19 Somethin'

"19 Somethin'" is a song written by David Lee and Chris DuBois and recorded by American country music singer Mark Wills. It was released in September 2002 as the first single from his Greatest Hits compilation album and spent six weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart in early 2003. It reached number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the longer-lasting of Wills' two number one singles. It would go on to become the number 2 country song of the decade on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Chart.

"19 Somethin'"
Single by Mark Wills
from the album Greatest Hits
B-side"When You Think of Me"[1]
ReleasedSeptember 23, 2002 (2002-09-23)
GenreCountry
Length3:20
LabelMercury Nashville
Songwriter(s)David Lee
Chris DuBois
Producer(s)Chris Lindsey
Mark Wills
Mark Wills singles chronology
"I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You"
(2001)		 "19 Somethin'"
(2002)		 "When You Think of Me"
(2003)

Content

The song begins with singer's reminiscence of his formative years, the 1970s and 1980s. In the first verse and chorus, various 1970s-related bits of pop culture are referenced, such as Farrah Fawcett, eight tracks, and Stretch Armstrong; the first verse also mentions the videogame Pac-Man ("I had the Pac-Man pattern memorized.") The first chorus begins with the line "It was 1970-somethin' / In the world that I grew up in." Verse two, similarly, references 1980s pop culture, such as the Rubik's Cube, black Pontiac Trans Ams, and MTV. The second chorus likewise begins with "It was 1980-somethin'."

In the song's bridge, the singer then expresses his desire to escape to his childhood years: "Now I've got a mortgage and an SUV / All this responsibility makes me wish sometimes / That it was 1980-somethin’."

Reception

Critical

An uncredited article in The Charlotte Observer said that the success of "19 Somethin'" was "doubly great" because it was a number one single and because it was up-tempo, in comparison to Wills's earlier ballads, such as "Don't Laugh at Me" and "Wish You Were Here".[2]

Awards

"19 Somethin'" was nominated for Single of the Year at the 38th annual Academy of Country Music awards in May 2003.[3]

Chart positions

"19 Somethin'" debuted at number 56 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of October 5, 2002. It was Wills' second number one single, his first being "Wish You Were Here" in May 1999.[4]

As the song was still at number one the week of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred, some radio stations were asked to momentarily stop playing the single as the song contained the line "A space shuttle fell out of the sky" (a reference to the similar Challenger disaster that occurred in 1986.)[5] Despite this however, the song remained at number one the week after the disaster since the lack of airplay was considered negligible, although the song fell to number 3 for the week of February 14, 2003 on the Radio & Records charts, only for it to return at number one the week after.

Chart (2002–2003) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 23
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 1

Year-end charts
Chart (2003) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 84
US Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 3

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[10] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

According to liner notes.

Parody
  • Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd parodied the song as "270 Somethin'" on his 2003 EP A Six Pack of Judd. Judd's parody tells of an obese person who loses weight.

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 470–471. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. "WILLS UPBEAT ABOUT LATEST HIT, ROCKING '19 SOMETHIN' ' HITS NO. 1 AFTER A STEADY STREAM OF BALLADS". The Charlotte Observer. February 7, 2003. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  3. "Keith gets 8 nominations". USA Today. March 4, 2003. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  4. Gilbert, Calvin (January 6, 2003). "Mark Wills Tops Country Singles Chart". CMT. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  5. Dukes, Billy. "When Good Songs Die Too Young". Taste of Country. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  6. "Mark Wills Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  7. "Mark Wills Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  8. "Billboard Top 100 – 2003". billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  9. "Best of 2003: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2003. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  10. "American single certifications – Mark Wills – 19 Somethin'". Recording Industry Association of America. September 24, 2021.
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