the Love, radio stations began to play an alternate version of the song (featuring country stars Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney) that was also included on the album, thus helping to boost the song to Number One on both the Billboard and Mediabase country singles charts.[1] Upon reaching Number One in June of 2007, "Find out Who Your Friends Are" set a new record for the slowest-climbing Number One single in the history of the Billboard country music charts, as well as the second-slowest climbing on any Billboard singles chart; in addition, it became Lawrence's first number one since 1996's "Time Marches On".
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[edit] Content
"Find out Who Your Friends Are" tells of various situations where a person might be in trouble, and thus might need a friend's help -- such as having a car stuck in a ditch, or being short on money. The song's chorus states that in such moments, a person finds out who his or her friends are:
- You find out who your friends are
- Somebody's gonna drop everything
- Run out and crank up their car
- Hit the gas, get there fast
- Never stop and think "what's in it for me" or "it's way too far"
- They just show on up with their big ol' heart
- You find out who your friends are
Upon hearing the song, Lawrence stated that he immediately identified with it, and thought that it would be a good choice for a lead-off single to his album. According to him, "The message is universal for everybody you know... I enjoy singing stuff that has a good message."[2]
[edit] Chart performance
"Find Out Who Your Friends Are" reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated June 23, 2007, where it stayed for one week. The song became Lawrence's first Billboard Number One single since "Time Marches On" in 1996, and his first Number One on any chart since 1997's "Is That a Tear", which reached Number One on the former Radio & Records (now Mediabase 24/7) country charts.[1]
Having reached the top of the charts on its forty-first chart week, the song also set set a new record for the slowest climb to Number One on the country charts,[3] as well as a record for the second-slowest climb for a Number One single on any Billboard chart.[4] "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" also replaced Emerson Drive's "Moments" at Number One, marking the first time since 1950 that two independently-distributed songs reached Number One back-to-back on the singles charts.[5] In addition, Lawrence became the first artist to reach Number One with the first release from a vanity label.[6][7]
[edit] Cease and desist
Lawrence's album For the Love features two versions of the song: one version sung by Lawrence himself, and a remixed version featuring guest vocals from country music artists Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, both of whom are friends of Lawrence's.[8] Only the solo version was released to radio as a single; however, upon the release of Lawrence's album, several radio stations began playing the version with McGraw and Chesney's vocals instead. (Both versions were counted as one song when the singles charts were tabulated.)[8]
The week before the single reached Number One, Sony BMG (the parent company of BNA Records, the label to which Chesney is signed) e-mailed a cease-and-desist order to several radio stations that were monitored by Billboard, demanding that these stations cease playing the version featuring McGraw's and Chesney's vocals. According to the letter, which was written by Sony BMG's president, Sony BMG "did not grant 'singles' rights to Rocky Comfort with respect to the album versions of this song and has not authorized any radio station to play this recording".[9] Despite the demands from Sony BMG, radio stations did not stop playing the version with McGraw and Chesney.[10] One day after the release of that letter, Sony BMG issued a formal apology to the radio stations to which the cease-and-desist order had been sent.[10]
[edit] Music video
A music video for the song debuted on the television network CMT on August 16, 2007, at which point the song had fallen from the singles charts. In the video, a man hits a circumstance similar to the lyrics of the song and finds himself stranded "in the middle of nowhere." Though his cellular reception is very poor, he is able to contact George Jones, who then calls Darryl Worley (who is relaxing in a pool with several women) and several others; everyone contacted arrives in a cavalcade of vehicles to help with the predicament.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (2006-2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 61 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 96 |
| Preceded by "Moments" by Emerson Drive |
Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single June 23, 2007 |
Succeeded by "Ticks" by Brad Paisley |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tracy Lawrence Make History With Hit Single "Find Out Who Your Friends Are". Top40-Charts.com (2007-06-12). Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
- ^ Tracy Lawrence Identified Immediately With "Friends"
- ^ Rihanna's Hot 100 hat trick with 'Umbrella'
- ^ Chart Beat Chat
- ^ T-Pain toasts first No. 1 album
- ^ Tracy Lawrence finds out he's number one
- ^ Tracy Lawrence Makes History on Country Singles Chart
- ^ a b Sony BMG Nashville 'Demands' Radio Stop Playing Album Cut
- ^ Sony BMG Nashville Demands Radio Cease Playing Song
- ^ a b Sony BMG Nashville Apologizes To Radio
[edit] External links
- "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" video at CMT.com
- Song lyrics at CMT.com
