Live a Little (song)

"Live a Little" is a song written by David Lee Murphy and Shane Minor and recorded by American country music singer Kenny Chesney. It was released in March 2011 as the third single from Chesney's 2010 album Hemingway's Whiskey. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in May 2011.

For other uses, see Live a Little.
"Live a Little"
Single by Kenny Chesney
from the album Hemingway's Whiskey
ReleasedMarch 14, 2011 (2011-03-14)
Recorded2010
GenreCountry
Length3:39 (album version)
LabelBNA
Songwriter(s)David Lee Murphy
Shane Minor
Producer(s)Buddy Cannon
Kenny Chesney singles chronology
"Somewhere with You"
(2010)		 "Live a Little"
(2011)		 "You and Tequila"
(2011)

Background and writing

Chesney told the Nashville Music Scene that the song defines him as a person.[1] Co-writer David Lee Murphy told The Boot that the two were just sitting around and Minor said he had a good idea for a song called "live a little, love a lot." They wrote the song at the end of summer and Murphy said "we had our windows down, just singing at top of our lungs."[1]

Critical reception

Bill Frisicks-Warren of The Washington Post described the song negatively in his review of the album, saying that "Nothing — not even the singer's self-deprecating, Everyday Joe persona — can redeem [it]."[2]

Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave it a "thumbs down". She believed that Chesney's singing sounded "uninterested" and that its subject matter was "too similar to other songs of his" and it had a "very similar melody" to his 2005 single "Keg in the Closet".[3]

Stuart Munro of The Boston Globe called the song a "good-timing singalong".[4] A positive review also came from Bobby Peacock of Roughstock, who gave it four stars out of five. His review said that the song was "delightfully unhurried" and that Chesney "has rarely sounded better."[5]

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song a C grade, saying that the song starts with a "pure pop/rock intro" and then transitions into acoustic country but eventually "disintegrates to generic Chesney: loud but not assertive, cute but not clever, upbeat but not uplifting."[6]

Chart performance
Chart (2011) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 61
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 1
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[9] 78
Canada Country (Billboard)[10] 1

Year-end charts
Chart (2011) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[11] 46

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[12] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Horner, Marianne (16 March 2011). "Kenny Chesney, 'Live a Little' - Story Behind the Lyrics". The Boot. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  2. Friskics-Warren, Bill (2010-09-28). "Click Track - Album review: Kenny Chesney, "Hemingway's Whiskey"". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  3. Justus, Karlie (24 February 2011). "Kenny Chesney - "Live a Little"". Engine 145. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  4. Munro, Stuart (2010-09-27). "Kenny Chesney, 'Hemingway's Whiskey' - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  5. Peacock, Bobby (25 February 2011). ""Live a Little" review". Roughstock. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  6. Country Universe - Kenny Chesney: Live a Little review
  7. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  8. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  9. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  10. "Kenny Chesney Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  11. "Best of 2011: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  12. "American single certifications – Kenny Chesney – Live a Little". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
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