Though he may pensively muse “I’m better as a memory than as your man” on his latest single, Kenny Chesney’s latest song is absolutely right now. Debuting on the Mediabase chart at #28 on its official add date, “Better As A Memory” takes a 22 place jump on Billboard/R&R from 47* to 25 — making it their Most Added and Greatest Gainer on the day adds were officially being solicited. “Better As A Memory,” is the fourth single from Chesney’s Just Who I Am album that also include the hits, “Never Wanted Nothing More,” “Don’t Blink,” and “Shiftwork.”
“Songs like this are tricky,” allows the man who spent 14 weeks of 2007 at #1 with “Beer In Mexico,” “Never Wanted Nothing’ More” and “Don’t Blink,” as well as writing Rascal Flatts’ “Take Me There,” also a 3 week #1. “These are the songs that have a little more depth, that maybe make you listen a little harder… and in the end, sometimes they’re the songs that end up meaning the most to people.
“It still amazes me that when I play shows no matter where we are, the audience always sings the chorus of ‘Anything But Mine’ back to me… I always say ‘This is for anyone who’s ever had a summer love…,’ and I think that’s pretty much everyone. And I think this song, which is written by the same guy, is one of those deals where we’ve all been there: you love someone, but you know you’re not the one.”
Co-written by Scooter Carusoe, the man responsible for the 3 week #1 “Anything But Mine,” Music Row’s Dean of Critics Robert K. Oermann raved about “Better As A Memory,” writing, “Superstar Kenny Chesney owns the week, completely. The new single is not only the Disc of the Day, but it could be the performance of his life. So-o-o-o beautiful/ A sensuous audio bath with a lyric awash in wistful regret, a supremely lovely single, perhaps the finest of his career.”
“I think when you love the music, you have to let it lead,” the three consecutive and current ACM and three-time and reigning Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year says. “To me, that’s where this all begins. We got an awful lot of people who come out to rock with us and have a good time, but really, I think if people don’t see their lives in your songs… don’t feel like they’re living what you’re singing, it never truly connects. I know that’s how it always was for me… and I know this is a song I’ve been inside a few times– and it says it in a way I couldn’t quite. For anyone else who’s ever been there, well, there you go.”
“All this: the songs, the tours, the fans helping people’s dreams come true,” says Chesney, “is what makes memories matter. I don’t know if I’m better as a memory or a man, I’m just be glad to be part of the soundtrack.”
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