Jake Owen - "What We Ain't Got"

[Kentucky25]

Saw Jake (among many other artists) in Louisville last Wednesday at Coyote's Acoustic Concert, it was a retirement show for Coyote Calhoun (local DJ for 35 years) and he performed this song. The crowd really seems to enjoy it, it got the whole "cell phone/lighters" reaction and Jake was surprisingly one of the more popular artists there. This is with Toby Keith, LBT, Chris Young, and about 10 others. Jake probably got the loudest cheers of the night.

[sbp17]

I don't believe I've posted in this thread yet but I quite like this song. To what extent "time of year" matters with single releases, if this can survive the holiday, the cold winter months might help this float a bit longer. I hope so because it is one of my favorites at the moment.

[surfy]

I like a few songs from him (Eight Second Ride, The One That Got Away, Anywhere With You) but he's a real hit and miss with me, and this unfortunately is the latter.

[dm2081]

It's starting to become "poop or get off the potty time" for this song, if everyone can pardon my language. It managed to survive the holiday freeze, but now it really needs to start gaining audience if it's ever going to be a hit. Jake has already been passed by Blake and Jason, which isn't much of a surprise, but Chris Young, Lady Antebellum with their mundane single choice and Cole Swindell have all passed What We Ain't Got on Billboard. It's officially the winter months now, which should help this song, but I still remain skeptical about the chances of this song becoming a top 5 at this point. It looks like both Dan + Shay, Parmalee, and perhaps David Nail should all be going recurrent soon, which should help. But the next few weeks are going to be critical for determining the future success of this song IMO.

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2015 17:51:29 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

It's starting to become "poop or get off the potty time" for this song, if everyone can pardon my language. It managed to survive the holiday freeze, but now it really needs to start gaining audience if it's ever going to be a hit. Jake has already been passed by Blake and Jason, which isn't much of a surprise, but Chris Young, Lady Antebellum with their mundane single choice and Cole Swindell have all passed What We Ain't Got on Billboard. It's officially the winter months now, which should help this song, but I still remain skeptical about the chances of this song becoming a top 5 at this point. It looks like both Dan + Shay, Parmalee, and perhaps David Nail should all be going recurrent soon, which should help. But the next few weeks are going to be critical for determining the future success of this song IMO.

Well I'm no expert at the charts but it currently looks like "What We Ain't Got" has the most spins out of anyone in the top 30. Whether its the wacky holiday stuff this time of year making it that way idk, but I too hope it has legs. It's by far my favorite thing out there currently

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2015 18:06:58 GMT -5 zack97 said:

Jan 7, 2015 17:51:29 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

It's starting to become "poop or get off the potty time" for this song, if everyone can pardon my language. It managed to survive the holiday freeze, but now it really needs to start gaining audience if it's ever going to be a hit. Jake has already been passed by Blake and Jason, which isn't much of a surprise, but Chris Young, Lady Antebellum with their mundane single choice and Cole Swindell have all passed What We Ain't Got on Billboard. It's officially the winter months now, which should help this song, but I still remain skeptical about the chances of this song becoming a top 5 at this point. It looks like both Dan + Shay, Parmalee, and perhaps David Nail should all be going recurrent soon, which should help. But the next few weeks are going to be critical for determining the future success of this song IMO.

Well I'm no expert at the charts but it currently looks like "What We Ain't Got" has the most spins out of anyone in the top 30. Whether its the wacky holiday stuff this time of year making it that way idk, but I too hope it has legs. It's by far my favorite thing out there currently

The spin gains are all still inflated because of the New Year's gains. The bullets should decrease to normal levels over the next 2 days or so.

I'm not too worried about this one yet. It's obvious that it's the last single from the album, so I think RCA will stick with this one until it's 35 or even 40 weeks old. I don't know if it will go top 5 but I think it still has a pretty decent chance at getting into the top 10. Chris Young will probably stay ahead, but I think Jake will probably re-pass Lady A (I don't expect "Freestyle" to get much higher, actually). Cole and Dierks are probably going to be threats, though, and possibly the new ZBB song as well as Sam Hunt's "Take Your Time".

David Nail should go recurrent on Monday, and not long after we'll have Tim and Parmalee leaving as well. I could also see Chase Bryant, Darius Rucker, and RaeLynn all peaking in the next 1-2 months.

