The Best Day
| "The Best Day" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by George Strait | ||||
| from the album Latest Greatest Straitest Hits | ||||
| Released | January 3, 2000 | |||
| Format | CD Single | |||
| Recorded | August 31, 1999 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:24 | |||
| Label | MCA Nashville | |||
| Writer(s) |
Dean Dillon Carson Chamberlain | |||
| Producer(s) | Tony Brown | |||
| George Strait singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"The Best Day" is a song written by Dean Dillon and Carson Chamberlain, and performed by American country music singer George Strait. It was released in January 2000 as the first single from his album Latest Greatest Straitest Hits. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Plot
"The Best Day" is told through the eyes of a father who recalls his son describing key events of his life as being "the best day of [his] life," since they were particularly memorable and had pleasant memories attached to them. As the song progresses, the son grows from childhood into adolescence and eventually adulthood.
The first verse recalls a father-son campout, and the young boy looking forward to a weekend of fishing, conversation and bonding, and other camping-related activities with his father.
The second verse shows a boy from the first verse who now becomes a teenager and newly licensed with his father and he gets his first car, a classic Chevrolet Corvette which he and his father plan to restore.
The third and final verse is set on the son's wedding day. As they stand in a rear room of the church, the son after vowing to take what he learned in childhood from his parents and applying it to his new marriage repeats a line he has at the previous two points of his life: "I'm the luckiest man alive, this is the best day of my life" — in this final verse, replacing "boy" with "man."
The song is in the key of A major with a 4/4 time signature and a slow tempo of about 66 beats per minute. Its intro uses the pattern A-Aaug-D-E7, and the verses use a pattern of A-D-E-A.[1]
Critical reception
Larry Flick, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "well-written tale that listeners will find easily relatable, and the chorus makes this the ultimate feel-good tune to kick off the millennium." He goes on to say that Strait's "warm-throated delivery is all honest emotion."[2]
Chart performance
The song entered the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart at number 48 on the chart dated January 1, 2000, and spent 29 weeks on the chart. The song also climbed to number 1 after spending 17 weeks on the chart, where it held number 1 for three weeks on the chart dated April 22, 2000. In addition, this song became Strait's 36th Billboard Number One as a solo artist.
Peak positions
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[3] | 7 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[4] | 31 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] | 1 |
End of year charts
| End of year chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks[6] | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] | 80 |
| Preceded by "How Do You Like Me Now?!" by Toby Keith |
Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number-one single April 22-May 6, 2000 |
Succeeded by "Buy Me a Rose" by Kenny Rogers (featuring Alison Krauss and Billy Dean) |
References
- ↑ "'The Best Day' sheet music". MusicNotes.com. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ↑ Billboard, January 15, 2000
- ↑ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 9716." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. February 28, 2000. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ↑ "George Strait – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for George Strait.
- ↑ "George Strait – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for George Strait.
- ↑ "Best of 2000: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2000. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 2000". Retrieved 2010-08-31.
