"Roll with Me" is a song written by Clint Daniels and Tommy Karlas, 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 ...

duo

Montgomery Gentry Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John Michael Mo ...

. It was released in August 2008 as the second single from their album '' Back When I Knew It All''. It became their twentieth single to reach the Top 40 on the ''

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 Songs charts and on the weeks of December 20—27, 2008, became their fifth and final Number One song.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo ballad, featuring lead vocals from Troy Gentry and background vocals from

Five for Fighting Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), also known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known for his piano-based soft rock ballads, such as the top 40 hits " Superman (It's No ...

. In it, the narrator sings about taking lyrical inspiration from the world around him, and learning the life lessons about which he sings. This sentiment is reflected in the lines "I'm thinking maybe it's time to be livin' the rhyme / When I'm singing a song about nothing but right / And it'd sure be nice if you would roll with me." According to ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overvie ...

'', songwriter Tommy Karlas wrote the song after he could not sleep due to

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy ...

. He got together with fellow songwriter Clint Daniels to finish it. Karlas added the second verse when he thought about a high school friend who had died. Montgomery Gentry released a rap remix with country-rapper

Colt Ford Jason Farris Brown (born August 27, 1969) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, and former professional golfer best known for his music fusing the country and rap genres. He has released seven ...

as well.

Critical reception

Eddie Montgomery, the other half of the duo, said of the song: "It's got the groove factor; it's just unreal. I think it's the best performance I've ever heard from my brother over here. Emotionally, you can tell when he sings it, it's from the heart." Reviewing the song for Country Universe, critic Leeann Ward gave the song a C rating. She considered the lyrics cliché and nonsensical but called the melody "rather pleasant sounding". Thom Jurek of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

considered it "obligatory" and "spiritually minded".

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

, directed by Steven L. Weaver, features

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...

animation. An interactive version of the video was also posted on the website Hear Something Country, presenting a 360-degree view of the video. The video features actor

Darren Criss Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee'' (2010–2015) and received Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his leading role as spree ...

Chart performance

For the week of December 20, 2008, the song became their second consecutive and fifth and final number one hit, where it remained on top for two weeks. It also has become their second Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 33.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roll With Me 2008 singles 2008 songs Montgomery Gentry songs Songs written by Clint Daniels Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Blake Chancey