Small Town Southern Man

"Small Town Southern Man" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released in November 2007 as the lead single from his album Good Time (see 2008 in country music), the song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in March 2008, becoming Jackson's twenty-third Number One hit on that chart, as well as his first since "Remember When" in February 2004.^[1]

Content

Described by the magazine Country Weekly as a "loping, fiddle-and-steel-guitar-driven song",^[1] "Small Town Southern Man" is set in a moderate tempo and composed of three verses. Its lyrics tell of the life of Jackson's father, and how he was "raised on the ways and gentle kindness of a small town Southern man".

Despite several similarities between his life and the song, Jackson did not intend for it to be a tribute to his father or grandfather, although he did draw from his own ancestry as an inspiration. This is especially evident in the line, "First there came four pretty daughters for the Small Town Southern Man, then a few years later came another, a boy; he wasn't planned," (Jackson is the youngest child and only boy in his family and has four sisters). According to him, the song is actually a tribute to anyone with a rural upbringing such as his own: "Wherever you go, there are rural people that are working for a living and raising families. They all have the same qualities and goals as a small town Southern man."^[1]

Reception

Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it an A rating. He calls the song "a deserving tribute to fathers who put family before everything else, and a comfort to the sons and daughters that miss them once they’re gone." ^[2]

Chart performance

Chart (2007–2008)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[3]	1
US Billboard Hot 100^[4]	42
US Billboard Pop 100	89
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)^[5]	62

Year-end charts

Chart (2008)	Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)^[6]	3

Preceded by "All-American Girl" by Carrie Underwood	Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one single March 29—April 5, 2008	Succeeded by "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins

References

1 2 3 Horner, Marianne (2008-05-05). "Story Behind the Song: "Small Town Southern Man"". Country Weekly 15 (9): 14. ISSN 1074-3235.
↑ Coyne, Kevin John (2010-11-11). "Alan Jackson - "Small Town Southern Man"". Country Universe. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
↑ "Alan Jackson – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Alan Jackson.
↑ "Alan Jackson – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Alan Jackson.
↑ "Alan Jackson – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Alan Jackson.
↑ "Best of 2008: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2008.

External links

Alan Jackson singles

Here in the Real World	"Blue Blooded Woman" "Here in the Real World" "Wanted" "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" "I'd Love You All Over Again"

Don't Rock the Jukebox	"Don't Rock the Jukebox" "Someday" "Dallas" "Midnight in Montgomery" "Love's Got a Hold on You"

A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love)	"She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)" "Tonight I Climbed the Wall" "Chattahoochee" "Mercury Blues" "(Who Says) You Can't Have It All"

Who I Am	"Summertime Blues" "Livin' on Love" "Gone Country" "Song for the Life" "I Don't Even Know Your Name"

The Greatest Hits Collection	"Tall, Tall Trees" "I'll Try" "Home"

Everything I Love	"Little Bitty" "Everything I Love" "Who's Cheatin' Who" "There Goes" "Between the Devil and Me" "A House with No Curtains"

High Mileage	"I'll Go On Loving You" "Right on the Money" "Gone Crazy" "Little Man"

Under the Influence	"Pop a Top" "The Blues Man" "It Must Be Love"

When Somebody Loves You	"www.memory" "When Somebody Loves You" "Where I Come From" "It's Alright to Be a Redneck"

Drive	"Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" "Drive (For Daddy Gene)" "Work in Progress" "That'd Be Alright"

Greatest Hits Volume II	"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" (w/ Jimmy Buffett) "Remember When"

What I Do	"Too Much of a Good Thing" "Monday Morning Church" "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" "USA Today"

Like Red on a Rose	"Like Red on a Rose" "A Woman's Love"

Good Time	"Small Town Southern Man" "Good Time" "Country Boy" "Sissy's Song" "I Still Like Bologna"

Freight Train	"It's Just That Way" "Hard Hat and a Hammer"

34 Number Ones	"Ring of Fire"

Thirty Miles West	"Long Way to Go" "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore" "You Go Your Way"

Angels and Alcohol	"Jim and Jack and Hank"

Other songs	"Tequila Sunrise" "Good Year for the Roses" (w/ George Jones) "Redneck Games" (w/ Jeff Foxworthy) "Margaritaville" (w/ Jimmy Buffett) "Murder on Music Row" (w/ George Strait) "Designated Drinker" (w/ George Strait) "Hey Good Lookin'" (w/ Jimmy Buffett, Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and George Strait) "You Ain't Just Whistlin' Dixie" (w/ The Bellamy Brothers) "Barefootin'" (w/ Jimmy Buffett) "As She's Walking Away" (w/ Zac Brown Band) "A Million Ways to Die"

See also	Singles discography

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