"Fall", written by
Clay Mills
Clayton Bernard "Clay" Mills is an American songwriter. His credits include the #1 hits " Beautiful Mess" by Diamond Rio and " Don't Think I Don't Think About It" by Darius Rucker, which won Mills an award from ASCAP. Other country music artists ...
,
Sonny LeMaire, and
Shane Minor, is a song that has been recorded by both
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
singer
Clay Walker
Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You", which reached Number One on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Son ...
and
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
singer
Kimberley Locke, both of whom are signed to
Curb Records
Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of M ...
. Both versions were released within weeks of each other, in mid-2007. While Walker's version was released to
country radio Country radio refers to radio stations that play country music. Most country radio stations are commercial radio stations. Most country radio stations usually play only music which has been officially released to country radio by record labels. The ...
, Locke's went to
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
radio format. Walker's reached number five on the U.S. country singles charts and Locke's achieved number one on the U.S. dance charts.
Go West frontman
Peter Cox recorded a version of "Fall" on his 2010 album, ''The S1 Sessions''.
Content
"Fall" is a mid-tempo
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
in which the narrator addresses a lover who has had a bad day. The narrator then offers moral support to the lover: "Fall, go on and lose it all / Every doubt, every fear / Every worry, every tear".
Clay Walker version
Walker's version, the first version of the song to be released, was the second single from his 2007 album, which was also titled ''
Fall''. A music video was issued on October 17, 2007.
[Curb Records News](_blank)
Curb.com
Background
Walker stated that Fall was one of his favorite songs on his album. He also said after recording the track that “Keith stood up and high-fived the engineer when we got done with the vocal and I thought, that’s the first that I’ve ever seen that, maybe he was just glad that I got all the lyrics right, it was refreshing to know there wasn’t a lot of wasted time in the studio with Keith. He knows what he wants and he communicates that with the musicians really well."
In an interview with ''
The Flint Journal'' Walker said, "'Fall' was a huge hit for us. I think people are going to want to see us and ticket sales are already going up. As long as people want to hear us -- and I feel like they do -- we're going to get out and give it to them."
Critical reception
Chuck Taylor of ''
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 ...
'' wrote "Walker's rich, confident baritone offers all the more reassurance, as does his self-assured smile". Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B+ rating and wrote, "This is another good single from an artist who has fully come into his own."
Music video
Roman White directed the song's music video.
Live performances
Walker performed the song on ''
The Montel Williams Show'' on April 11, 2008.
Chart performance
His version of the song debuted at #59 on the
Hot Country Songs chart dated April 7, 2007.
[Morris, Edward. ''CMT']
Willie, Merle, Ray and Bon Jovi Make Chart Surges
(March 31, 2007) It charted for 37 weeks and peaked at #5 on the country chart dated November 17, 2007. It became his first Top Ten country hit since "
I Can't Sleep", which reached #9 in late 2003-early 2004. This version also peaked at #56 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, his first peak on that chart since "I Can't Sleep".
Charts
Year-end charts
Kimberley Locke version
Kimberley Locke covered the song as the third single from her album ''
Based on a True Story'', which was released only 2 weeks after Clay Walker's album. Locke's version was released to
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
radio on February 25, 2008, with club remixes following in April.
''
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 ...
'' reviewed the single as "a stunning showcase for the versatile vocalist" and suggests this may be her most satisfying single yet along with "
8th World Wonder".
[Taylor, Chuc]
Fall
Billboard Magazine
Track listings and formats
*US promotional single - CURBD-2073
# "Fall (radio edit) - 3:16
*US promotional remixes maxi single - CURBD-2087
# "Fall" (Bimbo Jones extended mix) - 7:22
# "Fall" (Almighty club mix) - 7:03
# "Fall" (Piper extended club mix) - 7:48
# "Fall" (Scotty K vocal Klub mix) - 6:54
# "Fall" (Almighty dub) - 6:40
# "Fall" (Bimbo Jones radio edit) - 3:33
# "Fall" (Almighty radio edit) - 3:21
# "Fall" (Piper radio edit) - 3:53
# "Fall" (Scotty K radio edit) - 3:48
*Digital maxi single / The Radio Edits EP
# "Fall" (Bimbo Jones radio edit) - 3:32
# "Fall" (Almighty radio edit) - 3:22
# "Fall" (Piper radio edit) - 3:53
# "Fall" (Scotty K radio edit) - 3:48
*Digital maxi single / The Extended Mixes EP
# "Fall" (Bimbo Jones extended mix) - 7:21
# "Fall" (Almighty club mix) - 7:03
# "Fall" (Piper extended club mix) - 7:47
# "Fall" (Scotty K vocal Klub mix) - 6:54
Chart performance
See also
*
Number-one dance hits of 2008 (USA)
The ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart ranks the most-played songs being played in dance clubs throughout the United States. Under the title Hot Dance Club Play in 2008, the first number-one song of the year was Dave Gahan's "Kingdom", and it ra ...
References
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Clay Walker songs
Kimberley Locke songs
2007 singles
2008 singles
Songs written by Shane Minor
Music videos directed by Roman White
Songs written by Clay Mills
Song recordings produced by Keith Stegall
Curb Records singles
Songs written by Sonny LeMaire
2007 songs