[Daryl the Beryl]

Thiss song reminds me of Staind's "Something to Remind You". And that's a compliment.

[Daryl the Beryl]

Top 20 on Mediabase:

21 20 JAKE OWEN What We Ain't Got 3198 3030 168 18.663

With this song taking so long to enter the Top 20, I wonder whether this reaches top 10, which would be great.

[rsmatto]

Jan 19, 2015 7:33:20 GMT -5 Daryl the Beryl said:

Top 20 on Mediabase:

21 20 JAKE OWEN What We Ain't Got 3198 3030 168 18.663

With this song taking so long to enter the Top 20, I wonder whether this reaches top 10, which would be great.

His label's promo team will do everything they can to get it Top 10 and with that, likely Gold. But that doesn't mean it WILL get there.

[slbs5]

I hope it does , I really like this song and Jake is becoming one of my favorite artists

[onebuffalo]

Finally in the top 20 on the airplay chart after 26 weeks on. Almost approaching a quarter million in sales. I think we can now call this a hit for Jake Owen.

[rsmatto]

Jan 22, 2015 13:30:38 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Finally in the top 20 on the airplay chart after 26 weeks on. Almost approaching a quarter million in sales. I think we can now call this a hit for Jake Owen.

Yup and it'll only sell more as it rises up the Top 20 (where it'll likely start to pick up speed now).

[surfy]

Dec 22, 2014 23:04:17 GMT -5 surfy said:

I like a few songs from him (Eight Second Ride, The One That Got Away, Anywhere With You) but he's a real hit and miss with me, and this unfortunately is the latter.

UPDATE: I actually like this song now! Turns out it's a grower!

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2015 23:41:22 GMT -5 surfy said:

Dec 22, 2014 23:04:17 GMT -5 surfy said:

I like a few songs from him (Eight Second Ride, The One That Got Away, Anywhere With You) but he's a real hit and miss with me, and this unfortunately is the latter.

UPDATE: I actually like this song now! Turns out it's a grower!

Same here. I listened to his whole album after hearing Beachin' last summer and this originally was just hit or miss to me, but I got into it after he made it an official single. :)

[dm2081]

Taste of Country has an article about 11 most anticipated albums of 2015 (none on there that us and Pulse aren't aware of), and in the article Jake allegedly says he wants to cut more songs like "What We Ain't Got" on there. Time will tell if he sticks to his guns on recording more meaningful songs, though I don't think he's gotten enough credit for some of his album cuts.

[countrymusic20]

Looks like this is gonna be a 30 WEEK peak at #15 on media base and is at 275k downloads. This is a pretty big fail considering that Jake had 3 or 4 other songs on this record that would have easily cruised up the chart in the wake of Beachin'. Hope Jake learned that you don't pick a single cuz you "want someone to take you seriously" or "want to be nominated for song of the year".

[.indulgecountry]

Feb 17, 2015 10:35:45 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

Looks like this is gonna be a 30 WEEK peak at #15 on media base and is at 275k downloads. This is a pretty big fail considering that Jake had 3 or 4 other songs on this record that would have easily cruised up the chart in the wake of Beachin'. Hope Jake learned that you don't pick a single cuz you "want someone to take you seriously" or "want to be nominated for song of the year".

If this peaks where it's at then it performed basically the exact same as lead single "Days of Gold," and that sounded like a totally safe radio hit, so I completely disagree with this.

[Deleted]

Jake's struggles with this album are odd to say the least. I think he has a lot of potential, both as a vocalist and a performer. The update this morning was not promising, and I see virtually no chance of releasing any more singles after this one (as if there was any doubt).

I do think he will come back with a stronger album in a new direction. Hopefully he cans Joey Moi, as there have been times where instrumentally I cannot tell a Jake Owen song from a Florida Georgia Line song from a RaeLynn song.

[rsmatto]

Feb 17, 2015 10:35:45 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

Looks like this is gonna be a 30 WEEK peak at #15 on media base and is at 275k downloads. This is a pretty big fail considering that Jake had 3 or 4 other songs on this record that would have easily cruised up the chart in the wake of Beachin'. Hope Jake learned that you don't pick a single cuz you "want someone to take you seriously" or "want to be nominated for song of the year".

