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So Small

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"So Small"
Song

"So Small" is a song composed by fourth-season American Idol winner and country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird. It is the first single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in Canada on August 14, 2007, and in the United States on August 28, 2007. (See 2007 in music).

Background

"So Small" is the first single for which Underwood shares a writing credit. Underwood co-wrote the song "I Ain't In Checotah Anymore" but it was not released as a single from her debut album Some Hearts.

Carrie Underwood's quote on So Small:

"So Small" is a feeling song on how people invest so much of their time and energy into things that aren't really important, and you don't really realize that until it's too late. We're all guilty of it, as I know I am, of just letting silly things get in the way. The smallest thing can almost ruin my day, and at some point, I realize, 'Good gracious, Carrie! What are you doing?' I have a great life, and we need to remember the things that are truly important.[1]

Single release

"So Small" was officially released to country radio stations on July 31, 2007.[2]

The single was digitally released on Napster on August 14, 2007, the same day it was made available for sale on the Canadian iTunes Store, but was removed after several days. The song was permanently available for download on Napster and released on the U.S. iTunes Store on August 28, 2007.[3]

She debuted this song at the 2007 Country Music Association Awards.

Music video

Underwood's video for "So Small" was directed by Roman White.[4] The video was originally planned to be premiering on September 13 on CMT, but instead premiered on September 20, 2007 on CMT, where the channel became "Carrie Music Television" and aired the video continuously from 6:00am–12:00pm straight, playing it an estimated 66 times. The video was also made available to purchase exclusively on the iTunes music store on September 20.[5]

The video begins with a teenager girl walking down a country road alone at dusk, carrying only a backpack. A flashback is shown of her arguing with her mother before she walks out of her house. Two cars are then shown approaching her from opposite ends, driven by a man (played by Christian Kane) and a crying woman. As the woman's car nears the teenager, she steps in front of it in an attempt to commit suicide. The woman swerves to the left side of the road to avoid hitting her, colliding instead with the man's car. Both vehicles freeze in mid-collision, with their occupants unharmed but unaffected by the collision. Both the man and the woman have flashbacks of themselves leaving home after having a fight with their respective families and leaving them. As the night fades with a sunrise, the collision is reversed, and the teenager steps back from the road instead of onto it. Seeing this, both the man and the woman stop their cars and step out. The video ends with the three of them returning to their homes and reconciling with their families.

Underwood is also seen throughout the video standing in the middle of the road in separate shots, singing both at night and in the morning.

Chart performance

"So Small" debuted at number twenty on the Billboard Hot Country Songs on August 18, 2007, making the highest chart entry by a solo country female artist in 43 years of Nielsen BDS history.[6][7] The record would later surpassed by Taylor Swift's 2012 single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."[8] The song subsequently debuted at number thirteen on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles on the same day.[9] It made its debut entry in the Hot 100 at 98 two weeks later. It jumped 76 positions on the Hot 100 in its third week on the chart, from 93 to 17, with 71,000 digital downloads,[10] becoming Underwood's fifth top twenty hit on the chart. As of May 2012, the single has been certified Platinum.

The song also became Underwood's fourth number one single on the Billboard country music charts, holding the peak position for three weeks, and her fifth consecutive number one country single overall. On the chart week of December 22, 2007, the song fell from number one to number ten, the biggest fall from number one since 1996, when Shania Twain's "You Win My Love" fell from number one to number eleven.

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[11] 14
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 17
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[13] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2007) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[14] 37


Preceded by Billboard Hot Country Songs
number-one single
December 1-December 15, 2007 		Succeeded by

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Canada August 14, 2007 Music download Sony Music
Australia
United States[3] August 28, 2007 Arista Nashville
Canada Airplay Sony Music
Australia
United States Arista Nashville
New Zealand October 20, 2007 Music download Sony Music

Cover versions

American Idol 2009 finalist Matt Giraud performed this song during Grand Ole Opry week.

Awards and nominations

2010 CMA Triple-Play Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2010 "So Small" Triple-Play Songwriter (along with "All-American Girl", "Last Name") Won

2008 CMT Music Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2008 "So Small" Female Video of the Year Nominated

14th Inspirational Country Music Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2008 "So Small" Inspirational Country Music Video of the Year Nominated

2008 BMI Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2008 "So Small" Songwriter of the Year (Carrie Underwood) Won

References

  1. ^ Darden, Beville. "Carrie Underwood Debuts New Music". Music.AOL.com. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
  2. ^ "Carrie Underwood's New Single Arrives". CMT.com. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
  3. ^ a b "So Small - Single". Phobos.apple.com. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  4. ^ "Videos: Carrie Underwood, "So Small"". CMT.com. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  5. ^ "Carrie Underwood official site". Retrieved 2007-09-20.
  6. ^ "Carrie Underwood's "So Small" Sets Country Music Record". CountryStandardTime.com. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  7. ^ "Underwood Tries For Encore With 'Carnival Ride'". Billboard. Retrieved September 9, 2007.
  8. ^ "New Swift Single Poised to Make Digital Chart Debut" (PDF). Billboard. August 20, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "So Small" Debut Position on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles on August 9, 2007. Billboard. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
  10. ^ "Soulja Boy 'Cranks' Hot 100 No. 1 With Debut Single", Billboard.com, September 6, 2007.
  11. ^ "Carrie Underwood Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  12. ^ "Carrie Underwood Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  13. ^ "Carrie Underwood Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  14. ^ "Best of 2007: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2012.

"So Small" video at CMT.com

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