Roller Coaster (Luke Bryan song)

"Roller Coaster"
Single by Luke Bryan
from the album Crash My Party
Released	July 14, 2014 (2014-07-14)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2013
Genre	Country pop
Length	4:19
Label	Capitol Nashville
Writer(s)	Michael Carter Cole Swindell
Producer(s)	Jeff Stevens
Luke Bryan singles chronology
"Play It Again" (2014) "Roller Coaster" (2014) "I See You" (2014)

"Roller Coaster" is a song written by Michael Carter and Cole Swindell, and recorded by American country music artist Luke Bryan. It was released to country radio on June 14, 2014 as the fifth single from his fourth studio album, Crash My Party.

Songwriting

Cole Swindell, who formerly sold merchandise for Bryan, wrote the song with Bryan's guitarist and bandleader, Michael Carter, on October 6, 2011 in Valdosta, Georgia. The inspiration for the song was the Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City, Florida, a destination that Bryan, Swindell, and Carter had visited on summer vacations.^[1] Swindell and Carter recorded a demo for Bryan, which featured Swindell singing. Upon hearing the demo, Bryan thought that Swindell had the potential to get a record deal of his own;^[1] after Swindell became a singer himself, Carter produced his self-titled debut album.^[2] Swindell said that he considered the song "one of my favorite songs I've ever written" and "special" because of his and Carter's friendships with Bryan.^[2]

Composition

The song is a mid-tempo ballad about a man who encounters a woman while on vacation in Panama City. The first verse contains details specific to the area, such as Thomas Drive, a road near the former amusement park. In the song, the narrator befriends the woman, then states that "she's got me twisted like that old beach roller coaster" after she leaves. Swindell told Billboard, "Going down there, you always met a girl — like a day before you had to leave, you got up enough courage to finally talk to her, and then she's got to leave the next day." ^[1]

Tom Roland of Billboard described the song as "smooth and understated" and "reflective [and] melancholy". Carter noted that the melody of the chorus repeats a single note because he wanted the song to be easily sung along with by fans.^[1] The original demo featured a cold open, but Bryan and his producer, Jeff Stevens, decided to create an intro because Bryan felt that "[s]tarting with a straight-in lyric, half the time you miss the lyrics." Stevens decided to "start it off with the easy beach feel and let it ride." The song features a bass guitar line performed by Jimmie Lee Sloas, and two backing vocal tracks both sung by session vocalist Perry Coleman.^[1] It is in the key of A-flat major with a moderate tempo and a primary chord pattern of A♭-E♭/G-F_m7-D♭ and a vocal range of D♭₄-F₅.^[3]

Critical reception

Country music blog Taste of Country reviewed the song positively. The review contrasted it with "'Til Summer Comes Around" by Keith Urban in saying that it was more "positive" than that song, also saying that "The roller coaster metaphor is creative — it’s what separates this song from others that rely on an increasingly used country trope. Once again it’s Bryan’s natural charisma that lifts a lyric that wouldn’t work for someone less lovable. Little details like Thomas Drive feel personal. He’s becoming one of country’s top storytellers."^[4]

Music video

The official music video for "Roller Coaster" was directed by Michael Monaco and filmed in Panama City Beach, Florida in the spring of 2014 as part of spring break festivities. It premiered on June 20, 2014.^[5]

Chart performance

"Roller Coaster" debuted at number 60 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for the week ending of July 5, 2014.^[6] The same week, "Roller Coaster" re-entered at number 47 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.^[7] For the week ending of October 18, 2014, the song reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, making it Bryan's tenth number one hit. As of November 2014, the song had sold 583,000 copies in the US.^[8]

Year-end charts

References