Don't Blink

"Don't Blink"
Single by Kenny Chesney
from the album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates
Released	September 10, 2007
Format	CD single
Genre	Country
Length	4:18
Label	BNA
Writer(s)	Casey Beathard Chris Wallin
Producer	Buddy Cannon Kenny Chesney
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Kenny Chesney singles chronology
"Never Wanted Nothing More" (2007) "Don't Blink" (2007) "Shiftwork" (2007) Music video "Don't Blink" on YouTube

"Don't Blink" is a # 1 Billboard country, top 40 hot 100 single by country music artist Kenny Chesney. It is the second single from his 2007 album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, and Chesney's thirteenth Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

The song debuted at #16 on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs chart for the week of September 8, 2007, setting a new record for the highest debut on that chart since the inception of SoundScan in 1990,^[1] beating a record set by Keith Urban's "Once in a Lifetime", which debuted at #17 in 2006. Chesney's record was broken one week later by Garth Brooks' song "More Than a Memory", which debuted at Number One on the country charts, the first song to do so in the chart's history.^[2]

The song also matches the fastest rising single of his career set in August, 2007 with "Never Wanted Nothing More" taking eight weeks to reach Number 1.

On the Billboard Hot 100, "Don't Blink" debuted at number 79 on the chart dated September 22, 2007.^[3]

The song is part of the tracklist for Now That's What I Call Country.

Content

The song's lyrics tell of a younger man's encounter with a 102-year-old man who was being interviewed on the news. The interviewer wants to know the older man's "secret to life", and the older man responds with "don't blink"

Reception

Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it an A+ rating. He said that this song makes him "think about the greater truths and examine my own life from a new perspective. " ^[4]

Chart performance

"Don't Blink" debuted at number 16 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs for the week of September 8, 2007.

Chart (2007)	Peak position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[5]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	29
US Billboard Pop 100	47
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[7]	45

References

1. ^ ""Don't Blink" Is Billboard's Highest Chart Debut Ever!" (html). Kenny Chesney.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20071016211914/http://kennychesney.com/news-full.html?pId=1804. Retrieved 2007-08-29. 
2. ^ "Garth Brooks Makes History at Country Radio", CMT.com, September 5, 2007.
3. ^ Katie Hasty, "Soulja Boy Remains No. 1 Amid Static Top Four", Billboard.com, September 13, 2007.
4. ^ Coyne, Kevin John (2007-08-27). "Kenny Chesney - "Don't Blink"". Country Universe. http://www.countryuniverse.net/2007/08/23/review-kenny-chesney-dont-blink/. Retrieved 2010-06-17. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Kenny Chesney Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Country Songs for Kenny Chesney. Prometheus Global Media.
6. ^ "Kenny Chesney Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Kenny Chesney. Prometheus Global Media.
7. ^ "Kenny Chesney Album & Song Chart History" Canadian Hot 100 for Kenny Chesney. Prometheus Global Media.

Preceded by "Love Me If You Can" by Toby Keith

Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single October 27—November 17, 2007

Succeeded by "Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go)" by Dierks Bentley