Kenny Chesney - "Til It's Gone"

[sabre14]

Artist: Kenny Chesney
Single: "Til It's Gone"
Writers: David Lee Murphy, Jimmy Yeary, Rodney Clawson
Album: The Big Revival
Label: Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville
Add Date: October 13th, 2014
Source: Sirius/XM

Listen: All Access




Kenny announced this as the second single from The Big Revival with Storme Warren on The Highway today. He mentioned it will be sent to country radio in the next few days.

Chart Run: 49* - 40* - 34* - 23* - 19* - 14* - 13* - 11* - 10* - 8* - 6* - 4* - 3* - 2* - 1* - 5 - 14 (Mediabase)

[Kurt]

Under Cool New Music (album version + radio edit) on AllAccess.

Cover art:

[dm2081]

Great choice, of the songs I've heard it was one of the most memorable. Should be another top 5 hit for Kenny.

[zjames]

On my first listen, I'm not crazy about it. It feels like a big letdown after "American Kids". Maybe when I listen to the full album it will click with me.

[sabre14]

Goes for adds on October 13th, via All Access

[Deleted]

What's up with the recent influx of releases that actually sound like country songs? That's nice for a change.

Not sure this is a #1, but could see it going 3-6. I would have expected something stronger/more powerful/melodic for a second single.

[rsmatto]

Sept 22, 2014 20:49:15 GMT -5 @nickv1025 said:

What's up with the recent influx of releases that actually sound like country songs? That's nice for a change.

Not sure this is a #1, but could see it going 3-6. I would have expected something stronger/more powerful/melodic for a second single.

Country labels reacting to the anti-bro backlash at radio with programmers (though research has proven that there are only a handful of true 'bro' songs, even if many recent hits had similar sounds or fragments of 'bro' themes).

[Deleted]

This sounds great, i'm really happy with this album and the momentum from Anerican Kids should help it do well. Gotta say, with songs like this, Say You Do, Lonely Eyes, Lay Low, Drinking Class,Kiss You Tonight,and She Don't Love You country radio is definently looking a hell of a lot better

[someguy]

Great song, and solid choice for the second single. I'm a big fan of David Lee Murphy's writing, and I love the interpretation of some of his past work that Kenny has done ("Just Not Today", "Living In Fast Forward", etc.) so this is a winning combo for me. I love that there are a few David Lee songs on Kenny's new album.

[justme60]

Nothing that special to me. Wild Child and American Kids are the only songs I like off this album so far.

[goodsoul81]

[Deleted]

I didn't want to bump the "American Kids" thread, but dang, that song is still selling incredibly well. It's still at #6 on the iTunes country chart, trailing only Jason, FGL, Blake, Carrie, and Sam Hunt. I feel like "American Kids" is a lot bigger hit than its chart run shows. Kenny only got 1 week at #1 on each chart (although it was different weeks) while Dustin Lynch got 2 weeks at #1 on Billboard and cracked 50 million there as well, and yet Dustin's song fell way harder and faster than Kenny's did, and Dustin is at #27 on iTunes now. Most recent recurrents hold up pretty well on iTunes for many weeks after they've fallen off the chart, but Kenny's hold has been incredible.

"Til It's Gone" is off to a pretty typical Kenny-fast start, but I don't see this one being a huge download. It should go at least top 5 but I'm thinking this song will be more like a "Reality" or "Live A Little" for Kenny, and less like a "Somewhere With You", "You And Tequila", "Come Over", and "American Kids". I really like this one, although it is rather plain. It just doesn't stand out as much as some of his recent mega-hits and so that's why I don't think this will be quite as big for him as those other songs were.

TIG is at #85 on iTunes right now, but it's still really early yet. Even so, the new Tim and Brad singles flew up iTunes quite quickly. Tim is now in the top 10 (!!!) and Brad is at #13. That's really impressive for those guys.

I imagine that TIG will be top 20 on iTunes after another 2-3 weeks' of airplay 'growth'.

[straitfan87]

Great follow up single to American Kids. Really liking this song

[zjames]

This still isn't doing much for me. It sounds like standard-Chesney and will obviously be a big radio hit. But something about it isn't sparking the interest that a new Kenny Chesney single usually does for me. This is the same way I felt about some of his singles from Hemingway's Whiskey like "Live a Little" and "Reality". "Til It's Gone" falls into that same category of middle-of-the-road Chesney singles.

I'd say it is one of the weakest songs on a very strong album. The verses are a little boring and don't really build to the chorus.

But this is a very radio-friendly song that will obviously become a top 5 hit at least. Even though I don't find this a particularly strong song, I'm still rooting for it to keep Chesney's momentum alive.

[dm2081]

It's funny because I actually prefer this to American Kids, and to the previous similar sounding singles like Live A Little and Reality. This chorus is just straight ear candy on this one and it stays stuck in my head all day. I'm hoping this can be another #1 for him. It's off to a fantastic start.

