"Burnin' It Down" is a song written by

Rodney Clawson Rodney Dale Clawson (born in Gruver, Texas, United States) is an American country music songwriter. Clawson has written singles recorded by Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Faith Hill, George Strait and Luke Bryan, among others. Biography Cla ...

Chris Tompkins Christopher G. Tompkins (born Muscle Shoals, Alabama) is an American songwriter based in Nashville. Since 2002 he has co-written songs for pop, rock, and country artists Jimmy Buffett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean ...

and

Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line was an American country music duo founded in 2010 by vocalists and songwriters Tyler Hubbard of Georgia and Brian Kelley of Florida. Their 2012 debut single " Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over ...

members

Tyler Hubbard Tyler Reed Hubbard (born January 31, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, and musician, best known as a member of the Nashville-based duo Florida Georgia Line. After that duo went on hiatus in 2021, Hubbard began recording as a solo artist on ...

and Brian Kelley and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Jason Aldean Jason Aldine Williams (born February 28, 1977), known professionally as Jason Aldean, is an American country music singer. Since 2005, he has been signed to BBR Music Group, Broken Bow Records, a record label for which he has released eleven alb ...

. It was released in July 2014 as the first single from Aldean's 2014 album '' Old Boots, New Dirt''. The song won the "Top Country Song" category at the 2015 ''Billboard'' Music Awards, but polarized critics.

Content

The song is a midtempo ballad about a sexual encounter with a lover, inspired by R&B music.

, two of the song's co-writers, originally planned on recording it until Aldean expressed interest in the song. Aldean told

Country Music Television Country Music Television, often abbreviated to CMT, is an American pay TV network that launched on March 5, 1983. It is currently owned by Paramount Global through the MTV Entertainment Group unit of its networks division. CMT was the first na ...

(CMT) that he considered the song "baby making music". He also felt that it was a different song style for him due to it being more sexual in nature and featuring a drum loop.

Critical reception

The single has polarized critics. Leeann Ward of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a D grade, writing that "There’s a line between a passionate love song and a passionless song. There’s lsoa line between a sexy song and a sex filled song. And there’s

ven Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of , and its popul ...

a line between a classy, passionate love song and a classless, passionless sex filled song." Ward also said that “Burnin’ it Down” crosses the line to the latter categories on all accounts." Giving it a B grade, Tammy Ragusa of ''

Country Weekly ''Country Weekly'' (known as ''Nash Country Weekly'' from 2015–16) was an American magazine about country music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site Nash Country Daily. O ...

'' was more favorable, writing that "Jason ldeanproves

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

he can also change things up, which he does dramatically through edgy, urban-and-pop-influenced arrangements and production" and that "the song's sexy lyrics push the boundaries of what might be construed as traditional themes in country music." In a review of '' Old Boots, New Dirt'' for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', Chuck Dauphin praised "Burnin' It Down" as "the most musically adventurous track that Aldean has ever recorded".

Commercial performance

During its first week in release, the song sold 184,000 downloads in the United States and debuted at number 42 on ''Billboard's'' Hot Country Songs chart. In its second week, the song moved from number 42 to 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. On September 29, 2014, the song was certified Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

just nine weeks after release, becoming the fastest single of 2014 to do that. It reached its millionth sales mark in October 2014. As of April 2015, the song has sold 1,589,000 copies in the US. Sales figure give
here
/ref> In Canada, the song sold 15,000 downloads in its debut week.

Music video

The music video was directed by Wes Edwards and premiered in August 2014.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads Jason Aldean songs Songs written by Rodney Clawson Songs written by Chris Tompkins Songs written by Tyler Hubbard Songs written by Brian Kelley (musician) Song recordings produced by Michael Knox (record producer) Music videos directed by Wes Edwards BBR Music Group singles