In the world of sports, when a player puts up especially impressive stats in a game, it’s said that they’ve delivered “video game numbers.” Well, Kenny Chesney has put up video game numbers in the world of country music. Among his many other milestones, Chesney has topped the country charts with 32 singles over his career.
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One of the reasons he has enjoyed such monumental success has been his open-mindedness about using outside writers, even though he’s an accomplished writer as well. He explained to Today’s Country Music on Apple Radio his outlook on which songs he chooses to record:
“You know, ‘I Go Back’ was a gift. And so was ‘Beer in Mexico’ and ‘Old Blue Chair,’ those songs I wrote by myself, but you just don’t wake up every day writing those songs, you know, and I can write one or two of those every now and then by myself. But for me to sit and say I can sit and write 10, 12 of the best songs in town for my record is just asinine to think that way … there’s so many great songwriters and great songs floating out there, you know? So I’ve always felt like the best song wins, whether I wrote it or someone else wrote it, or someone brand new sent it to me or gave it to me—if it was great, then it had a chance to make my record.”
[RELATED: Kenny Chesney Pays Tribute to the Late Jimmy Buffett]
Because of his usage of those outside writers, casual fans might not realize which of his massive hits Chesney has penned for himself. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five hit songs that he wrote or co-wrote as well as performed.
1. “You Had Me from Hello” (1999)
Chesney must have been moved by the film Jerry Maguire. Not only did he utilize one of the film’s most famous lines for a hit song, but he also married the film’s leading lady, Renée Zellweger (even if that relationship didn’t last all that long). It’s one thing to borrow a great line; it’s another thing to make a fully-fledged song out of it. Chesney and co-writer Skip Ewing found a storyline in a narrator who has kept himself bottled up inside before meeting a special girl. It was over from the start, Chesney sings over a lovely, uplifting melody.
2. “I Go Back” (2004)
Interestingly enough, this one has become one of Chesney’s most enduring songs (he even named a recent tour after it), despite the fact that it never hit the top of the country charts. (It was denied by Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying.”) Chesney uses his love of classic rock as a jumping-off point for a meditation on how music is the best trigger for memories. Song titles from John Mellencamp, Steve Miller, and Billy Joel all make appearances in the lyrics, and the music itself captures a gritty rock feel as well.
3. “Beer in Mexico” (2005)
Chesney often gets compared to the late, great Jimmy Buffet when it comes to the lyrical themes they both espouse. That gets a bit overblown, but if you are going to make that comparison, then “Beer in Mexico” would have to be Chesney’s “Margaritaville.” He was the sole writer on this up-tempo, horn-filled rocker that comes from the point of view of a protagonist who is a bit down on his luck and can only find a little relief when he’s imbibing a little cerveza. Even with the peppy music, this one is a little bit darker than you might remember, especially when the narrator bemoans the emptiness in my heart.
4. “Out Last Night” (2009)
Chesney wrote this track with Brett James and tacked it on as a single to a greatest hits package he released in 2009. “Out Last Night” is a slow-building ode to wild evening exploits and the people who enjoy them (and live to tell the tall tales). There are details included that anybody who’s ever partied too hard can appreciate, such as the ill-advised karaoke and the assuming of false identities (including Brad Pitt’s brother!). Chesney has always excelled at this kind of material, which is why it’s no surprise he knocks this one out of the park.
5. “Reality” (2010)
Chesney has said that this song actually emanated from a dentist’s visit, one where the painkilling gas gave him a brief respite from the pressures of a superstar musician’s life. When he and Buddy Cannon began writing the song, they equated that feeling of getting away from it all to the boost you can get from listening to music or going to live concerts. So let’s take a chance and live this fantasy, Chesney sings, and the song makes a convincing case for the necessity of escape once in a while.
Photo: Danny Clinch
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