God's Country (Blake Shelton song)

"God's Country"
Single by Blake Shelton
from the album Fully Loaded: God's Country
ReleasedMarch 29, 2019 (2019-03-29)
Genre
Length3:25
LabelWarner Bros. Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Scott Hendricks
Blake Shelton singles chronology
"Turnin' Me On"
(2018) 		"God's Country"
(2019) 		"Dive Bar"
(2019)

"God's Country" is a song by American country music singer Blake Shelton. It was released on March 29, 2019, as the first single and partial title track from his compilation album Fully Loaded: God's Country. The song was written by Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, and Michael Hardy.[1][2]

Background and recording

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The song has been described as a southern rock anthem.[3] Dawson stated that he and his fellows wrote the song on a Thursday, and that "Blake heard it, and by Monday he had recorded it."[1] Shelton first heard the song while working on his farm in Oklahoma, and was blown away by the song.[3] He related "I had to stop and just listen to this song, because the song was talking to me about a place that I was in at that moment, which was a place in the middle of nowhere that meant something to me that probably nobody else could ever understand, what that is and what it is inside of me and what my connection is to the land." He recalled thinking "'I've gotta record this song,' and I think I even decided before I even recorded it, 'This has got to be the song that I put out next.'"[1]

Shelton performed the song at the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards.[3]

Music credits modernization

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The production process for "God's Country" was a flagship for digital music credit-delivery. The music credits on the release were collected digitally during the recording process using the Sound Credit platform and delivered to Warner Music Nashville in a standardized digital format called Recording Information Notification (RIN). The credits were then delivered to streaming platforms such as Pandora, marking a milestone of end-to-end digital music credits.[4]

Content

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Shelton has stated that "'God's Country' is a song that has a strong and deep meaningful lyric, but at the same time it leaves it up to the listeners' interpretation."[1]

He went on to state that "But no matter where you are from or where you're standing it is my belief that you're standing in God's Country. It's really about a state of mind. Wherever you're from and how you feel about that place. For me, it's about being from Oklahoma – where I was born, raised and still live today."[1]

Commercial performance

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"God's Country" was the best-selling country song in its first full week of sales, with 32,000 sold.[5] Shelton performed the song at the 2019 ACM Awards the following week on April 7, which helped to keep sales up at 31,000 that week.[6][7] It reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart dated May 25, 2019, his 14th on the chart and his first since "Sure Be Cool If You Did" in 2013.[8] The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on June 27, 2019, and Platinum on July 31, 2019.[9] It has sold 540,000 copies in the United States as of March 2020.[10]

Music video

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The music video was directed by Sophie Muller, and shot over the course of four days in and around Tishomingo, Oklahoma.[2] It depicts Shelton singing and working on a modern farm, interspersed with historical footage of the Dust Bowl, storms, beautiful nature shots, and traditional rural and farm imagery, concluding with a burning tractor.[11][12][13] The video is intended to convey the intensity of farm life, while juxtaposing the "good, beautiful things of God's country, and also the wrath of God."[11][13]

Awards

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"God's Country" won in the category of Single of the Year at the 2019 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards.[14] Shelton received his 9th Grammy nomination for "God's Country" at the 2020 Grammy Awards in the Best Country Solo Performance category.[15] "God's Country" won in the category of Single of the Year at the 2020 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards.

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for "God's Country"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[29] Platinum 80,000‡
United States (RIAA)[30] 4× Platinum 4,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Thompson, Gayle (April 23, 2019). "Blake Shelton Was 'Shocked' the First Time He Heard 'God's Country'". Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Bonaguro, Alison (April 12, 2019). "FULL VIDEO: Blake Shelton Feels Right at Home in "God's Country"". Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Watts, Cindy (April 7, 2019). "2019 ACM Awards: Blake Shelton shares emotional story behind 'God's Country'". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  4. ^ "Blake Shelton's "God's Country" Pushes Forward the Movement for Music Credits". Warner Music Nashville. Nashville, TN, USA. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. ^ Asker, Jim (April 9, 2019). "Kelsea Ballerini Enters the Country Airplay Chart's Top 10, Luke Combs Rolls Lucky 7th Week at No. 1". Billboard.
  6. ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 10, 2019). "ACM Awards Performances Push 347% Sales Gain for Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood & More". Billboard.
  7. ^ Bjorke, Matt (April 15, 2019). "Top 30 Digital Country Tracks: April 15, 2019". RoughStock. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  8. ^ Asker, Jim (July 21, 2019). "Blake Shelton's 'God's Country' Crowns Hot Country Songs Chart". Billboard.
  9. ^ "American certifications – Blake Shelton". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  10. ^ Bjorke, Matt (March 4, 2020). "Top 30 Digital Country Singles Sales Chart: March 2, 2020". Rough Stock. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Blake Shelton - "God's Country" (Behind The Scenes)". Youtube. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  12. ^ Freeman, Jon (12 April 2019). "Watch Blake Shelton's Cinematic 'God's Country' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  13. ^ a b Houghton, Cillea (12 April 2019). "Blake Shelton's 'God's Country' Video Shows Intensity of Rural Life". Taste of Country. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  14. ^ Unterberger, Andrew. "Blake Shelton Takes a Roaring Victory Lap With 'God's Country' at the 2019 CMA Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  15. ^ Kile, Meredith. "Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani Celebrate His GRAMMY Nomination". Yahoo Entertainment.
  16. ^ "Country Hot 50: Issue 1264". The Music Network. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  17. ^ "Blake Shelton Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  18. ^ "Blake Shelton Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  19. ^ "Blake Shelton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  20. ^ "Blake Shelton Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  21. ^ "Blake Shelton Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  22. ^ "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. June 28, 2019. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  23. ^ "Canadian Hot 100 – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  24. ^ "Hot 100 Songs – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  25. ^ "Country Airplay – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  26. ^ "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  27. ^ "Top 100 Songs of 2019". Rolling Stone. January 10, 2020. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  28. ^ "Decade-End Charts: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  29. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Blake Shelton – God's Country". Music Canada. July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  30. ^ "American single certifications – Blake Shelton – God's Country". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
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