Last Name
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Last Name” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Carrie Underwood from the album Carnival Ride |
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| Released | April 7, 2008 (U.S.) | ||||
| Format | CD single, digital download | ||||
| Recorded | 2007 | ||||
| Genre | Country pop | ||||
| Length | 4:02 | ||||
| Label | Arista Nashville | ||||
| Writer(s) | Carrie Underwood, Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey | ||||
| Producer | Mark Bright | ||||
| Carrie Underwood singles chronology | |||||
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| Music video | |||||
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"Last Name" is a song composed by country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008,[1] by which point the song had already charted.
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[edit] Background
The song is one of four tracks on the album co-written by Underwood, and the third consecutive one to be released as a single from the album. The song tells about a woman meeting a man at a club and later eloping with him in Las Vegas after having had too much to drink that night. She wakes up the next morning, "dreaming bout Elvis somewhere in Vegas", to discover that she doesn't even know her last name (i.e., she married the man while she was intoxicated), worrying that her "mama would be so ashamed." The music video portrays the song as a prequel to her "Before He Cheats" song.
[edit] Critical reception
The single was generally met with positive reviews. All Music picked the song as a "track pick", calling the song "Miranda Lambert filtered through Shania Twain", and dubbed it a "one night stand anthem." [2] Rolling Stone picked the track as their favorite, saying "the most fun is "Last Name," where she gets wasted and runs off to Vegas with a guy she doesn't know."[3] Blender awarded the song four out of five stars, describing the song as the "most irresponsible (and fun) moment on the new album involves one wild night, one too many shots of Cuervo and one unexpected ring."[4] Billboard gave a positive review of the track, praising the lyrics: "It's a cleverly penned lyric that hilariously celebrates drunken debauchery" as well as summing it up as "a performance that combines soulful vocals, edgy intensity and sassy attitude into a delicious cocktail."[5]
However, The 9513 gave the song a 'thumbs down', describing the song as a "straight-laced performance" that just "places the focus on the vocal".[6] Slant Magazine labelled the single as a "bald-faced attempt at recreating the 'Before He Cheats' phenomenon".[7]
[edit] Promotion
Underwood performed the song live for the first time on Television during the 43rd Academy of Country Music Awards on May 18, 2008. Thanks to the performance, the single rose over twenty spots on the iTunes Top 100 songs reaching a new peak of #25. Underwood also performed the song live at the American Idol Season 7 finale on May 21, 2008 - the single reached a new digital download peak at #10 which helped the song to bow to #19 on Billboard Hot 100.
[edit] Music video
The song is described in the video as what happened before the "Before He Cheats" video. The video starts with some segments from "Before He Cheats" and then goes into a scene 3 months earlier with her in the club having a drink with her friends. The man from the same video as "Before He Cheats" spots her and asks her for a dance. After the dance, Underwood leaves with the guy in his pinto with lucky dice in the rear view mirror. They make it out to Las Vegas where they participate in a couple of gambling activities such as Russian roulette and a pin wheel game. Later they get married in a chapel with an Elvis impersonator. They run off in his new pick up truck (the one used in "Before He Cheats") and the video ends with a spark from the chapel head lights.
[edit] Chart performance
The song debuted at #46 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, nearly a month before the single's official release. It has now become her sixth Number One song, and her fifth consecutive Number One, for the week of June 21, 2008, rising from #5 to #1. On the Hot 100 the song has reached #19, making it Underwood's sixth top twenty Hot 100 hit, and the second from Carnival Ride. It is currently #1 on iTunes Country Single Chart. Its music video peaked at #1 on iTunes Music Videos.
| Chart (2008) | Peak chart position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot Country Songs | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 19 |
| US Billboard Pop 100 | 37 |
| US Billboard Hot Digital Songs | 19 |
| Canadian Country Singles | 3 |
| Canadian Hot 100 | 34 |
[edit] Succession
| Preceded by "I'm Still a Guy" by Brad Paisley |
Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single June 21, 2008 |
Succeeded by incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ "Singles Calendar", MusicRow, 2008-03-12. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ allmusic (Carnival Ride). allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
- ^ Rolling Stone (Carnival Ride). Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
- ^ Blender (Last Name). Blender. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
- ^ Billboard (Last Name). Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Carrie Underwood - "Last Name". The 9513 (2008-03-13). Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
- ^ Keefe, Jonathan (2007-11-21). Music Review: Carrie Underwood: Carnival Ride. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
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