"How Not To" is a song 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 ...

duo

Dan + Shay Dan + Shay is an American country pop duo composed of vocalists and songwriters Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. They are signed to Warner Records Nashville and have released six albums, '' Where It All Began'', '' Obsessed'', '' Dan + Shay'', '' ...

for their second studio album, '' Obsessed'' (2016). Written by Adam Hambrick, Paul DiGiovanni, and

Kevin Bard Kevin Bard (born 1990/1991) is an American multi-platinum songwriter and producer born in East Meadow, New York. He is best known as the lead singer of Stereo Skyline and released their debut album '' Stuck on Repeat'' under Columbia Records. C ...

, the song is one of only two tracks on the album not co-written by Dan and Shay. A mid-tempo country ballad, the song is about the struggle to move on from a breakup, only for those emotions about the former lover to come back. It was released to country radio September 26, 2016 through Warner Bros. Nashville as the album's second single. The song received positive reviews from critics, who generally praised the duo's vocal performances. "How Not To" gave the duo their third consecutive number-one hit on the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since October 20, 2012, although the magazine also retrospectively recognizes the Hot Country Songs charts from January 20, 1990, through October 13, 2012, ...

chart. It also peaked at numbers 7 and 57 on both the

Hot Country Songs 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

and

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

charts respectively. The song was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

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 ...

(RIAA), and has sold 158,000 copies as of July 2017. It also charted in Canada, reaching number 25 on the

Canada Country The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. Two music videos were made for the song: an "instant grat" where a couple performs an interpretive dance that symbolizes the story from the track, and an official one where actors

Katie Stevens Katherine Mari Stevens (born December 8, 1992) is an American actress and singer, known for finishing in eighth place on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' and starring as Karma Ashcroft in '' Faking It'' and Jane Sloan in '' The Bold Type ...

and

Pierson Fodé Pierson Dane Fodé (born November 6, 1991) is an American actor, Internet personality, and model known for his roles as Brooks on Disney Channel's ''Jessie (2011 TV series), Jessie'' and Ely in the 2015 romantic comedy film ''Naomi and Ely's No ...

portray recovering alcoholics falling in love with each other.

Composition

"How Not To" is a

song written by Adam Hambrick, Paul DiGiovanni, and Kevin Bard and produced by Dan Smyers and

Scott Hendricks Scott Hendricks (born July 26, 1956) is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Off ...

. It is a midtempo ballad with melodic verses that build into a bigger chorus and is instrumented by piano and electric guitar. The song's

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

is accentuated by a "melodic lift." The lyrics describe the difficulty of moving on after a breakup when the narrator's emotions keep drawing him back to that person.

Critical reception

In a review of ''Obsessed'', Annie Reuter of ''Sounds Like Nashville'' wrote that "their ability to translate the emotion in a song they didn’t write like 'How Not To' is the sign of a true artist," and described the song as "poignant." The staff of country music blog ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' praised the vocal performances on the song and called it a likely hit. "Dan + Shay aren't really breaking any new musical ground here," they write, "but wow, do they sound sweet not doing it."

Commercial performance

"How Not To" was the most-added new single on country radio the week of its impact. The song debuted at number 59 on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart dated October 15, 2016. It reached number one on the chart dated July 1, 2017. "How Not To" debuted at number 50 on the

chart dated October 29, 2016. It reached a peak of 7 on the chart dated July 1, 2017. The song has sold 158,000 copies in the US as of July 2017.

Music video

An "instant grat" video accompanying the song was uploaded to the duo's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on May 20, 2016 in promotion of the song's then-upcoming parent album. It features a couple (Lily Molina and Jesse Pattison) engaged in an

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance, as a rebellion against the strict rules of classical ballet ...

that is meant to symbolize the break-up story told in the lyrics. The official music video for the song was directed by Patrick Tracy and premiered January 16, 2017. Starring

and

as recovering

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

s Sophie and Noah, respectively, the video follows the pair as they succumb to self-destructive behavior and fall in love on their journey back to sobriety. The video begins with an

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

meeting, where the pair first meet and bond. Most of the video is framed as a flashback, showing how their addiction got the best of each of them and began negatively affecting their day-to-day life. Towards the end, the video shows a one-year sober party for the couple, who celebrate their recovery with a gathering of friends, including Dan and Shay. According to Amanda Wicks of Radio.com, the clip " ooksat how love can save lives;" critics also noted a more "serious" tone compared to the duo's previous videos and praised the video's storyline for imbuing "new meaning" into the lyrics beyond simple relationship drama.

Live performances

The duo appeared on an episode of ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' on September 29, 2016 and performed the song.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Country ballads 2010s ballads Dan + Shay songs Warner Records Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Scott Hendricks Songs written by Adam Hambrick