Released August 30, 2004 Genre Country | Recorded 2004 Label Curb | |
Length 4:59 (album version)
4:27 (radio edit) Writer(s) Stan Lynch
Stephony Smith
Jeff Stevens | ||
"Back When" is a song written by Stan Lynch, Stephony Smith and Jeff Stevens, and performed by American country music singer Tim McGraw. It was released in August 2004 as the second single from McGraw's album Live Like You Were Dying. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in December 2004 and peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Contents
Content
"Back When" is an up-tempo song in which the narrator states how he misses the past and how the current slangs were not used for drug and sexual reference, but the objects themselves. Stephony Smith, one of the writers, told The Boot that she went into the kitchen to make breakfast one day when she saw a snake on the floor. The snake crawled into a tight space and then she called Jeff Stevens and Stan Lynch, who he was writing with: "[Smith] said, 'Back when a hoe was a hoe, my mama woulda just chopped his head off.'"
Reception
Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a positive rating. He stated that "Back When" is the only up-tempo song on the album that matches his ballads in quality. He also added that McGraws "vocal performance is just over-twanged enough to suggest he’s making fun of the sentimentality that he’s celebrating."
Chart positions
"Back When" debuted at number 58 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of September 4, 2004.