"Stealing Kisses" 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 ...

artist

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

. The song was written and originally recorded by American

singer

Lori McKenna Lorraine McKenna ( Giroux; born December 22, 1968) is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer-songwriter. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit singl ...

, first appearing on her album '' Bittertown'' (2004). It was released on September 4, 2006 by Warner Bros. Nashville as the fifth and final single from Hill's sixth studio album ''Fireflies'' (2005). Receiving favorable reviews, "Stealing Kisses" was the least successful single from the album and the only one to not enter the top ten, instead peaking at number 36 on 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. ...

chart. Despite failure at

country radio Country radio refers to radio stations that play country music. Most country radio stations are commercial radio stations. Most country radio stations usually play only music which has been officially released to country radio by record labels. T ...

, a music video was created which was directed by Sophie Muller; ironically enough, "Sunshine and Summertime" (a top ten hit from the album) never received a video.

Chart performance

"Stealing Kisses" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs the week of October 14, 2006, at number 58, the second highest debut of the week but the lowest debut for a single from ''Fireflies''. The next week, the song rose up to number 48. The song entered the top forty the week of November 25, 2006, at number 39. A week later on December 2, "Stealing Kisses" reached its peak of number 36; the song would spend a total of twenty weeks. It became the only single from ''Fireflies'' to not enter the top ten of the chart, with all of the other singles ("

Mississippi Girl "Mississippi Girl" is a song by the American country music recording artist Faith Hill, taken from her sixth studio album ''Fireflies'' (2005). The song was written by John Rich of the country duo Big & Rich, with co-writing credits including fel ...

", "

Like We Never Loved at All "Like We Never Loved At All" is a song written by John Rich, Vicky McGehee, and Scot Sax and recorded by American country music singer Faith Hill. It was released on August 1, 2005 to country and adult contemporary radio as the second from her s ...

", " The Lucky One", and " Sunshine and Summertime") reaching peak positions of numbers one, five, five, and seven respectively. The song also had very minor success in Canada, debuting 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 the week of December 2, 2006. The song reached its peak of number 44 the next week and only spend three weeks in the country.

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe reviewed the song favorably. He wrote that "Hill infuses Lori McKenna’s saga of a slowly sinking housewife with a bittersweet Wynette-worthy vocal."

Personnel

From ''Fireflies'' liner notes. *

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac (born December 20, 1968) is an American session guitarist and producer. He is also a popular YouTube personality with over 100,000 subscribers. He is a five-time winner of Music Row's Top Ten Album All-Stars award in the guitar categ ...

- electric guitar *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying Bur ...

Dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

Stuart Duncan Stuart Ian Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

Shannon Forrest Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973, in Easley, South Carolina) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a p ...

- drums * Byron Gallimore - keyboard, organ * Jimmy Nichols - piano *

Bryan Sutton James Bryan Sutton (born 1973) is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs. Biography Early career Sutton's gr ...

- acoustic guitar *

Kelly Willis Kelly Diane Willis (born October 2, 1968) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her music has been described as being new traditionalist and alternative country. Early life Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, Willis was the youngest of three ...

- background vocals *

Glenn Worf Glenn Worf is an American bassist known mainly for his work as a session musician. He has recorded with many major country music acts and also tours with Mark Knopfler. Early life and education Worf was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Madis ...

- bass guitar

Chart performance

References

{{Faith Hill singles Songs about kissing 2006 singles 2005 songs Faith Hill songs Songs written by Lori McKenna Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Warner Records singles