Released March 28, 1994 Recorded 1993 Length 3:51 | Format CD Single Genre Country | |
B-side "Dreaming My Dreams with You" | ||
"Little Rock" is a song written by Tom Douglas, and recorded by American country music singer Collin Raye. It was released in March 1994 as the second single from his CD, Extremes. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and number 7 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks.
Contents
Background and content
"Little Rock" centers around a man, who is a recovering alcoholic trying to rebuild his life in Little Rock, Arkansas, which also serves as a metaphor for his faltering marriage caused by his alcoholism. He explains that he sells VCR's in Arkansas at a Wal-Mart (Arkansas just so happens to be where Wal-Mart was founded and remains headquartered there today) and that he hasn't had a drink in nineteen days. The narrator repeats the phrase "I think I'm on a roll here in Little Rock" but later explains that his only problem is that his significant other is not with him (presumably she separated or divorced him).
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably saying that the "cinematic" production and "Raye's on-the-money delivery are the perfect vehicles for this moving song about a guy who's hit bottom and is climbing back up one step at a time.
Music video
The music video was directed by Sherman Halsey and premiered in mid-1994. The video follows the song storyline by depicting a recovering alcoholic. In this case he has bought a bottle of liquor and pours himself a shot, and is clearly tempted to "fall off the wagon" after those 19 days, but at the very end he is shown pouring the shot into the sink, having apparently resisted the temptation. The video also shows flashback scenes of him as a child witnessing his parents involved in a domestic confrontation as a result of his father's alcohol abuse, which leaves him visibly shaken and flash forwarding to him as an adult involved in a similar situation with his wife, as his son witnesses the confrontation unfold. Unlike his father, he stops and consoles his son after realizing the trauma he put him through as a result of his own alcohol abuse.
Chart performance
The song debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart dated April 9, 1994. It charted for 20 weeks on that chart, and peaked at number 2 on the chart dated July 2, 1994 (having been blocked from number 1 by Neal McCoy's "Wink").