Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven

Infobox Single
Name = Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Kenny Chesney
Album = Lucky Old Sun
Released = start date|2008|08|10 [Song charted before its announced release date.]
Format = CD single
Genre = Country
Length = 4:17
Label = Blue Chair/BNA
Writer = Jim Collins
Marty Dodson
Producer = Buddy Cannon
Kenny Chesney
Audio sample? =
Certification =
Last single = "Better as a Memory"
(2008)
This single = "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven"
(2008)
Next single = TBD
Misc =

"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" is a country music song co-written by American songwriters Jim Collins and Marty Dodson. The song was initially to have been recorded by singer George Strait for his 2008 album "Troubadour", but after Strait decided not to include the song on this album, it was recorded by Kenny Chesney instead. Released in August 2008, Chesney's rendition is his thirty-eighth Top 40 country hit and his fifteenth Number One hit. It is also the lead-off single to his forthcoming tenth studio album "Lucky Old Sun", which will be released on his own Blue Chair label in association with BNA Records.

History

"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" was co-written by Marty Dodson and Jim Collins, the latter of whom has previously co-written two other singles for Chesney: "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" from late 1999-early 2000, and "The Good Stuff" from mid-2002.cite web |url=http://www.cmt.com/news/news-in-brief/1591526/kenny-chesneys-new-single-arrives-aug-10.jhtml |title=Kenny Chesney's New Single Arrives Aug. 10 |accessdate=2008-08-05 |date=2008-07-24 |work=CMT] Initially, George Strait had recorded the song for his 2008 album "Troubadour".cite web |url=http://www.the9513.com/kenny-chesney-everybody-wants-to-go-to-heaven/ |title=Kenny Chesney - "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" |accessdate=2008-08-05 |last=C. |first=Matt |date=2008-07-31 |work=The 9513] Although Strait's version did not make the album's final cut, he nonetheless made his own rendition available as a digital download. [cite web |url=http://voiceofcountry.com/82.html |title=New Kenny Chesney single also recorded by George Strait |accessdate=2008-08-05 |work=Voice of Country] Chesney then recorded his own version of the song, and released it as the first single from his studio album "Lucky Old Sun", his first project for his personal Blue Chair label (in association with BNA Records, the label to which he has been signed since 1995). [cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,3034,GAC_26063_5913359_,00.html |title=Kenny Chesney Finds "Heaven" in Blue Chair |accessdate=2008-08-12 |date=2008-07-30 |work=GAC]

Chesney's rendition of the song is a mid-tempo set in a calypso orchestration. Its lyrics find the narrator detailing his life to a preacher who has told him to forgo a lifestyle of drinking alcohol and pursuing sexual desires, in favor of a more religious-oriented style.cite web |url=http://blog.cmt.com/2008-07-30/calypso-works-for-kenny-chesneys-heaven/ |title=Calypso Works for Kenny Chesney’s “Heaven” |accessdate=2008-08-05 |last=Bonaguro |first=Alison |date=2008-07-30 |work=CMT] In the chorus, the narrator responds with "Everybody wanna go to heaven / But nobody wanna go now".

Reception

Matt C., a reviewer for the country music blog The 9513, gave "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" a "thumbs down" rating. Although his review makes note of the song's "carefree sentiment that characterizes standards like 'Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young'", he also goes on to say that the calypso orchestration "truly does not belong", making it "patently offensive".

Alison Bonaguro, who contributes to the blog for the television network CMT, gave the song a more positive review. Although she referred to the instrumentation as "not-so-country", she felt favorably about the song's sentiment, comparing it to Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying", but without a "preachy feel".

Music video

In August 2008, Chesney traveled to Jamaica to film the song's music video. Reggae singer Bob Marley's backing band, The Wailers, are featured in the video as well. [cite web |url=http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,3034,GAC_26063_5916602_,00.html |title=Kenny's "Jammin'" with Bob Marley's Wailers |accessdate=2008-08-05 |date=2008-05-04 |work=GAC]

Charts

"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" debuted at #22 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week of August 16, 2008. [cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=357&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Country+Songs&ci=3098504&cdi=9863254&cid=08%2F16%2F2008 |title=Kenny Chesney - "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" |accessdate=2008-08-11 |work=Billboard] For the chart week of October 18, 2008, it has become his fifteenth Number One hit.

References