19 Somethin'

"19 Somethin'"
Single by Mark Wills
from the album Greatest Hits
B-side	"When You Think of Me"[1]
Released	September 23, 2002 (2002-09-23)
Format	CD single
Genre	Country
Length	3:20
Label	Mercury Nashville
Writer(s)	David Lee Chris DuBois
Producer	Chris Lindsey Mark Wills
Mark Wills singles chronology
"I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You" (2002) "19 Somethin'" (2003) "When You Think of Me" (2003)

"19 Somethin'" is a song written by David Lee and Chris DuBois, and recorded by American country music singer Mark Wills. The song was released in September 2002, and spent six weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart in early 2003. It also reached number 23 on the Hot 100 chart and was the longer-lasting of Wills's Number One hits. The song would go on to become the number two country song of the Decade on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Chart.

Content

The song begins with singer's reminiscence of his formative years, the 1970s and 1980s. In the first verse and chorus, various 1970s-related bits of pop culture are referenced, such as Farrah Fawcett, eight track, and Stretch Armstrong; the first verse also mentions the 1980 videogame Pac-Man ("I had the Pac-Man pattern memorized"), which was actually released in 1980. The first chorus begins with the line "It was 1970-somethin' / In the world that I grew up in". Verse two, similarly, references 1980s pop culture, such as the Rubik's Cube, black Pontiac Trans Ams and MTV. The second chorus also begins with "It was 1980-somethin'".

In the song's bridge, the singer then expresses his desire to escape to his childhood years ("Now I've got a mortgage and an SUV / All this responsibility makes me wish sometimes / That it was 1980-somethin’").

Reception

Critical

An uncredited article in the Charlotte Observer said that the success of "19 Somethin'" was "doubly great" because it was a number-one single, and because it was an up-tempo, in comparison to the ballads he had hits with earlier in his career, such as "Don't Laugh at Me" and "Wish You Were Here".^[2]

Awards

"19 Somethin'" was nominated for Single of the Year at the 38th annual Academy of Country Music awards in May 2003.^[3]

Chart positions

"19 Somethin'" debuted at number 56 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of October 5, 2002. It was his second number one, the first being "Wish You Were Here" in late 1999.^[4]

Chart (2002-2003)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[5]	23
US Country Songs (Billboard)[6]	1

Preceded by "She'll Leave You with a Smile" by George Strait

Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number-one single January 11-February 15, 2003

Succeeded by "The Baby" by Blake Shelton

Personnel

According to liner notes.

• Tim Akers – keyboards
• J.T. Corenflos – electric guitar
• Eric Darken – percussion
• Aubrey Haynie – fiddle
• Wes Hightower – background vocals
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
• Biff Watson – acoustic guitar
• Lonnie Wilson – drums

Parody

• Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd parodied the song as "270 Somethin'" on his 2003 EP A Six Pack of Judd. Judd's parody tells of an obese person who loses weight.

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 470–471. ISBN 0-89820-177-2. 
2. ^ "WILLS UPBEAT ABOUT LATEST HIT, ROCKING `19 SOMETHIN' ' HITS NO. 1 AFTER A STEADY STREAM OF BALLADS". Charlotte Observer. 7 February 2003. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CO&s_site=charlotte&p_multi=CO&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F912E8D798B6DC5&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
3. ^ "Keith gets 8 nominations". USA Today. 4 March 2003. http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/awards/2003-03-04-cma_x.htm. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
4. ^ Gilbert, Calvin (6 January 2003). "Mark Wills Tops Country Singles Chart". CMT. http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1459370/mark-wills-tops-country-singles-chart.jhtml. Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Mark Wills Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Mark Wills. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
6. ^ "Mark Wills Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Country Songs for Mark Wills. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 28, 2011.