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You (Chris Young song)

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"You"
Song

"You" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released in September 2011 as the second single from his album Neon. Young wrote the song with Luke Laird. The song is about a lover being told that her charm is the only thing that affects him the most.

The song received mixed reviews from critics who were critical of its lackluster hook and content similar to Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee" and Jason Aldean's "Big Green Tractor". "You" was Young's fifth consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also became his third top 40 hit on the Hot 100, peaking at number 34. The song was certified Platinum for selling over a million digital copies in the United States.

The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Chris Hicky, was shot in black-and-white and shows Young as a gas station attendant attracting the attention of three different women in various colored clothing.

Content

In this song, the narrator sings to his lover that no one else affects him the way she does. Young told Country Weekly that when meeting songwriter Luke Laird for the first time, Laird said, "let's just get a groove going and see what comes out." When they were finished, Young decided to call the song "You". Young decided to add lines about how the narrator's life "got a whole new direction" to make it more serious in tone. Both of them also called the song "simple and straightforward".[1]

The main chord pattern on the song is A-F♯m7-Bm7-Bm7/E, which is performed three times on both verses followed by a C♯m7-Cm7-Bm7-Bm7/E pattern at the end of each verse. The chorus also uses the original pattern four times before ending on an A chord.[1]

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews from music critics. Billy Dukes of Taste of Country described the song as "more sensual than sexy", and stated that the chorus was the most memorable part of the song.[2] Kyle Ward of Roughstock gave the song a three-out-of-five star rating, stating that the song "does an OK job, it's clear that Young and co-writer Luke Laird intended [it] to be a charmer in the vein of Blake Shelton's 'Honey Bee' or Jason Aldean's 'Big Green Tractor', but it falls well short of [those] songs, in large part to a clumsy hook."[3]Reviewing the album, Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine felt that this song, along with "Old Love Feels New" and "I Can Take It From There", had content too similar to other country songs and lacked a "distinctive point of view."[4]

Music video

The music video was directed by Chris Hicky and premiered in September 2011.[5] It features a black-and-white background, while several of the objects in the video (cars, clothes, etc.) are shown in color. In the video, Young is seen working as a gas station attendant. A woman in a red sports car pulls up, and Young fills her car up with gas, and washes it. Just then, a woman in a yellow car pulls into the gas station, and Young washes her windshield. As he places a tire in the back of a dark blue pick up, a third woman, in a turquoise-colored car, pulls into the gas station, and he puts air in her tire and checks her engine. At the end, Young puts a guitar in the back of the dark blue pickup (revealed to be his pickup), and drives away in it. He sees the three ladies that he helped, and waves to them. Young is shown in his gas station uniform, playing guitar, throughout the video.[5]

Chart performance

"You" debuted at number 60 on the country music chart dated September 10, 2011.[citation needed]

Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6] 66
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 34

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 95
Chart (2012) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[10] 11
Preceded by Billboard Hot Country Songs
number-one single
February 11, 2012 		Succeeded by

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[11] Platinum 1,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Paxman, Bob (February 20, 2012). "Behind the song: First time's a charm". Country Weekly. 19 (9): 16–17.
  2. ^ Dukes, Billy (July 29, 2011). "Chris Young – "You" Song Review". Taste of Country. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Ward, Kyle (September 12, 2011). "Chris Young – "You"". Roughstock. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  4. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (July 12, 2011). "Chris Young: Neon". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "CMT : Videos : Chris Young : You". Country Music Television. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  6. ^ "Chris Young Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. ^ "Chris Young Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  8. ^ "Chris Young Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  9. ^ "Best of 2011: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  10. ^ "Best of 2012: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  11. ^ "American single certifications – Chris Young – You". Recording Industry Association of America.
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