We Owned the Night

"We Owned the Night"
Single by Lady Antebellum
from the album Own the Night
Released August 15, 2011
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2011
Genre Country
Length 3:17
Label Capitol Nashville
Writer(s) Charles Kelley
Dave Haywood
Dallas Davidson
Producer(s) Paul Worley
Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum singles chronology
"Just a Kiss"
(2011)		 "We Owned the Night"
(2011)		 "Dancin' Away with My Heart"
(2011)

"We Owned the Night" is a song recorded by American country music trio Lady Antebellum. It was released in August 2011 as the second single from their album Own the Night. The song was co-written by two of the trio's three members (Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood) along with Dallas Davidson.[1]

Background

Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood wrote the song with Dallas Davidson. The title started during a conversation that Kelley had with his and Davidson's wives at a bar, telling them that they should "own the night" and stay longer at the bar. After hearing Lady Antebellum perform another uptempo song with a mandolin, Davidson suggested that Haywood and Kelley should "capture that same energy, and write a big hit song on the mandolin." Haywood then began playing the mandolin. Davidson said that he wanted the song to "dive into a deeper lyric, take it to a place a little more serious[…]but keep it light and keep it fun".[2]

In the song, a man recalls a brief but memorable romantic encounter with a woman who he has not seen since. The song is in the key of D-flat major[2] with an approximate tempo of 96 beats per minute.[3] The song consists of four verses plus a bridge in between verses three and four. Its main chord pattern for each verse is D♭-G♭-E♭m-D♭, with all but the first verse ending in Kelley singing "yeah, we owned the night" over the pattern B♭m-G♭-D♭. In the bridge, the chord pattern is E♭m-G♭ twice, followed by another E♭ minor chord before returning to a final verse which uses the same pattern as verses two and three. The title phrase is then repeated one last time.[2] All guitars in the song are tuned to E-flat tuning.[3]

Critical reception

Robbie Daw of Idolator commented that "once again, the country act serves up a pop-crossover jam that should appeal to a variety of listeners, and will no doubt find a home on an array of radio format playlists."[4] Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the song a four and a half stars rating out of five. He explained "‘We Owned the Night’ is rootsy, something that couldn’t be said about any of the group’s previous singles. This being their third album, it was wise to take a chance sonically to avoid fan fatigue. The trio still manages to hang on to the lyrical suspense that makes their music so captivating." He concluded saying "This song is like Lady A with no makeup on, in beat up blue jeans and their collective hair pulled back in a ponytail. It’s a new style that’s still familiar, but sexy in its own way."[5]

The song won the British Country Music Association (BCMA) award for International Song of the Year in 2012.

Music video

The music video for "We Owned the Night" is of a couple on a date, them dancing together, and a fireworks display at the end.

Track listing

Digital download
No. Title Length
1. "We Owned the Night"   3:17

Chart performance

Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
scope="row" Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[6] 29
Canada Country (Nielsen BDS)[7] 1
scope="row" US Billboard Hot 100[8] 31
scope="row" US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[10] 56
Chart (2012) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[11] 61

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[12] Gold 500,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Preceded by
"Country Must Be Country Wide"
by Brantley Gilbert		 Billboard Hot Country Songs
number-one single
December 10–17, 2011 		Succeeded by
"Keep Me in Mind"
by Zac Brown Band

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United States August 12, 2011 Digital download[13] Capitol Records

References

  1. ↑ Conaway, Alanna (August 2011). "Lady Antebellum, ‘We Owned the Night’ – Lyrics Uncovered". Taste of Country. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Horner, Marianne (December 19, 2011). "Behind the Song: Unbridled Joy". Country Weekly 18 (51): 16–17. ISSN 1074-3235.
  3. 1 2 "We Owned the Night sheet music". MusicNotes.com. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  4. ↑ Daw, Robbie (August 17, 2011). "Lady Antebellum "We Owned The Night" Single Released". Idolator. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  5. ↑ Dukes, Billy (August 15, 2011). "Lady Antebellum "We Owned The Night" Single Released". Taste of Country. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Lady Antebellum – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Lady Antebellum.
  7. ↑ "BDSRadio Charts (Canada Country National Airplay)". BDS Radio. Nielsen N.V. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Lady Antebellum – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Lady Antebellum.
  9. ↑ "Lady Antebellum – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Lady Antebellum.
  10. ↑ "Best of 2011: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Best of 2012: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  12. ↑ "American single certifications – Lady Antebellum – We Owned The Night". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 2, 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  13. ↑ We Owned the Night – Single by Lady Antebellum iTunes

External links

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