They picked it because of its lyrical depth. And like @.indulgedcountry said, it's done about what "Days Of Gold" did. So I don't see why it'd be considered a failure. Just because YOU think that "3 or 4 other songs on this record would've easily cruised up the chart" doesn't make it so. Beachin was/is also a heavy reccurent single. Many at radio was SLOW to add this one. Remember, Martina McBride's most-iconic single, "Independence Day" was ALSO not a Top 10 hit and it had people taking her seriously (it also won songwriter Gretchen Peters awards). Jake and his team should consider the fact that this slow, heartbreaking song made it to as high as it has as a WIN not a "pretty big fail." There's no reward in playing it safe and if anything, it means that Jake Owen will be able to release songs that aren't just about partying and beaches and that he's more than that "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" guy, which is EXACTLY what he and his management and his label were going for with the brilliant "What We Ain't Got."

[Uncle Lumpy]

Feb 17, 2015 10:35:45 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

Looks like this is gonna be a 30 WEEK peak at #15 on media base and is at 275k downloads. This is a pretty big fail considering that Jake had 3 or 4 other songs on this record that would have easily cruised up the chart in the wake of Beachin'. Hope Jake learned that you don't pick a single cuz you "want someone to take you seriously" or "want to be nominated for song of the year".

You are absolutely right. How dare Jake put out single that he believed in. Oh the audacity!

[dm2081]

If this song is indeed done, and they don't plan on releasing "Ghost Town" or "Life of the Party", then I hope they have a strong lead single waiting in the wings. If this starts declining this week, then an April release around ACM time would make a lot of sense.

[43dudleyvillas]

Feb 17, 2015 10:35:45 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

Looks like this is gonna be a 30 WEEK peak at #15 on media base and is at 275k downloads.

To be fair, "What We Ain't Got" has sold well over twice as much as Kenny Chesney's "'Til It's Gone," so I guess there are plenty of "pretty big fails" to go around in these transitional times at radio and in the market?

I like "What We Ain't Got" well enough, though it never felt like a big radio hit to me (wasn't alone in that, obviously, based on the discussion here). "Ghost Town" certainly seemed like a more obvious radio hit, but I am utterly unconvinced that it (or any other song from Days of Gold) would have done much to gain Jake much separation from the pack and move the needle for him. Much like Chris Young, I just don't think that he made that kind of album this time around. Here's hoping that inspiration and marketing instincts come together for more of a standout project next time. Personally, I take encouragement from the fact that two out of the three singles from the otherwise safe & bland Days of Gold were risks, even if neither of the risks translates to a #1 song. Obviously, Jake needs impact songs, but I hope that his search for them is conditioned by quality and individuality considerations as a result of his desire for respect.

[zaclord 🌈]

It's a shame that this didn't turn into a bigger hit. I'm so glad Jake and his team released this though, as its easily one of my favorite songs of his.

[countrymusic20]

haha ... I knew that would get everyone going.

.indulgecountry - IMO Days of Gold was a completely brand new sound for jake - definitely not a safe radio single. What We Ain't Got made it 2 out of 3 duds at radio off this record. IMO when you are coming off 4 STRAIGHT #1 songs - anything but a top 5 is considered a fail.

nickv1025 - I agree Nick - odd decision making on this record by Jakes camp. This IS the last single off this record. As of now Jake is NO LONGER working with Joey Moi - but Jake has been known to change his mind on a minute by minute basis - so who knows who will end up doing the next record.

rsmatto - Independence Day - WAS a BRILLIANT song released in the 2nd year of her career. What We AIn't Got is a "good" song released in the 9th year of Jake's career and it performed at radio like a "good" song. Jake and his team should and do consider this a fail because it killed this record. As far as being the Barefoot Blue Jean Night guy ... Sony had all but made up their mind to drop Jake - then they heard the recording of BFBJN - which Jake had cut as a bonus track - and it saved his career and started a run of 4 consecutive #1 songs. Jake should thank his lucky stars for BFBJN

Uncle Lumpy - Just because Jake believed in something doesn't mean it was a good decision. He wanted WWAG released as a single so people would take him more serious and to try to get award show nominations.

