"Something Like That" is a song written by Rick Ferrell and

Keith Follesé Keith Follesé (born 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American songwriter and co-founder of Midas Records Nashville. Early in his career, Follesé recorded with his wife, Adrienne, on A&M Records. They never released an album, and moved ...

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

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 ...

. It was released in June 1999 as the second single from McGraw's album '' A Place in the Sun''. The song reached number one on the US ''

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 (now Hot Country Songs) chart, and peaked at number 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it a minor crossover hit.

Background

"Something Like That" shares songwriting credits between Rick Ferrell and

, two

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

lyricists. Ferrell first developed the song based on his memories of going to the local

county fair An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibi ...

in his youth in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. He worked on the song for some time, stumbling upon its central piano melody, before joining forces with Follesé, who added details. An original

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film * Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhe ...

of the song was included on the 2010 compilation ''The Original Songwriter Demos Volumes 1 & 2''. The song recounts the narrator's youthful experience of falling in love for the very first time at age seventeen. The man sees a woman at a county fair on

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United ...

weekend when he is seventeen, and then five years later, sees her on a plane, while the man is heading to

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "F ...

. The bridge talks about how a love can never go away no matter how long the two people are apart. The song has been known as the "BBQ Stain Song" due to its memorable chorus hook: "I had a barbecue stain on my white t-shirt".

Commercial performance

According to Ferrell, the song was not initially slated to be a single. He stated in an interview that McGraw was adamant to his label, Curb Records, to issue the song: "Tim kind of forced their hand on it," he said. Curb first serviced the song to radio in May 1999. According to

Nielsen BDS Broadcast Data Systems (also known as BDS or Luminate BDS), is a service that tracks radio, television and internet airplay of songs. The service, which is a unit of MRC Data, is a contributing factor to North American charts published by co-owne ...

, the song was the top-played radio single in any musical genre in the 2000s with 487,343 spins from January 1, 2000, to December 17, 2009.

Critical reception

Natalie Nichols, writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', called it "a breezy recollection of young love" with "clever turns of phrase." Ed Masley of ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $ ...

'' called the song "feel-good" and reminiscent of the work of

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the late ...

. Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song an A grade, saying that "through its vivid, detail-laden approach, the lyric effectively hones 'sic''in on the fact that the experience of one's first love is, in itself, unforgettable." He also states that the point of the song "is driven home by a sprightly piano hook, toe-tapping rhythm, and wildly catchy singalong-friendly chorus – a one-two punch that helps the record make an impression both as a great lyric and as a fun, catchy listen."CountryUniverse.net
Song review

Music video

The music video was directed by Scott Scovill, and produced by Moo TV. It premiered on CMT on July 2, 1999, during ''The CMT Delivery Room''. It features McGraw on his touring.

Other versions

In September 2020, McGraw released a stripped-down acoustic version of the song. McGraw also revealed, around the time of the release of this version, that it is one of his favorite songs to play live. He also performed this rendition live on the CBS special ''United We Sing: A Grammy Salute to the Unsung Heroes''. The next year, the song was covered by singer-songwriter Alex Melton in a

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

style, featuring vocals from Ryan Scott Graham of the band

State Champs State Champs is an American pop punk band from Albany, New York, formed in 2010. They are currently signed to Pure Noise Records and have released three EPs and four full-length albums. They released an acoustic EP titled ''The Acoustic Things' ...

Charts

"Something Like That" re-entered the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks as an official single at number 68 for the week of July 3, 1999.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1999 singles Tim McGraw songs Songs about New Orleans Songs written by Keith Follesé Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw Song recordings produced by James Stroud Curb Records singles 1999 songs