"How Forever Feels" is a song written by

Wendell Mobley Wendell Lee Mobley (born in Celina, Ohio) is an American country music songwriter. He has written No. 1 hits for Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney. He began playing in local bands before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found a job playin ...

and

Tony Mullins Tony Mullins (born in Pound, Virginia) is an American country music songwriter. Mullins moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1992, where he worked with Byron Gallimore's publishing company. Among his first cuts was Kenny Chesney's " How Forever Feel ...

and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

artist

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

. It was released in December 1998 as the first single from Chesney’s 1999 album ''

Everywhere We Go ''Everywhere We Go'' is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was released on March 2, 1999 via BNA Records. The first in his career to be certified double platinum for sales of two million copies, it produced ...

''. The song reached number one on the U.S. ''

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 ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart and the ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. It also peaked at number 27 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it Chesney's first Top 40 hit on the

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 ...

chart.

Background

Chesney told ''

'' magazine that he almost didn't get to release the song because

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albu ...

had recorded a version. McGraw decided not to release it, and after Chesney's version hit number-one, McGraw told him "I'm glad you cut it. It just didn't work for me." Chesney went on to say that the song originally appealed to him because "it's the only love song I know of that has both

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

and

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notab ...

in it."''

'', June 19, 1999, Page 38. Tim McGraw's version of the song remained unreleased until appearing on his 2016 compilation album ''McGraw: The Ultimate Collection''.

Content

The song's narrator is a young man who talks about how fun his life has been, and there is something missing: a love with his partner he had for a long time.

Music video

The music video was directed by Martin Kahan, and produced by Big Light Pictures. It premiered on CMT on December 11, 1998, during "The CMT Delivery Room". Chesney traveled to St. Thomas VI to film the song's music video, which became Chesney’s first Caribbean beach-inspired video, that became a trademark of him in his future videos.

Chart performance

"How Forever Feels" debuted at number 65 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of December 12, 1998. It spent 6 weeks at #1 in the US.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1998 singles 1998 songs Kenny Chesney songs Song recordings produced by Buddy Cannon Song recordings produced by Norro Wilson Songs written by Wendell Mobley BNA Records singles Songs written by Tony Mullins