[onebuffalo]

Oct 21, 2014 19:13:02 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

It's funny because I actually prefer this to American Kids, and to the previous similar sounding singles like Live A Little and Reality. This chorus is just straight ear candy on this one and it stays stuck in my head all day. I'm hoping this can be another #1 for him. It's off to a fantastic start.

I agree. Columbia really wants to establish Kenny Chesney as a chart dominating force again after Life On A Rock stunted his performance (singles wise). Chart topper #24 is in the bag.

[onebuffalo]

Kenny Chesney/Jason Aldean tour:

theboot.com/kenny-chesney-jason-aldean-2015-stadium-concerts/

[sabre14]

This song is absolutely on fire right now. Its already up 808 spins and 5.4 million in audience since last Sunday with one day left to go on MB. This coming off the heels of "Til It's Gone" increasing 475 spins and 3.5 million in audience last week, and jumping from #34 to #23 the week before that. It will at least move up from #19 to #15. I don't believe Kenny can surpass Scotty or the free falling Brantley by tomorrow's final update but you never know.

[someguy]

Nov 1, 2014 13:44:04 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

This song is absolutely on fire right now. Its already up 808 spins and 5.4 million in audience since last Sunday with one day left to go on MB. This coming off the heels of "Til It's Gone" increasing 475 spins and 3.5 million in audience last week, and jumping from #34 to #23 the week before that. It will at least move up from #19 to #15. I don't believe Kenny can surpass Scotty or the free falling Brantley by tomorrow's final update but you never know.

He'll at least pass Brantley on Billboard this week, because Brantley will go recurrent. This song has such huge momentum. It looks like so far Kenny is succeeding in reasserting his place in the industry with this, "American Kids", and his album sales so far.

[dm2081]

I think some artists could learn a lesson from Kenny. Sometimes taking a long enough break really helps build a bigger desire for some newer material. Kenny had quite a bit of time pass since When I See This Bar, and I think that gave a decent enough break for both fans and radio. Now that he's back, people can't get enough. Seems like so many people like to rush new albums these days (Like Blake Shelton for example).

[Deleted]

While I agree that this one is certainly on fire, I don't know why that would be a surprise. Sure, his last 'era' underperformed a bit, but he's following up a huge #1 hit here, and we're also seeing multiple songs collapsing at the same time (FGL, Brantley, Chase, Miranda/Carrie, RF, etc)...as a result radio is looking to put the next batch of songs into higher rotation, and naturally a brand new Kenny Chesney single is going to be one of their first choices.

I have to point out this one's iTunes position--I thought from the beginning that TIG might have some trouble lighting up the sales charts and so far that guess seems to be on-point. Out of all the songs in the top 30, "Til It's Gone" is currently the lowest ranked on iTunes with the only exception being Hunter Hayes' "Tattoo". Dierks Bentley's latest is actually ahead of Kenny on iTunes despite much, much lower airplay levels. Even the songs from Tyler Farr and Canaan Smith are out-selling TIG right now and neither of those two (especially Canaan) is all that well-known among the general public.

I don't think it's necessarily a huge concern because Kenny is obviously going to get into the top 10 with relative ease here, but this song may have a hard time going Gold. It's very radio-friendly, but I see it as more of a "Reality" or "Live A Little"...neither of those 2 songs went Gold despite going #1, whereas "You And Tequila" was a big Platinum hit despite 'only' peaking at #3. I think a song like "Wild Child" would have moved the needle much more among consumers, even though it's not as 'radio-friendly' as "Til It's Gone" is.

So I think that "Wild Child" may have actually been a smarter radio choice, but I'd also throw out "Don't It", "Save It For A Rainy Day", and "Flora-Bama" as suggestions because I think each of those songs would do just as good at radio and also be more likely to outperform a song like "Til It's Gone" on the sales charts.

[sabre14]

^ Perhaps they'd like one more guaranteed radio-friendly #1 song before releasing "Wild Child" (which I too would love to be the follow up). I see a similar scenario to "Live A Little"/"You And Tequila", where you have a fast rising radio-friendly song that sells decently, then a slower rising top 5 hit that sells more. I actually completely agree with them releasing this song second and waiting on a more ballad type song til third - it's actually what I fully expected them to do anyway.

[Marv]

As I pointed out on another thread, he finished fourth in total spins last year despite what statistically was the weakest year chartwise he'd experienced on the singles chart in ages; that ranking was solely based on the strength and depth of his hefty library of hits. 

I also like this song a ton, and while once upon a time I would have taken one look at the tunes between #11 and #20 on the charts, noticed superb singles by Kenny, Brad, Tim & Carrie sprinting up the charts as they used to like clockwork throughout the eighties, nineties and the first half of the 2000s, and thought to myself 'Okay, they're all going to #1 and will spend multiple weeks in the penthouse', those days are sadly behind us.

Nevertheless, Kenny is definitely bound for #1 like the rest of them, and that's fine with me, even if none of them get more than a week on top, which sucks big-time IMHO, but that's showbiz, huh folks?