43donkeyvillas - Valid point on the sales ... but Kenny's "Til It's Gone" shot up to #1 withoutany hiccups ... What We Ain't Got lost it's bullet more than once and struggled for 30 weeks to #15 on Aircheck and #16 on Billboard. Is What We Ain't Got a big fail? IMO yes - anything but a top 5 for Jake is a fail at this point. Is Til It's Gone a a fail for Kenny? IMO no - a #1 is a #1 and it'll sound great at his stadium shows this summer with everyone singing along.

[Uncle Lumpy]

Feb 17, 2015 22:24:20 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

haha ... I knew that would get everyone going.

.indulgecountry - IMO Days of Gold was a completely brand new sound for jake - definitely not a safe radio single. What We Ain't Got made it 2 out of 3 duds at radio off this record. IMO when you are coming off 4 STRAIGHT #1 songs - anything but a top 5 is considered a fail.

nickv1025 - I agree Nick - odd decision making on this record by Jakes camp. This IS the last single off this record. As of now Jake is NO LONGER working with Joey Moi - but Jake has been known to change his mind on a minute by minute basis - so who knows who will end up doing the next record.

rsmatto - Independence Day - WAS a BRILLIANT song released in the 2nd year of her career. What We AIn't Got is a "good" song released in the 9th year of Jake's career and it performed at radio like a "good" song. Jake and his team should and do consider this a fail because it killed this record. As far as being the Barefoot Blue Jean Night guy ... Sony had all but made up their mind to drop Jake - then they heard the recording of BFBJN - which Jake had cut as a bonus track - and it saved his career and started a run of 4 consecutive #1 songs. Jake should thank his lucky stars for BFBJN

Uncle Lumpy - Just because Jake believed in something doesn't mean it was a good decision. He wanted WWAG released as a single so people would take him more serious and to try to get award show nominations.

43donkeyvillas - Valid point on the sales ... but Kenny's "Til It's Gone" shot up to #1 withoutany hiccups ... What We Ain't Got lost it's bullet more than once and struggled for 30 weeks to #15 on Aircheck and #16 on Billboard. Is What We Ain't Got a big fail? IMO yes - anything but a top 5 for Jake is a fail at this point. Is Til It's Gone a a fail for Kenny? IMO no - a #1 is a #1 and it'll sound great at his stadium shows this summer with everyone singing along.

Look man , we get it. You thought this was a bad choice for a single. Honestly it didnt take 25 posts in a 6 page thread to let us know your opinion (yeah , I actually counted). Of course the label could have sold more singles by choosing a more radio ready song. But some of us believe if singers are going to be labeled "artists" they should have the slightest control over their own careers. Feel free to post another 25 times how this song was a complete & utter failure if you like. But by today's standards a song that sold 275,000 copies isnt nothing to sneeze at , especially considering radio refused to push the song up the charts despite those sales.

[Markus Meyer]

Why do you take so much pleasure in seeing this song "fail"? Honestly, I'm pleased at the successes of this song.

[rsmatto]

Feb 17, 2015 22:24:20 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

haha ... I knew that would get everyone going.

.indulgecountry - IMO Days of Gold was a completely brand new sound for jake - definitely not a safe radio single. What We Ain't Got made it 2 out of 3 duds at radio off this record. IMO when you are coming off 4 STRAIGHT #1 songs - anything but a top 5 is considered a fail.

nickv1025 - I agree Nick - odd decision making on this record by Jakes camp. This IS the last single off this record. As of now Jake is NO LONGER working with Joey Moi - but Jake has been known to change his mind on a minute by minute basis - so who knows who will end up doing the next record.

rsmatto - Independence Day - WAS a BRILLIANT song released in the 2nd year of her career. What We AIn't Got is a "good" song released in the 9th year of Jake's career and it performed at radio like a "good" song. Jake and his team should and do consider this a fail because it killed this record. As far as being the Barefoot Blue Jean Night guy ... Sony had all but made up their mind to drop Jake - then they heard the recording of BFBJN - which Jake had cut as a bonus track - and it saved his career and started a run of 4 consecutive #1 songs. Jake should thank his lucky stars for BFBJN

Uncle Lumpy - Just because Jake believed in something doesn't mean it was a good decision. He wanted WWAG released as a single so people would take him more serious and to try to get award show nominations.

