Recorded Allen Roadhouse 2007 | Label Atlantic, Top Dog | |
Released April 5, 2008 (2008-04-05) Format CD single, digital download Genre Southern rock, country rock Length 4:57 (album version)
3:46 (radio edit) | ||
"All Summer Long" is a song recorded by Kid Rock. It was released in 2008 as the third single from his seventh studio album Rock n Roll Jesus. The song samples two hit songs of the 1970s, Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London", and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama". The idea for the mashup was suggested by Mike E. Clark.
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The song was a number-one hit in eight countries across Europe, Australia and the United Kingdom. It even crossed over to southern rock radio, giving Kid Rock his first top-ten country hit. The song was the official theme song to WWE's pay-per view event, Backlash 2008. The song was also the theme song to the 2009 World Cup. It was featured in the video game Power Gig Rise Of The Sixth String. He performed the song at the 2009 Grammys and at Wrestlemania 25, both in medleys. He also promoted the song in Europe performing on Top Of The Pops and World Music Awards. The song lead to the TV special VH-1 Storytellers in November 2009. The song opened the door for hip hop in country music. As Lil Wayne joined him at the 2009 CMA Awards.
Throughout the chorus of the song, the lyrics gives repeated references of the narrator and his (implied) girlfriend engaging in underage drinking of whiskey, smoking of unnamed substances (implied to be marijuana), and "making love," all in the northern part of Michigan, Kid Rock's home state, as well as "singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long". Rock's friend, Mathew Shafer, also a Michigan native, shares co-author credit as songwriter. Additionally, before the guitar solo, Kid Rock shouts "turn it up" as an homage to the original Skynyrd song's opening.
Single
Music video
The music video for the song was shot in Nashville, Tennessee and features Kid Rock driving a Grand Craft Grand Sport boat out on the Old Hickory Lake, while two teenagers are shown enacting the song's lyrics, taking place in the implied year of 1989 as mentioned in the first verse. Kid Rock is also shown partying with girls or women on a different boat, and singing the song on a platform on the lake during night time. The platform, float & lights are a homage to the "Playboy girls" scene in the film Apocalypse Now. As the video ends, the small boat Kid Rock is driving can be seen with the word "cowboy" on the back.
Chart performance
"All Summer Long" is Kid Rock's fourth song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and overall his biggest hit of his career. It reached number 23 on the Hot 100, based solely on airplay, since Kid Rock had not made his catalog available for legal digital download at the time (therefore, the song received no assistance from digital sales). It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, making it his highest peaking single on this chart. It is his third top 40 hit on the Hot 100. The song has become Kid Rock's second pop crossover hit (after "Picture"), reaching the top ten on Mainstream Top 40 radio. "All Summer Long" has also reached the top ten on Billboard's Adult Top 40.
It marks Kid Rock's third entry on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, after "Picture" and "Single Father", both in 2003, reaching number four, his first top 20 and top 10 on that chart. It was a moderate hit on U.S. rock, peaking at number 17 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 38 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song has sold 943,000 copies in the US as of April 2016.
The song is Kid Rock's first international hit as well. The song went to number one in the United Kingdom, where it knocked off Dizzee Rascal's "Dance Wiv Me" and was replaced at the summit by Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl". In the rest of Europe, the song was available as a physical and digital release and it has also topped the charts in Ireland, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It has reached the top five in Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Poland. In Australia, the song is his first top ten and number one single.
Hit Masters version
A recording of the song was released digitally by Hit Masters, a karaoke company whose version was made available in the iTunes Store in North America. Due to Kid Rock's decision to withhold his music from the iTunes market, sales from the karaoke version eventually caused it to overtake Kid Rock's original on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States peaking at number 19. This version also peaked at number 28 on the Canadian Hot 100 due to digital downloads. As Rock's version remained in the top 30 based on radio airplay alone, Hit Masters jumped into the top 20 due to its sales strength. However, the radio success of "All Summer Long" propelled Rock N Roll Jesus back up to number two on the Billboard 200, nearly a year after its release.
The Rock Heroes version
Another recording of the song by karaoke band The Rock Heroes was released on iTunes for digital downloads in North America in September 2008. In the U.S. it debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and then rose to number 29 the next week, and also in Canada it debuted at number 16 on the Canadian Hot 100 due to digital downloads.