"Chattahoochee" is a song co-written 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

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

. It was released in May 1993 as the third single from his album '' A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love)''. The album is named for a line in the song itself. Jackson wrote the song with

Jim McBride Jim McBride (born September 16, 1941) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. Legacy Richard Brody, writing for ''The New Yorker'', named McBride as one of the twelve greatest living narrative filmmakers, citing ''David Holzman's D ...

. It is one of Jackson's most popular and well-known songs, being included on his 2015 box set '' Genuine: The Alan Jackson Story''. "Chattahoochee" also received CMA awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.

Background and writing

Alan Jackson talks about the song in the liner notes for his 1995 compilation album, '' The Greatest Hits Collection'': "Jim McBride and I were trying to write an up-tempo song and Jim came in with the line 'way down yonder on the Chattahoochee'. It kind of went from there. It's a song about having fun, growing up, and coming of age in a small town - which really applies to anyone across the country, not just by the Chattahoochee. We never thought it would be as big as it's become."

Content

The song is uptempo and talks about growing up and falling in love along the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

that flows from northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and forms part of the borders that Georgia shares with

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade, saying that the song could have performed well because it "looked back on the innocence of adolescence with bemusement and fondness for that transitional period of life."CountryUniverse.net
Song review

Music video

The music video was directed by Martin Kahan, premiered in May 1993, and uses the extended remix of the song. The video is remembered for Jackson water-skiing in his red cowboy boots and red life vest.

Chart performance

"Chattahoochee" debuted at #72 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of May 15, 1993. It also peaked at #46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Jackson's first Hot 100 entry. It was certified three-times platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America 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 ...

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1993 singles 1992 songs Alan Jackson songs Songs written by Alan Jackson Songs written by Jim McBride (songwriter) Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall Arista Nashville singles Songs about rivers Songs about Georgia (U.S. state)