43donkeyvillas - Valid point on the sales ... but Kenny's "Til It's Gone" shot up to #1 withoutany hiccups ... What We Ain't Got lost it's bullet more than once and struggled for 30 weeks to #15 on Aircheck and #16 on Billboard. Is What We Ain't Got a big fail? IMO yes - anything but a top 5 for Jake is a fail at this point. Is Til It's Gone a a fail for Kenny? IMO no - a #1 is a #1 and it'll sound great at his stadium shows this summer with everyone singing along.

For someone who seems to dislike Jake Owen (or at least this type of song), you seem to know a lot about him, a lot of stuff that I've never heard before. The stuff about being dropped before that song? I don't know. The label just wanted him to TEST production with Joey Moi before committing to do more tracks, that's what I heard "in the wind" here and it certainly makes sense because before "Barefoot Blue Jean Night," Joey Moi was an unknown to Nashville.

As for wanting to release the single 'so people would take him more seriously and to try to get award show nominations,' I was at the conference where he said all of that. He said he wanted to release the song because it's something he REALLY believed in. He knew it might not work. He said that over and over again. He then said he wanted to take the risk with this song because it was time to take such a risk and it was time to give radio and fans something different from him. He didn't wanna get pigeonholed as a party song only guy. That's what artists want to do. They record the songs and release songs because they believe in them. They may hope for awards but they're not releasing stuff JUST to try and get awards. That's utterly ridiculous if you believe that's the why behind this release. Clearly, you've not heard Jake talk about releasing songs like "What We Ain't Got" before." His records have always had songs like it on them, going back to his first record with "Startin' With Me" and "Ghosts." This is a guy who also knew what the song being successful could do for its writer Travis Meadows, the guy who lived the words of "What We Ain't Got."

Kenny Chesney's a superstar of this format. If HE HAD RELEASED "What We Ain't Got" (or any other superstar of the format: Luke, Blake, even Garth) the single would've been a lot bigger than it's been. Jake Owen's a mid-level singer who radio likes but doesn't need to have on their stations all the time. The fault of this song is not the fact that Jake Owen released it. It's the fact that radio doesn't need him with every single he releases. So what if he ha a string of #1 hits from his previous record and a huge hit in "Beachin'" (which had recurrent airplay affecting this throughout the early run if it), that doesn't make him an instant-add, a-list country radio guy (just like RCA labelmate Chris Young, Eric Church and virtually every other star on the radio aren't).

Finally, just because "Independence Day" was a single from her second album and this one from later in Jake's career doesn't make my point moot. The point was that "Career songs" aren't always Top 10, #1, or huge selling singles.

[dm2081]

Here's what bothers me about this songs chart performance. Radio keeps saying they're tired of the same retread trucks and party songs. Fair enough. But then when someone, a B-lister, releases a quality ballad, they hold it back and don't let it get into maximum rotation. This song has done great in the callout scores, which is supposedly one factor radio considers when creating their playlists. The sales were never great for this song, but they weren't awful either, somewhere in between. We just saw "Till It's Gone" reach #1 with a third of the single sales. Recent #1's like "Beat of the Music", "Lettin' The Bight Roll" and "Like a Cowboy" had no trouble reaching the top of charts with long runs and very moderate sales. There's no reason to justify this song's low peak other than radio being afraid to play a ballad. Nothing indicates this song wasn't liked, nor it being controversial. If radio really wants to see the quality of country music improve, then it starts with them by helping out quality songs on the charts.

[sgtoddball]

I'm a fan of this song but not Jake Owen singing it. I feel like if this song had Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, or Luke Bryan singing it, it would be one of the biggest hits of the year. I have a hard time really connecting or getting moved by this with Jake's voice and persona.

[onebuffalo]

Feb 20, 2015 14:38:30 GMT -5 sgtoddball said:

I'm a fan of this song but not Jake Owen singing it. I feel like if this song had Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, or Luke Bryan singing it, it would be one of the biggest hits of the year. I have a hard time really connecting or getting moved by this with Jake's voice and persona.

First, welcome to Pulse Music Board, sgtoddball.
Second, Jake Owen did take a step back with the Days Of Gold CD. Sure, three singles charted well, but not like the ones from Barefoot Blue Jean Night (four chart toppers there). I was really hoping Owen could step up and become a bona fide star at this point in his career. I hope the next CD will do the trick.