[onebuffalo]

Nov 1, 2014 22:24:09 GMT -5 Marv said:

As I pointed out on another thread, he finished fourth in total spins last year despite what statistically was the weakest year chartwise he'd experienced on the singles chart in ages; that ranking was solely based on the strength and depth of his hefty library of hits. 

I also like this song a ton, and while once upon a time I would have taken one look at the tunes between #11 and #20 on the charts, noticed superb singles by Kenny, Brad, Tim & Carrie sprinting up the charts as they used to like clockwork throughout the eighties, nineties and the first half of the 2000s, and thought to myself 'Okay, they're all going to #1 and will spend multiple weeks in the penthouse', those days are sadly behind us.

Nevertheless, Kenny is definitely bound for #1 like the rest of them, and that's fine with me, even if none of them get more than a week on top, which sucks big-time IMHO, but that's showbiz, huh folks?

But Kenny Chesney is approaching 70 weeks at #1 with his 23 chart toppers. We'll say his soon to be 24 #1s spend about 70 weeks at top. That's an average of about three weeks per chart topper. NO ONE is ever going to approach the average Webb Pierce has with his #1s and time spent at the top. A lucky 13 chart toppers and 111 weeks at top puts the average at 8.5 weeks per chart topper.

[hosssulpizio]

"Til' It's Gone" is officially Top 15!! Kenny is releasing better songs now which makes me really happy! I felt like the last two albums he released were not as great as Hemingway's Whiskey and The Big Revival.

[dm2081]

Wow, the sales are really far behind on this one. The song is getting close to the top 10, and it's currently at #45 on iTunes country chart. This one might struggle to reach Gold at the rate it's going. Not sure why this song is way underselling compared, especially since Kenny seemed to gain some popularity back following "American Kids".

[Ten Pound Hammer]

This one isn't doing much for me after about four listens. Surprised since I've greatly enjoyed almost everything Kenny's put out going as far back as When the Sun Goes Down.

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2014 22:20:02 GMT -5 dm2081 said:

Wow, the sales are really far behind on this one. The song is getting close to the top 10, and it's currently at #45 on iTunes country chart. This one might struggle to reach Gold at the rate it's going. Not sure why this song is way underselling compared, especially since Kenny seemed to gain some popularity back following "American Kids".

I've been saying since the jump that this one has been a poor-seller and I'm actually not too surprised. I think it will still go top 3 but I expect it to end up more along the lines of "Ain't Back Yet", "Reality", or "Live A Little"...some of his recent hits that aren't nearly as well remembered (or as heavily-played) as bigger hits like "Somewhere With You", "You And Tequila", "Come Over", and now "American Kids". One thing that is rather ironic, however, is that "Til It's Gone" has moved up to #1 on the Callout America chart that Billboard publishes...listeners apparently like it a lot but it would seem as if they don't find it memorable enough to purchase it as a standalone download. "Wild Child" is likely to be a much bigger digital hit, and I'm expecting that to be Kenny's next single. He talks about it again in the latest Billboard issue, of which Kenny is on the cover.

Billboard cover image:



Link to article:

www.billboard.com/articles/news/6319528/billboard-cover-kenny-chesney-on-the-big-revival-country-music-sexism?facebook_20141114

Kenny is quoted as saying "Over the last several years, it seems like anytime anybody sings about a woman, she's in cutoff jeans, drinking and on a tailgate -- they objectify the hell out of them," he says. "Twenty years ago, I might have written a song like that -- I probably did. But I'm at a point where I want to say something different about women." From there it segues into some discussion about "Wild Child", Kenny's upcoming tour and his overall touring statistics, and a bunch of other stuff.

It's a pretty great read. I definitely recommend it to y'all :)

ETA: Was reading through many of the comments on Billboard's Facebook page...the vast majority are overwhelmingly in favor of Kenny and against bro-country. Many of the commenters even brought up Maddie & Tae's "Girl In A Country Song" as an example of a good song that calls out today's popular country music.

[43dudleyvillas]

While I appreciate Kenny's comments, they are a bit odd when juxtaposed against the artist lineup for his upcoming tour, which will include Cole Swindell, Chase Rice, and a bunch of mega-shows with Jason Aldean. Now, to be fair, he has featured Kacey Musgraves and Grace Potter on his tours in the past few years. I also appreciate that Kenny presents his interest in saying something different about women as the by-product of growing up. On the other hand, I think that "Wild Child" replaces a really tired, reductive female archetype with a different but equally hollow archetype. It's nice that the "wild child" is a free spirit, that she has an independence of mind that bro country never seems to recognize in women. But the lyrics don't flesh out her character out into something interesting or original.

Basically, I'm torn between wanting to take Kenny's comments at face value (because I do think there is value in one of the format's leading men speaking up about the portrayal of women on country radio and about the lack of originality in the songs that have dominated country radio over the past couple of years) and wondering if Kenny's many media comments about evolving past overused "bro country" formulas and having something different to say about women are an empty marketing ploy not sufficiently backed up by quality music or his upcoming tour presentation.

[justme60]

He's pretty hypocritical, IMO.