B-side "Short Sweet Ride" Recorded June 26, 1989 Length 3:06 | Released September 1990 Genre Country | |
Format Promo-only CD single
7" 45 RPM | ||
"Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" is a song written by American country music artist Alan Jackson and Jim McBride, and performed by Jackson. It was released in September 1990 as the fourth single from Jackson's first album, Here in the Real World, the song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and number 5 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.
Contents
Background and writing
Jackson recounts the songs origins in the album notes. "Jim McBride and I were writing together for the first time. We were talking about my life in Georgia and the experience of playing the honky tonk circuit. I remembered a radio that my daddy won when I was a young child and how my mama used to sing to my sisters and me. I also remembered how my mama hated for me to play in the bars. All those things set the story in motion, and within a few sessions, my life chasing that neon rainbow was set to music."
Content
The song recounts the narrators life of trying to make it big as a country music artist.
Critical reception
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade," calling the song "memorable" due to "an exuberant melody and decidedly country production, but the lyrics are anything but lightweight." He goes on to say that the song is "sung with a humble innocence, exudes boundless gratefulness and optimism for a budding career."
Music video
The music video was directed by Jack Cole and was released in September 1990. It depicts Alan going to a bar to audition as a musical act for the bar.