More Than a Memory

"More Than a Memory" is a song written by Lee Brice, Billy Montana and Kyle Jacobs. It was recorded by country music singer Garth Brooks and released in 2007 as his 51st single. It is the first single from his 2007 compilation The Ultimate Hits. On the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for September 15, 2007, it became the first song (and only song to date) to debut at Number One in the entire history of that chart. The song was also Brooks' first number-one hit since "To Make You Feel My Love" in 1998.

Content

"More Than a Memory" is a mid-tempo ballad, featuring accompaniment primarily from piano, pedal steel guitar and a string section. In it, the male narrator describes his attempts to forget about a lover who has left him, by destroying her possessions and drinking heavily, among other attempts. Despite his attempts to forget her, he still finds himself attempting to call her on the telephone, and tries to stay awake so as not to dream of her. He states that since he still thinks of her, she is "more than a memory," even though he has been told by others that he will forget about her.

Reception

The song was given a "thumbs up" rating by Jim Malec, a reviewer of The 9513. Although he criticized the lyrics for being "tired", he considered Brooks' vocals "a gritty and powerful performance" and called the melody "swelling" and "catchy.(:"^[1]

Chart history

By debuting at Number One on the Hot Country Songs chart, "More Than a Memory" set a new record for the highest debut on that chart, beating the previous record set only one week earlier by Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink", which debuted at #16.^[2][3][4] Brooks' chart debut was described by Billboard as "almost impossible", since most Number One debuts on other singles charts (such as the Billboard Hot 100) are tabulated by sales, and not on radio airplay alone. Since airplay usually builds at a more gradual rate than record sales do, very high debuts are less likely to occur on airplay-only charts such as Hot Country Songs.^[5]

In addition to its chart debut, this song was Brooks' first Number One hit single on Billboard since "To Make You Feel My Love" in 1998 (see 1998 in country music). After its debut week, "More Than a Memory" fell to #8, and after slipping to #10 it began to climb again, eventually rebounding at #2 for the chart weeks of December 8 and 15 before falling out of the Top 10. The song spent a total of 20 weeks on the country singles charts. "More Than a Memory" also debuted at number 73 on the Hot 100 for the chart week of September 15, 2007,^[2] peaking at number 54.

References