"What I Can't Put Down" is a song 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

Jon Pardi Jonathan Ryan Pardi (born May 20, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Capitol Records Nashville, Capitol Nashville, he has released five studio albums: ''Write You a Song'' (2014), ''California Sunrise'' (2016), ...

. It was released on January 14, 2014 as the third single from Pardi's debut studio album '' Write You a Song'' (2014). The song was written by Pardi, Bart Butler, and

Brice Long Brice Long is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to Columbia Records in 2005, Long charted one single on the ''Billboard'' country chart that year: "Anywhere but Here", which was also released by Chris Cagle a year later. In add ...

. It garnered positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. "What I Can't Put Down" peaked at numbers 31 and 33 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. The song was certified Gold 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), denoting sales of over 500,000 units in the United States. An accompanying music video for the single, directed by the Edde Brothers, was released in June 2014.

Critical reception

"What I Can't Put Down" received positive reviews from critics. 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 ...

'' wrote that "'What I Can't Put Down' is the signature track from Jon Pardi's 'Write You a Song' album. More than any other, this country-rocker defines the music he introduces on one of 2014's finest releases to date." Vickye Fisher of ''For The Country Record'' remarked "Channelling a head-bobbing, rock 'n' roll sound that slots into the kind of country we were used to hearing on the radio just a few years ago, this fairly catchy song will be a great one for the festivals of the summer. It utilizes the cute hook of "I'm always picking up what I can't put down", running through cheerful and non-threatening examples of vices, such as cigarettes, alcohol, music and love, perhaps a girl in particular." In 2017, ''

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 ...

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee for 18 years, a radio show host and sports director at WNKX i ...

put "What I Can't Put Down" at number six on his top 10 list of Pardi's best songs.

Music video

The music video was directed by The Edde Brothers and premiered in June 2014.

Chart performance

Certifications

References

{{Jon Pardi 2014 singles 2014 songs Jon Pardi songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs written by Bart Butler Songs written by Brice Long Songs written by Jon Pardi