"Shut Up and Fish" 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 ...

duo

Maddie & Tae Maddie & Tae is an American female country music duo composed of Maddie Font (née Marlow) and Taylor "Tae" Kerr (née Dye), both of whom are singers, songwriters, and guitarists. The duo was signed to the revived Dot Records in 2014. Their debu ...

. It was released to radio on November 2, 2015, as the third single from their debut studio album, '' Start Here''. The song was written by the duo (Taylor Dye/Madison Marlow), Aaron Scherz and Pete Sallis. It garnered a positive reception from critics who praised the role-reversal of typical gender characters in country music songs. "Shut Up and Fish" had minor chart success compared to both "

Girl in a Country Song "Girl in a Country Song" is a song recorded by American country music duo Maddie & Tae, co-written with Aaron Scherz. It was released in July 2014 as the lead single from their debut studio album '' Start Here''. The song criticizes the "bro-coun ...

" and "

Fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

", peaking at numbers 23 and 30 on both 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, ...

and

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. ...

charts respectively. It also charted in Canada, reaching number 36 on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

chart. The accompanying music video for the song, directed by

TK McKamy TK McKamy is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor known for directing music videos. Thomas Knox McKamy III was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia and raised in the small town of Nicholasville, Kentucky. The son of Knox and Lynn McK ...

, starred actor

Mason Dye Mason Andrew Dye (born July 15, 1994) is an American actor known for his roles in ''Teen Wolf'', ''Flowers in the Attic'', and in season four of ''Stranger Things''. Early life Mason Dye was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He grew up in Ada, Oklah ...

, Taylor's brother.

Content

Jewly Hight 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 that the song "flips another gendered country music script. In the past, male singers usually have been the ones cracking wise about the incompetence of city slickers; this time, it's Maddie & Tae delivering withering lines like, 'He pulled up in his red Corvette, salmon shorts and a white V-neck. I said, Wow, you know how to dress down for a city guy.'" The pair commented in a ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' article that the song was based on an actual event: "A real event that actually happened. We were 16. This was the first summer that we actually got to hang out a lot. One day we were just really bored: "We love to fish, so let's go fishing." We'd been texting these guys, "Do you want to go fishing with us?" We literally thought it was just fishing, because they had the fishing poles, which they didn't even know how to use, come to find out. So we get there, and they come dressed up in like white v-necks and coral shorts. Just the typical city boy with their Sperry oat shoesand stuff. So we're like, "You know we're going fishing, right?""

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

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 ...

'' reviewed the song with favor, saying that it "is more universal than even they thought. Sure, women of just about any age can relate to a guy picking the wrong time to make his move, but men everywhere can identify with this song. Who hasn’t been the guy in the boat?" Both Hight and Jon Dolan of ''

'' compared its theme favorably to "

" in terms of reversing the roles usually held by young males and females in country music songs.

Music video

The music video was directed by

and premiered in December 2015. Taylor's brother,

, stars in the video.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Maddie & Tae 2015 singles 2015 songs Maddie & Tae songs Dot Records singles Music videos directed by TK McKamy Song recordings produced by Dann Huff